Saturday, January 23, 2016

Emails from my Father, continued... snippets of encouragement and random musings on life, art, and literature


OLD RUSTY BIKE 1
On Feb 13, 2013, at 4:34 PM, "Norman K Vance" <normvance@hrecn.net> wrote:

As Cyrano de Bergerac said in his final soliloquoy " My salute will sweep away all the 
stars from Heaven!!,,,,This is how I feel about you and your astonishing painting 
progress! The painting of the  rusty bike tells me how much you have learned in these 
past months.  There are many things I want to say about the painting:Good background. The weathered and vari-colored boards were a good choice.The bike: Very well done, except that worrisome spike on top of the seat.  Just brush 
it out with a dab of white. The wheels, tires and spokes are just perfect.  
Highlighting the few spokes was a good idea.  It would be my guess that you used the 
ellipse guides to draw those wheels!  Ole!  Foreground: The bike is sitting on the ground, instead of floating above it.  That is a mistake made by many painters.Good for you for considering this!

No criticsms...I find your rusty bike a fine work, hopefully wanting to see it in one 
of your local art exhibits.  Now, don't be shy, you are ready to show the public your ability!!!
Love, Daddy

From    : Tamsen[mailto:tamsen345@comcast.net]
Sent    : 2/13/2013 7:18:34 PM
To      : normvance@hrecn.net
Subject : RE: Re: rusty bike II

Hi Daddy:
Your salute to my rusty bike and progress in painting is very much appreciated. I took 
the photo at my friend's Stinson home last fall and have been itching to make a 
painting of it. I printed the photo in Black and white to study the tones and shapes, 
then painted in the fence and bike in thinned burnt sienna. I did use the ellipses! 
They were a big help, though I still think my hand is shaky when I painted over the 
sketch making the tires a bit off kilter. 

The multi colored fence was my own invention as the real life fence was dull brown and grey. I wanted a contrast to the orange rust of the bike, so I used a complimentary color scheme. I used a little comb to add texture to the wood pattern and a razor knife for the spokes.  

I also liked the idea that the bike was so old that it had sunk into the sandy soil and that helped keep me 
from having it float on the ground. It was nice that you noticed that detail! The spring protruding from the seat is a disturbing detail that Jeff also questioned . I will take another look and maybe paint it out, but I may do the opposite and enhance it just for fun!