This was one of my first attempts at painting an urban landscape. I had chosen an intersection in the town I used to live in. Every time I passed by that yellow house, I always thought it was very pretty, so I had finally decided to paint it.
It was a cold autumn day. The trees had started shedding their leaves, and the air became bitterly cold. I always develop a bit of a rash on my cheeks and chin in the cold; that started to happen here as well. The intersection was noisy, and the people passing by were cold and emotionless. Overall, the painting experience was tense and uncomfortable. I was always on edge.
On the first day, I just managed to sketch in the scene. I took extra care to get the perspective believable, and that took quite a while. As the sun went down, I packed up and decided to come back tomorrow.
On the second day, I was met with an overcast sky. Well, okay, I thought, time to improvise. Luckily, I had made a little lighting sketch the day before, so I had a reference for the light and shadow patterns. The rest I made up from my imagination. On the second day as well, I was feeling on edge. I think it might’ve been just the area I was in.
That’s when a man came up to me. He might’ve been in his mid-fifties. He started talking to me, complimented my painting, and asked if I did this often. Slowly, his questions got more personal. He asked my name, where I was from, and how old I was. I was getting an icky feeling from him, so I didn’t give much away. Then he shot his shot. This man, thrice my age, asked me out. I felt bile rise up my throat. I repeatedly told him off until he finally went on his merry way.
Something like this had never happened to me before. I felt disgusted. How can someone like that, in good conscience, hit on a teenager?
I finished the painting as quickly as possible. I think some of my turmoil made it into my brush strokes.
You can find this painting in the store here.
The light I had seen the first day of painting.
Even though the second day was overcast, I imagined the lighting from the first day.
