Chinatown Alley

6"x4" oil on panel ••• (As promised, here is the second piece from my email twofer.) I have yet to paint a larger version of the above piece. That was a tough little piece to paint. Not because of how much stuff is represented in its small borders. Rather, it was a hard piece because of the hundreds of decisions of what to omit or transform to make the piece work. Chinatown alleys can be insanely busy environments. This one is amazingly tame—and wide—in comparison to the "ordinary" alley in Chinatown and yet there is still way too much going on in it. • I also manipulate the heck out of the light in my work—all of my work. The lighting decisions in this alley have competing priorities. No matter how much I tried to make them bend to my will, they still bickered with each other. It was kind of like painting in the third person. • Still, after all my whining, I think I might take a shot at a larger version. ••• I never know day to day what is going to happen with my painting. It is an uncertainty that provides me much comfort.

Posted October 10, 2018

sold • private collection los angeles, ca