Saturday, September 14, 2013

Urban River 8

"LA River #2"
watercolor on paper, 2013
7" x 10" (17.78cm x 25.4cm)


This is from my Urban River Series which includes The Santa Ana River in Orange County California.
As in others from this series the concrete banks are visible at the upper left of this composition.


Here is a view of the concrete bank and Willow Street bridge, built in 1946.

I love the smooth forms of the banks and the way they intersect with the gentle arches of the bridge

This is the urban river, part nature, part man. In each of these I have divided up the composition to varying degrees, favoring either the natural or man made as I search for different ways to present what I am seeing, to have something to say.
That guides me in the artistic decisions and determines how I paint it.
In this one I liked the idea of a busy composition juxtaposed against a calm cool spring day. The lively  hustle and bustle of the city without really showing any of it.243

6 comments:

  1. I fully agree with you. Not only is the calmness of the water a great contrast with the rocks, but your use of different brushstrokes really adds a lot. Nice job.

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    1. Thank you Lady Lilith Bloodcrave,
      I am always happy to hear someone gets the same response from the painting I got from the site.

      The urban environment is so strange sometimes. There are these places you can go and be relatively alone, as I was here, but at the same time there is the cacophony of the living breathing city.
      A different beast than nature.
      Thanks for your visit and comment.

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  2. To me the most impressive is the stillness of the water, the river looks like a canal. It's a great painting

    Para mi lo mas impresionante es la quietud del agua, el río parece un canal. Es una gran pintura
    .

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    1. Thank you ricardo,
      And you are right, the rivers here are very much like canals as they pass through the city, becoming urban rivers. Much of Southern California is like a desert so most of the year the water is still and calm or a slow trickle.
      Thanks for you comment and keep painting...

      Gracias ricardo,
      Y tiene usted razón, los ríos aquí son muy similares a los canales a su paso por la ciudad, convirtiéndose en ríos urbanos. Gran parte del sur de California es como un desierto para la mayor parte del año el agua está quieta y tranquila o un goteo lento.
      Gracias por su comentario y mantener la pintura ...

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