About the Painting: “66 Motel” in Needles, California
My choices in painting this image were numerous. One, It has “66″ in it and therefore was an obvious part of the old mother road. Second, it has an interesting combination of neon and bulbs. Third, it was weather worn and had character. Although my style is usually flat, sans much of the water marks and dings usually seen on a fifty year old sign, I left some of the character of age in the work. Since the sign is actually quite small, the cropping makes it look larger than it is, I added more detail than I usually include.
The square shape was a difficult choice. A rectangle would have shown more of the sign. However, there would have been too much dead space in the upper left of the painting. I could have solved that with interesting cloud shapes or trees. I decided against that and focused on a closer version of the image. This was one of my earlier paintings in the series and the tight cropping soon became part of each future painting.
One of the aspects of this painting that I love are the shadows created by the neon. Since I photograph my subjects and then go back to the studio to paint getting the right shot at the right time of day is important (but not necessary). There are many variables that I cannot control and one is where the sun is located when hitting the subject. A low sun angle projects a more dramatic showdow while a noon time sun has a less interesting straight up and down shadow. Then there is the location of a sign on a building or on the south side of an east/west street. These subjects are often in shadow. I can create the neon shadows regardless of if they are in the reference or not. However like most people, if I can make the job easier I like to use the reference shot as much as possible.
To purchase a print of “66 Motel” please visit the Anthony Ross Studio Website.
September 21st, 2006 at 8:59 am
[…] Anthony Ross at of the Anthony Ross Studio Blog explains his uncannily realistic painting of the 66 Motel in Needles, Calif. […]
July 14th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Your stuff is so cool. Do you have any more of the route 66 images. I am a big fan and love to collect memorabilia. I remember some from vacations as a kid but so much is gone now. I think that should be a sin to just demolish such an important piece of our nations history.
July 15th, 2007 at 7:25 am
Hi Lila, Yes I am actually working on a series of new Route 66 paintings for a show in Oklahoma later this year. I will have information posted here as it gets closer (it’s in October). I’ll have 10 new paintings all of old signs along Route 66. I’m doing a special edition of the old Coral Court Motel which is no longer there.