UP Yellow

"Union Pacific Yard"

"Union Pacific 8381"

 "Union Pacific Yard"

watercolor on paper, 2011

6" x 8" (15.24cm x 20.32cm)

For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

"Union Pacific 8381"

watercolor on paper, 2011

6" x 8" (15.24cm x 20.32cm)

For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

"Union Pacific Yard"  A simple watercolor broadly painted, large shapes. This view from across the street gave me the compositional device of framing the rail yard with fence, tree, pole and ground plane shadows, highlighting the bright yellow locomotives.

The "Union Pacific 8381" in the heart of the LA Harbor passing an industrial plant. Here is a great example of how the UP bright yellow locomotives stand out against the blues, silvers and grays of the harbor industry landscape as well as showing the gritty unglorified nature of industry without apology.

This is not a painting where the medium, in all its transparency, is celebrated. It is not flashy brush work. It is not pure vibrant colors that sing like a songbird.
It is the subject first. The medium takes a back seat. That inspiration comes from studying (and reading about) the watercolors of Edward Hopper who did not want the medium to overcome the subject, which he felt was more important and a notion I agree with.

This was done by applying the watercolor in repeated washes, more than is typical of the medium, and by scrubbing out then reapplying more washes, building a dense, solid almost inpenetrable wall behind the locomotive, which is placed low in the composition and establishes its place in the greater picture of industry. It is the engine in its environment, working, in the same way wildlife  artists might show a bull, an elk or a bear in its own harsh but true surroundings.146,147

Click on image for larger view