Napoli 10

The tenth drawing in the Napoli series: a 9x12 pen and ink, ink wash, with pastel on bristol paper.

Where I Began Is Not Where I Finished

Napoli is still on my mind, but I've also been painting outdoors.  This is a 12x12 oil on panel that I worked on for three days.  In that brief time, the trees sprouted leaves, so even though I stood in the same place, where I began is not where I finished.   This location shows a stream that runs through a farm in Williamstown, MA.  It's actually where the farmer crosses with his tractor to bring hay rolls to the cows, which he did several times while I was painting at this spot.  The cows cross the stream whenever they feel like it.

Catania

When I arrived in Catania, I went out to look at the mountain, Mount Etna.  It was smoking lightly.  Looming.  I wonder if the residents no longer see the mountain.  It's there like something in life that no one can escape, but after a while you live your life.  But for the first time viewer like me, it's so overwhelming.  This painting is a 12x16 oil on panel.

Colorful Side Street

Colorful Napoli side street.  8x10 pen and ink, ink wash, and pastel on bristol paper.

Napoli Beckons

Napoli beckons: an 8x10 view down an alley with car windshields reflecting the sky that is several stories above and not visible.  Pen and ink, ink wash, and pastel on bristol paper.

Napoli Jumble

A Napoli drawing depicting the jumble in an alleyway: 8x10 pen and ink, ink wash, with pastel on bristol paper.

A Brooklyn Skyline

A recent painting of an old skyline in Brooklyn: a 12x16 oil on panel.

Time Will Tell

Somebody told me that they didn't think they could respond as well to my Napoli drawings as with some of my other work, until they looked at them.  Yes, they are about Napoli the city, but to me they also are a means to experiment.  I start them in different ways, never sure where to begin and where to end.  I already sense an insight I didn't have before about painting.  Time will tell.  This one is 8x10 inches, done with pen and ink, ink wash, and pastel, not necessarily in that order.

Urban Aisle

This image of a Napoli street kept reminding me of the painting once called an "explosion in a shingle factory" but instead of a nude descending a staircase, a few people are walking up a narrow urban aisle.  It's 12x9 inches, pen and ink, ink wash, and pastel on bristol paper.

New and Old

An 8x10 Napoli drawing of old and new: venerable buildings and people on their iphones.

Napoli Intensity

In this drawing I tried to capture the intensity of walking up or down the narrow streets of Napoli.  These streets are often too small for cars, though that doesn't stop some drivers from trying to get through, but motorbikes are everywhere, so one has to be alert.  If you are alert, there is so much to see.   Of course, people are everywhere too.  8x10 ink, ink wash, and pastel.

Another Napoli Drawing

This drawing captures what walking the streets of Napoli is like.  Neapolitans prefer to hang out their wet laundry from balconies and windows, which explains why the buildings are so high with windows and balconies.  The narrow streets are apparently based upon the original Greek layout, and fortunately, the Neapolitans do not believe in replacing old buildings with new ones.  The result is an intense, visually exciting city.  This drawing is 9x12 with ink, ink wash, and touches of pastel.

Napoli Drawing

A 10x8 drawing, made of ink, ink wash and touches of pastel, of a narrow street in Napoli, Italy.  I was told not to use the word Naples, but Napoli instead.  In Napoli, the streets are narrow and the buildings high, creating canyons of light and shadow filled with people and hanging laundry.  I plan on doing a series of drawings to ease my way into painting, which I haven't done for a couple weeks.

Gloucester Harbor

This painting I just did for fun.  I've always liked Dutch landscape paintings with a low horizon and a high sky done from what looks like a high vantage point. This one is a view of Gloucester Harbor, a 12 x 16 oil on panel.

It Was the Light and Shadow

This building is located at the corner of St. Marks and Franklin Avenues in Brooklyn.  Here it is aligned just right with the morning sun for its knobby wall to cast long shadows.  Besides the unusual meeting of a gospel writer and a founding father at this corner, the building houses a biker club and bar.  But it was the light and shadow that first caught my attention.  The painting is a 12x16 oil on panel.