En Plein Air: Entrance of An Old Church (Oil, 9 x 12)

I went this morning to the street park for the purpose of painting people there. However, I didn't have much luck. I first targeted a man stripped to the waist sitting in the sun. However, right after I set up and before I started, he moved to the opposite bench in the shade. Maybe by then the sun was a little too strong for him. Then I tried to do a figure of an African man stretching out on the bench comfortably, talking on the phone. When I finished blocking in large color chunks, he was done with his phone talk and took off. I scraped the canvas paper and began to paint the Asian old lady playing with her iPad and sitting on the same bench as the Black guy. She didn't stay long enough to even let me get the outline. I scrapped what I did again and planned to paint a young lady sitting straight with legs crossed on the bench. Unfortunately, she soon lied down. I put away everything and went away. Shortly after I hit the road, I saw a homeless man sleeping on his side on the bench with one leg hanging down the side armrest. I asked myself whether I wanted to set up again. I decided not to.

I pulled my kit back through Forest Hills Gardens and passed the old Scientific Christian Church. The entrance was still  in the shade in this morning after. I didn't want to go home empty-handed, so I set up to paint the entrance. It was OK. When I was painting, my old friend Loco suddenly appeared with his large bag. He told me the church was on the market for sale because nobody went to the church. Later some city construction trucks stopped by and workers came to see my painting. One of them said, "Do you want to buy it? It sells for seven million and a half. Now I knew what Loco told me was true.