As promised, here is Traveler #5. Again, photographing this painting was extremely frustrating. Whenever there wasn’t any glare the softer details – like the texture of the coat on the woman to the right – get lost. In the end I settled a little bit, but I still need to have the whole series so far professionally photographed.
Travelers #5 : Oil on board. 9″x12″ 2014
It’s taken a while (I first started this piece back in May) but I’ve finished two more paintings in the Travelers series. I love doing these pieces, but boy do they take a lot of time!
They are also very dark, and very glossy, which makes them damn near impossible to photograph well. Apologies for the glare.
Oil on board. 9″x12″ 2014
Every now and then I’ll see someone on the subway who is interesting, and I will surreptitiously snap a photo. Not humorous or mocking or lecherous. Just…interesting.
As I have gathered these photos I began thinking about what an odd experience riding the subway (or any public transit) is: you are voluntarily putting yourself in a confined space with a bunch of strangers, all of whom – like you – are doing their best to avoid any sort of personal contact. It is public, yet private. Tedious, yet necessary.
At the same time I began to wonder what would happen if I applied a very traditional and personal medium – indirect oil portraiture – to a situation steeped in cold, impersonal observation such as surveillance cameras.
The first painting was published last year, and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to explore. This week I published a new gallery on my website called Travelers.
I hope you enjoy! (click the link above for the rest of the series so far)
Travelers #3 : Oil on board, 9″x12″ 2014
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