Solidarity

"Pipe Bundles, Two Tanks"    SOLD

oil on panel, 2010

5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.78)

Heavy sky, weighty foreground... mass and solidity. It's the middle ground that gets the attention here. The pipe bundles shoot in from the left giving rise to the two tanks, sharp and glossy against the softly focused pale apartment building.

Standing in solidarity, rearing up against the horizontal elements. Pyramid composition, echoed by the triangular dormer. Bracketed by the white bundle ties and painted steel girders.

I've talked before of what I see in industrial subjects and of changes I make to further strengthen my view... what to include, what to leave out.

In this painting I darkened the bundles and softened the edges of the building. I scrubbed in a leaden sky in favor of the clear blue one and changed the bundle ties to white, all to give more importance to the tanks. I also deepened and textured the shiny tanks and edged the color towards orange.

The last two (changes) both, unite tanks and sky in appearance but separate them in complimentary color.

I often come across some scene that strikes me in some way and want to capture it... but realize what is before me is a little short of that, so I edit and fine tune the image until I achieve that end.62

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