Every now and again, you have to let the beast out of the cage to roam free through the wilderness. As an artist, that beast is experimentation. With this painting of The Depot, in Minneapolis, I decided to merge two collage techniques I have been working on: Photo Transfer, and New York Post Headline collage-painting.
The result? A hybrid.
It all begins with an old-school Sharpie sketch, on a fresh piece of 12″X16″ Canvas.
Then, a photograph of The Depot, flipped horizontally in Photoshop on glossy photo paper and adhered to the canvas with gel medium.
This was the same technique I used to create Neil’s Coffee Shop, one of my most popular paintings to date.
I have been wanting to combine the Neil’s Coffee Shop technique to the collage-painting style of late, per the The Guggenheim Redux above.
Now, it’s time to get down to it — adding the first headlines to the surface.
To balance out the image, I decided to collage around the central focal point, being The Depot building itself.
Next, a second round of drawing with the Sharpie, which brings visual layering in a subtle, but real way.
Relying on the original colors of the printed material shining through in places, I created a bright blue sky, contrasting with the orange tone of the building itself. In order to retain the proper feel, a certain rawness had to remain on the surface.
Always driven by process, it was exciting to experiment with revealing portions of each stage on the final image. This painting was also coated with Gel Medium Gloss Varnish to give it a shine. Here’s hoping its new oweners enjoy their acquisition.
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