Alla Prima: Street Corner (Oil, 11 x 14)

I had to clean my paint box today since I would not use it for two weeks and some of the paint had already hardened. However, I didn't want to waste the comparatively fresh paint which I squeezed into the box not long ago. Therefore, I decided to do some experiment with the leftover paint. I was always amazed at the way Kim English was able to express the glaring sunshine outdoors. I studied carefully some of his works which depicted images in direct sunlight. I felt he had a special approach to handling the space of sun-lit area and shadows. I used a picture I took in New York last summer. The scene is the Columbus Circle on the corner of Central Park, where 8th Ave. and Broadway intersect each other.

I notice English often uses light cadmium yellow in sun-lit area bordering the shadow. At the same time he uses bright, nearly original, cobalt blue for the edging area of shadows while deep inside the shadow he dulls the blue color which is obviously a kind of tertiary blue. The following is one of the workshop participants Kim English quickly painted as a demo. Which is very telltale.