On the Easel: Route 66 Golden Spur Restaurant Painting (Post 1)
As part of my new series of Route 66 paintings I am starting with an image close to home. The Golden Spur Restaurant is located in Glendora, California.
Photo courtesey Drew Knowles
author, Route 66 Adventure Handbook
www.Route66University.com
How I begin a painting is to first photograph the subject. I am not a plein-air painter so I work in the studio. I’ve traveled Route 66 several times. In the Los Angeles area it goes through several cities, including Glendora.
When I photograph I take as many shots as I can with my Cannon D-10 digital camera. When I started my art career I used film. That seems so long ago now. I shoot different angles and try to get a shot I can use as the main image. I take anywhere from 5 to 20 shots of each potential subject. From there I save the images and later select the one I use for the painting reference.
I then choose the canvas size. Some artists create their own stretcher bars and stretch their own canvas. I don’t do that. It is not because I can’t do it but there are commercial pre-stretched canvas available and sometimes at a better price (including my labor time) than I can do myself. A good source for this, especially during their 1/2 price sale, is Aaron Brothers Art Mart. If you are going to stretch your own canvas, including putting on gesso, here is a good reference site for more information.
Next Post: Transfering the image.
July 17th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
I don,t see Golden Spur on your web-site yet are you still working on it?
September 6th, 2007 at 6:10 am
great sign ~ wonderful restaurant (having lunch there today, as a matter of fact). looking forward to seeing the painting. for those who would like to look the the place up and try it tho, they should know that it is in glendora, not glendale.