Cityscape Challenge Continues~

Here are today's submissions! 

By the way, a couple of you asked if it would be kosher to sell your work since it was done from my photo. For this particular project, I don't have a problem with that, so go for it.  Copyright is a huge issue in this industry and we all have to be diligent about ethical practices. If I use a photo reference, I usually only use my own photos. If I have to use someone else's, I make sure I get permission or otherwise make sure there are no infringement issues. 

Again, for this challenge, please consider permission granted, so do whatever you want with your paintings, including selling it for a million bucks. 

See all the paintings here!

I painted two, each in a single 3 hour session so I wouldn't feel compelled to overwork them with more detail. I learned that it is easier for me to keep it simple by using a lot of paint and limiting my colors. But I still struggled to keep my values intact once I started adding a little color. And then there's edges! I love the way you work your edges and would love to hear more from you on that topic! Anyway, it really is amazing to discover that less is more and that a piece will read more convincingly from across the room when the dark/light shapes are connected and simplified.

Susan Tortorici 

(Streetscape after Miura. Digital. © Andy Dolphin)

 

The main thrust of the challenge is to simplify a photo Terry posted and produce a painting using any medium.

I chose Photoshop.

I had intended to save the image in stages - but forgot so this is all I have.
My process was to crop then convert the original image to greyscale and use that as my starting reference. I wanted to warm the scene up a little so, using a Wacom pen and tablet, I "underpainted" in a warm sepia tone. I then switched the reference photo back to colour and finished my painting from background to foreground.
I painted in the large shapes first with little concern for absolute accuracy. The rough shapes were initially tightened by working back into the negative shapes, painting the road around the cars for example, then strengthened by the addition of mid-tones and highlights. I finished with the brightest highlights, including the "pure" colours of the traffic lights and vehicle tail lights.
No tracing is involved in the process. The two images sit side-by-side with the photo kept small to avoid getting bogged down with detail. As you can see below, I took liberties with several aspects of the scene. I was more interested in capturing the feeling than producing a replica.

There's about half an hour to 45 minutes work in this. I used a standard Photoshop stipple brush (and forgot to change the angle jitter setting) for this one. I usually use a custom brush from Chris Wahl but was almost finished before  realised what I'd done (I work zoomed out, so the stippling doesn't show). 
My digital process almost exactly matches the way I work with oils - but I don't have to wash brushes when I'm finished - and I don't ruin another shirt or get paint on the carpet!

Andy Dolphin