Old North Church - North End

"The Corner of Salem and Sheafe - North End" (Oil on Canvas, 16"X20" $650)

This is actually a bit of a re-paint. I did it a few weeks and the only part that I went over was the sky. It originally had a flaming sunset sky that I was never happy with. I finally decided to change it and make the Old North Church the true focal point of the painting. If I get a photo of an appropriate sunset sky for this location, I'll take the time to re-paint in the 'flames'.

I like painting skies, whether they're full of sunny day clouds or sunset clouds, or if they're just plain cloudy. Sometimes I just rough them in with thin paint, intending to thicken and brighten the colors later, only to decide that I like the visible, broken brushstrokes in the air and clouds.

This painting now has more of an Autumn feel, instead of the summery feel of the original version. It feels more appropriate now that the summer is drawing to a close in the Northeast, and the skies don't have the same red-orange clouds that dominate during the summer sunsets. At this point, it's the shadows falling directly on the buildings across the street that tell the viewer that the sun is low in the sky. The window boxes full of waning and leggy purple petunias also tell of the end of the fleeting summer season.

Take a look in the older posts on this blog and see if you can find the original version and let me know which you prefer. That may give me the impetus to do the re-paint mentioned above, or not.