Trader Joe's current theme is "Falls Church Civic Pride" or something like that, so I've been creating pieces that provide nostalgia for the gadget-laden overworked current residents of this Washington suburb. Imagine yourself back in 1900, with no computer or cell phone or microwave oven or even a car. You get around by horse cart on dusty dirt roads and you travel around the neighborhood, or to Washington, on an electric tram. Your grocery store and the post office and the tram stop are in the same building, depicted here as copied from a photo dating from around 1900. The sign in front will say "Post Office." The one-floor building, with its unusual roofline, is long gone, along with that post office and the tram. I've tried to give it that quiet summer feeling of long afternoons and unhurried schedules. Yes, it was quieter back then because there weren't any aircraft in the skies, none of the helicopters that constantly fly overhead ferrying dignitaries or police.
This was done in acrylics on Masonite and the architectural straight lines and details were very difficult to do. I used acrylic markers but since they don't come in the tan and brown colors I want for these wooden structures I had to mix them in a messy way. Drawing against ruler edges with these markers was also messy. I will have to create custom markers for future assignments.
"Nostalgic Falls Church" is acrylic on Masonite, 4' x 3', February 2013.
1 comment:
Very impressive! For not haveing th right tools, this looks amazing!
Post a Comment