Saturday, November 01, 2008

San Pedro Rail Bridge


This is "San Pedro Rail Bridge", another large new painting, 36 x 48 inches, oil on canvas. There's alot of thick impasto on there, as well as thin washy areas in the shadows. I troweled down some thick paint on the areas of the concrete bridge supports, I really like the effect. And I'm especially pleased about how the palette and overall color harmony of the painting turned out, sometimes less is more. The simple, yet bold graphic effect of the composition really worked on the large scale of the piece, it makes for a looming and weighty feel over the viewer's vantage point.

13 comments:

Jesse said...

It feels solid, and I am quite fond of those colors. Wish I could see it for real, and see how the paint was laid down.

Anonymous said...

I agree, it does look extemely weighty and I love the way you have painted those girders. Cool shadows too.

tonypetersart said...

Hey Jesse,

Thanks! Nothing beats seeing a painting in person, and this one has a particularly nice presence about it (if I do say so myself). But I'm glad you could stop by to see it here on my blog.

tonypetersart said...

Hi Alexandre,

I appreciate your comment! I'm often looking for an opportunity to use those beautiful green iron girders in a piece... and I just happened to be at the right place at the right time for the light.

David Lobenberg said...

Love the constrained color palette, the reflected light on the top and bottom bridge girders, and the cast shadows. Sure wish some of that trowled impasto would show up better. Are those railroad cars crossing the bridge?

tonypetersart said...

Hey David,

Sometimes I'll throw a glaze over my paintings to emphasize the peaks and valleys of the brushwork and palette knife marks. But this one I put the brakes on it, the piece feels finished at this point. The painting is so big that the brushwork doesn't reproduce at such a small scale.

Yes, those are double stacked shipping containers on the train cars. San Pedro is a port here in Southern California where tons of cargo of various sorts is unloaded off of massive ships and distributed all over the country. I'm not quite sure if they contain Hondas or bananas.

Kim VanDerHoek said...

I am a sucker for a good architectural painting and this one has so many great aspects to it. The composition leads me right into it and the bridge structure keeps my interest nicely. My favorite part though is the reflected light under the bridge from the pavement. I wish I could see this one in person!

Larry Groff said...

Tony, Terrific painting, love the solidity of form, overall design and color scheme but most of all the mood and sense of place.

I've been living and paint in San Diego for the past year painting similar subject matter. I would love to see your work in person sometime and maybe have a coffee. You can see my work at www.larrygroff.com

Best,
Larry

tonypetersart said...

Thanks Vabderhoekart,

That area under the bridge with the reflected light was intended to just be the transparent underpainting. I was going to go back and rework it, but a couple friends restrained me. Glad they did, I like it the way it is now. It might be my favorite bridge painting I've done yet.

tonypetersart said...

Hey Larry,

Thanks for your email, I'd be glad to grab a cup of coffee with ya!

william wray said...

a strong one Tony, no wonder it sold so fast!

tonypetersart said...

Thanks Bill,

It was one of those paintings that just came together surprisingly quick (for me). I totally enjoyed doing it, beginning to end, like a labor of love.

Anonymous said...

That's really amazing...

Thank you..
___________________
Andrew
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