Haltom's Jewelers Completed
Thanks, all of you readers who followed this painting along with me. I never felt alone in the endeavor. Thank you for the posted responses, the encouragement and above all, your continued interest. I’m happy that this one is finally closed and in the books. I’ll be taking it to the Weiler House Gallery for framing today. You can check out the website of my gallery at http://www.weilerhousefineart.com.
Thank you for reading.
Haltom's Jewelers nearly finished
I’m trying very hard to have this watercolor wrapped up and delivered to the Weiler House Gallery by tomorrow (http://www.weilerhousefineart.com). The latest obstacle interfering with its successful completion is our air conditioning breaking down today. It is only 102 degrees outside now, meaning that the inside of my studio is a cool 90 degrees. I find this exceptionally irritating, especially since I called in our problem Saturday morning and it only took four days for someone to come and announce that the motor was nearly dead, and that ordering and receiving the replacement would take a minimum 48 hours–then 3 hours after he left, the motor gave up the ghost.
At any rate, I still hope to finish this tonight and deliver it tomorrow. I will take one final photo of the completed work. I hope all I need do is complete the downspout and vertical slice of brick facade running down the right side of the composition. Of course, if I stare at it long enough, I’ll no doubt find other things to do to it. Nevertheless, I’m sticking with my self-imposed deadline. Tomorrow, then.
Thanks for reading, and especially for following up on this particular watercolor odyssey. It’s been an interesting path for me.
Haltom's Jewelers Clock, Sundance Square, Fort Worth, Texas
It’s hard for me to take a decent digital photograph in the comparatively dim light of my studio as opposed to outdoors in the daylight. But I wanted to get this latest development out there on my blog. Thanks to those of you dear readers who always offer so much encouragement, and provide the impetus for me to continue, even when I am tired, or on the verge of burning out.
I was terrified of watercoloring this clock, because I had no clue as to how to mix the bronze colors (still don’t!). I’ve been using Aureolin as my base, with touches of Cadmium Red Medium and the occasional Winsor Green. For tighter work, I’m relying heavily on a Dark Sepia watercolor pencil (Albrecht Durer brand), and sharpening it frequently to create clean edges where I can. I’m just about finished with the monument. The major thing that remains now is heavy street shadows with all kinds of variation going on. We’ll see how they come along (probably tomorrow–I’m getting tired!).
Thanks always for reading.
Haltom's Jewelers Clock, Sundance Square
This morning, I rose bright and early, determined to go after this clock that I have avoided from the start. I spent about 30 minutes on it, then quit to work out at the health club. Returning, I labored over it again for about an hour, then quit again, This afternoon, I am chipping away at it yet again. My fear has been that the clock would melt into the background, so I keep backing away to study my reference photos taken on location, to get a good read of the surrounding contrasting colors. As I’m getting deeper and deeper into this painting, I’m aware of my tendencies to “choke,” as I fear doing something that will un-do whatever good work I laid as a foundation. So far, I’m pleased.
Thanks for reading.
Haltom Jewelers details
By now you have probably guessed rightly that I am terrified of painting this monumental clock. I’ll get to it, when I’m comfortable with it. Meanwhile, I pursue the endless details. I’ve heard it said that the Devil is in the Details, but I have always found the Sublime in the Details, at least when it comes to drawing and watercoloring. I get lost when this occurs, and I find it totally enjoyable. My breathing changes when I detail a watercolor just as profoundly as when I step into a mountain stream with a fly rod. Considering that Texas is facing yet another triple-digit temperature day today, I could wish to be wading a mountain stream, but oh well–I’m glad to be painting.
Thanks for reading.
Haltom Jewelers plugging along
I feel that an apology is owed my blog readers. It has been several days since I’ve touched this watercolor, and therefore, posted on the blog. Several other details in my life have managed to crowd out my watercolor time. This is entirely my fault, as I’ve felt somewhat burned out on this piece for several days, and really hated to pick up the brush when my heart was not in it.
