Scenes from the Fair, part 2

View from the Ferris Wheel  20x16 pastel, copyright 2012

Friday night at the County Fair is the most popular night.  Most of the animals are gone and teenagers (including my own) roam the grounds enjoying the rides and greasy food.  My original intention that night was to sit around with other artists and get some painting done, but instead two of us wandered the grounds taking reference photos.

The sunset that night was quite beautiful with pinks and purples behind the lit Ferris wheel.  A number of my fellow artists had taken photos of the Ferris wheel, so I decided to try something different - the view from the top.  It has always been one of my favorite rides, as I get the thrill of heights without the stomach plunging queasiness of a roller coaster.  

This painting presented a number of issues that I had not really tackled before, including artificial lighting, an unusual perspective, and throngs of people.  The perspective issue wasn't too difficult, although I did have to rework the shape of the round carousel top a few times.  Using black paper helped with the artificial lighting, which caused the pale greens and bright yellows and oranges to really pop.  And to my surprise, dashes and blobs of color read quite well as a crowd of people.  I knew that this was a technique used by other artists, but I wasn't sure that I could pull it off.  Happily, it all seems to work.

The public reception for the exhibit is on Saturday from 1-5 if anyone local would like to stop by.  It is also the grand reopening of the Art Center following extensive renovations of the gallery space.  Come on in, take a look, and as they say, buy local!