Landscape of Virginia

This painting is one of a small business building in Shipman, Va. Shipman is a railroad town that has seen its better days a while ago. Now there is little activity yet its buildings still are holding up. This particular building is right next to the tracks and also the Post Office. It is a business building of some sort, the owner is retired and it sits alone. I don't know if it is being used today but it is still in good shape. It really stands out among those in Shipman mainly for its distinctive coloring and shape. Its not like many other buildings in this part of Central Virginia. It has that very unique porch underneath the second story that covers it by jutting outward with a Red Leaf tree growing upward. Its unique. One seldom sees a tree being an important visual part of a covered porch but here it is part of the composition. And a very important part of this painting.

Work'n at home has been where I've painted most of the time since retiring. I like working at home because all of the needs for comfort while being at work are here in the house. Food, rest room, comfort from the elements, pets and so on, while something can be said for working onsite due to one being exposed to more details of the environment of the subject for the painting, its kind a hard to stand and be committed to spending as much time as it takes in order to get the oil painting finished. I cop out and work from a digital photo. Its not that bad. Somehow digital photos work differently than the old analog photos; one could tell when an flat analog photo was used. The image would usually have extremely sharp edges of objects and it almost always seemed as clear as glass in every part of the painting. Digital photos work differently for we artist who use them. We artist who use them, are much more likely to be able to get a lifelike painting done without