I did get out yesterday evening to the Fort Worth Stockyards, north of town, and did a plein air piece of the historic Hotel Texas. The attempt was a disaster, as again, my heart wasn’t in it. I choose therefore not to publish that sketch.
Tonight I put my best effort forward, and once again am beginning to develop an interest in this piece (particularly, to finish it!). I began work on the Worthington Hotel windows in the upper left corner, did some more pencil rendering of that magnificent clock, and darkened the background foliage to push the clock forward more effectively. Also I began work on the ground-story brickwork of the Jewelry store. Plenty of details are starting to get my attention.
Hopefully tomorrow I can turn the wheel several more revolutions. Thanks for reading.
Haltom's Jewelers Windows, Fort Worth, Texas
Most of this afternoon and this evening have been spent on the right-hand side of this large composition. Therefore, I chose to crop the photo to show anyone interested in what has just been rendered. The earlier posts show the entire painting surface. There is still so much to be done. I am pleased that I attempted to paint reflections and wooden blinds as seen in the windows instead of merely blacking them out, as has been my custom. This could be one of the stronger parts of this overall painting. Sleepiness has not yet overtaken me, so I believe I’ll stay with this one on into the night, as I have done the past two nights. However, I’ll hold off posting until tomorrow.
Thanks for reading. I’m starting to catch some momentum with this one.
Haltom's Jewelers, Fort Worth, Texas
I have decided to post this painting daily, as long as I am working on it daily. The details are emerging slowly. I worked on it in the studio late last night, until about 3 a.m. Now I am back at it on a Tuesday afternoon. For years, I have been fascinated with the monumental posture of this clock outside Haltom’s Jewelers in downtown Fort Worth, Texas (Sundance Square). I had always had a fantasy of rendering it in watercolor, and now that I am at that point, I find myself frozen at the colors in the bronze, both shadows and highlights. I’m still trying to find those colors in my palette. Once I solve the “bronze” problem, I’ll resume the clock. The reflections in the upper story windows of the jewelry store also have me fascinated. Too often, I just paint the windows as black silhouettes, avoiding problems of reflection and distortion. But these window patterns are too fascinating for me to do that. At any rate, if I botch them, I could always come back and turn them into silhouettes!
Thanks for reading.
Haltom's Jewelers Sundance Square Fort Worth, Texas
This watercolor is not coming along as fast as I would have liked. It’s been awhile since I worked on such a large scale (22 x 28″). The studio is rather cramped, but I choose not to go out to my 100-degree garage studio. There are many, many details to nail down on this one, particularly the clock. Nevertheless, I’m enjoying the experience, watching this painting emerge gradually under my gaze. I spent two hours on it last night (midnight till 2:00 a.m.) and now have invested about three more hours on it today. But it’s getting “addictive” now, and I love that feeling! Even when I have to straighten my back and walk away, I find myself turning suddenly, leaning back over it and doing something else. Endless details! But I love that in a watercolor. I’m a sucker for detail. And so this is going to give me plenty of outlet for that.
Thanks for reading.
Sundance Square, Fort Worth, Texas
It’s taken awhile to get started on this large piece (22 x 28″). I spent several hours yesterday, drawing out the composition. This afternoon, in the bloody hot garage (another triple-digit Texas temperature day) I poured my first layers of color onto the tree foliage (Aureolin and Winsor Blue). It took a few hours to dry. Now I have poured my second, darker layer (a combination of Sap Green and Cobalt Blue Deep), sprinkled plenty of salt, and then intermittently hit it with a spray mist bottle of water and added more salt. I’m afraid that is all I can do tonight. it is nearing 11:00 p.m., and I should probably give this all night to set up and dry before I strip away all the masking fluid underneath. I can’t wait to see how the beginning stages look tomorrow. the setting is Haltom Jeweler’s at Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth. I spent two days there this past week, photographing, sketching and trying to make a decision on what to paint next. I knew I wanted to tackle a full size sheet of watercolor paper again. It’s been a few months since I’ve poured watercolor onto the page. I’ve missed that sense of dizzying freedom. I’m glad the Muse is stirring tonight.
Thanks for reading.
Recollections 54 The Art of David Tripp 