Sunny Side start

This is a painting in process titled "The Sunny Side of the Street" but it's really all about this glowing laundry line in the alley on Burano, Venice.

The glowing laundry and the red reflected light bouncing throughout the entire alley emanating from the red house made this memorable for me. (You all know by now I like red.) My reference photo only reminds me of the painting I wanted to paint. The photo is jumbled and confused and as always, doesn't show me the light or the colors that made me want to paint the painting. For that I have to use my memories of the moment and the painting that I saw in my mind's eye when I stepped around the corner and look into the alley.

Some problems with using photographs are: It might be good photograph but a good photograph does not make a good painting. The colors are always what the camera sees and not what I see. The view is distorted by virtue of getting everything into a lens of a camera and not through my eyes. A photo has much information that doesn't support my objective. So I make changes to paint the painting I see.

Using a photo reference involves color changes, compositional changes, perspective changes, value changes, design changes, scale changes. I am sure that I left something out. So when I have to use my photo as a reference, it's all work and problem solving to bring it to life.

I hope that it goes without saying that this is my photo. I NEVER use a photo taken by anyone else. Not because it is a copyright violation but that I just can never see things the way other people see things.