Saturday, September 5, 2009

Still Refining the Dragon Ride

Thought I'd update you on the progress of the children's dragon roller coaster that I started last week en plein air at the Calif. State Fair here in Sacramento.. It is being painted in acrylic on stretched canvas (20"X20"). I spent two solid hours drawing and roughing the scene in front of me. All subsequent steps are being done en studio! And it is no wonder, for how could I ever complete a canvas this size with this degree of complexity and with the sun dramatically changing the lighting conditions within a meesly two hr. period? Alas, dear reader, the trick is to maintain a certain modicum of plein air painting freshness whilst working indoors in air conditioned comfort with no mosquitos, gawkers, and sunlight to contend with! The photo you see here was taken just before I started the canvas. The lighting set up in my painting takes into account what I saw at the end of the two hour period. Indeed, I wanted the sunny foreground with cast shadows of the roller coaster track (yet to be painted in). I shall continue on this within the coming weeks and keep you posted. I just know that you all are waiting with baited breath!!!!:) At this point, I'm about 70% done.

4 comments:

Barbara Muir said...

Hi David,

Your thinking sticks in my mind when I'm painting. I was sitting outside painting my street from the front porch last night, and my husband wanted to know how long he had to wait before we could walk the dog. I wanted to respond with a percentage, but instead said 20 minutes. Wrong of course. I still have to work on it. But it's about 85% done -- I think. See we are waiting with baited breath, and it is looking really great at this point!

Take care,

Barbara

Anonymous said...

I love how vivid the painting is. I love the colors.

Paz

David Lobenberg said...

Barbara, With the percentage quotient factor, you needn't worry about the time factor!

David Lobenberg said...

Paz, yes, that's what attracted me to this ride plus the rails. What a racket the dragon made traveling those rails!