Hamner Crossing: The Oil

Sometimes as an artist one will come across a scenic place that is just calling out to be put into an oil painting. Such was this spot in Nelson County right where the railroad tracks going North and South pass through the County. It has plenty of space, and visual impact one might expect from a railroad crossing. From as far back as Edward Hopper (which isn't that far of a stretch) the railroad scenes have been a real draw for we visual artist. Rails have such great and large visual props. This crossing caught my attention with its two crossing guards and lights. It is so structured and its contrasted by the chaos of mother nature all around it. So here we have order surrounded by chaos, what a site of novelty and the promise of good subject matter for my canvases. I started by photographing the scene. I took perhaps thirty or so photos from one side of the tracks but doing it from all angles. I simply walked far down the road and then walked back towards the gates snapping photos every so many steps. Then I came at it from the other way but from the same side of the tracks. I knew I what I wanted for the background so I knew not to change the side of the tracks I was coming from, because I liked what I saw (mountains namely, or small hills actually) from only one side of it. I picked a photo I liked, it had all the elements I was looking for from the photo I chose: both crossing gates, the hilly landscape, the road that took a sharp turn in towards the right side of the scene and finally tracks that ran cleanly and evenly across the picture plain. It was a go! I worked steadily for two weeks on it. I varied my time on it to both long enduring task times to short hour to two hour sessions. I got what I wanted done, then often I would rest. Sometimes, that would be the end for the days' work, then on other days I would continue to put in the hours. I lost track of exactly how much time I put in on this canvas. It was a lot, I just don't look at art as something someone needs to be careful about spending too much time at the canvas if the iron is hot. Other times it does interest me, just to see how much time one puts in on a piece. But not for these last two weeks. I can say I ate well and being that I used a laptop photo showing inside my house livingroom/studio I had all the comforts anyone would want available to make my time enjoyable. The result was apparently finished when it told me it was done. It did say, "that's all folks" once I reached an ending place. I took a good look, tried some shadow affects out but then redid my thinking and went back to a somewhat shadowless canvas, then that was "it". I hope my readers see it as a canvas that speaks to the viewer, because now my relationship to it is over, and it is yours.

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What Has Worked;

Poolside

Wyant's Store in Whitehall,Va.

Kidd's Store, Va. : an oil

Firecycle in Kamahura: 1954 or So