Sunday, February 22, 2009

50th street and 3rd ave.

10"x8" oil/panel



I may be losing some folks with these but I feel I'm getting closer to my current goal. Nicholas deStael is one of my favorite artists. He was classed as a gestural painter. When I view the city first hand it wreaks of gesture. When I did these paintings all I heard were horns blowing, people talking, various industrial things making noise etc..... The buildings rise into oblivion. The cars race to and fro. There is no way I could paint this environment in a visually realistic way. Everything is a blur, yet the buildings don't budge. Try to capture this on site! I tried my best but have a long way to go. I find the Diebenkorn influence creeping in yet again. I never gave him enough credit nor did the art world. He knew how to break things down! I should mention the roads continually tremble in NYC with the passing of each subway train adding to the ambiance we try to recreate. All things said I love trying to capture the city but so many have done it better before. I won't quit trying.

9 comments:

Kathleen Harrington said...

Nice Brian. What an exciting place to paint.

loriann signori said...

The colors in this one are very different from the first, which makes sense seeing it was a totally different type of day/light key.I like the way you played with the space. a la Diebenkorn.

Unknown said...

BuenĂ­simo. Nice nice nice

Janelle Goodwin said...

Hi Brian, Love the colors and texture in this painting. It's almost abstract, which makes it very intriguing.

brian eppley said...

Thanks Kathleen, It is a very exciting place to be and to have the chance to paint there is a thing I am grateful for. I'm not real happy about the fact that someone stole my car antenna though! Oh well, cds for awhile I guess.

Loriann, Yes this day was cold and cloudy. I only used the cool side of my palette. Pthalo green,ultramarine blue, lemon yellow, permanent rose and zinc white. Thanks for the Diebenkorn comment. He really burned an image in my head.

Crespo,muchos gracias. Your doing some very intersting stuff over there in Spain. Sorry I dont know Spanish I'd understand your writings better. Great visual images though!

Thanks Janelle, the boundaries between abstract and figurative are very small. I seem to like the works most that skirt this boundary.

Jala Pfaff said...

This is great!

And I LOVE Diebenkorn.

brian eppley said...

Thanks Jala, the scissors were a dead giveaway.

Karen said...

These are truly fantastic. I love these city scenes, and I love your red hand in this one...isn't that one of the best parts of these types of paintings?
I am also incredibly impressed at where you set-up! I have enough trouble in little-old side streets of Chicago...I don't know how you didn't get frazzled!

I've always loved Diebenkorn too...one of the first I fell in love with.

brian eppley said...

Thanks Karen. In the old days I would have let the commotion get to me but now I just concentrate. I do still look away at a strange sound but am getting better at blocking it all out. I was surprised that no police made me move off Lafayette however!