Summer is a great time to get out and be with family and friends.  Here is my idealized version of that day.  I like to portray people with their gestures.  They come in all shapes and sizes and the clothes they wear show their ages and fashions.  The street I used is in Madison, Indiana.

Last year my wife and I took a trip up the New England coast.  We enjoyed sailing at Newport, Rhode Island, Nantucket Island and Kennebunkport Maine.  Along the way I decided to make a stop at Rockport, Massachusetts.  There’s a beautiful harbor there.  I wanted to find someplace with boats in it and I’ve painted several from that location.  Rockport’s well known trademark is a red shack on Bearskin Neck Wharf.  It’s known and recognized all over the world.  It is the most painted structure in America and has been named “Motif No. 1.”  I guess I had to be like thousands of other painters who’ve used it in my art.  I had no idea it was so famous when I saw it and only found out about it’s fame when I finished the painting.

This is a painting of Venice.  It gives the impression of depth — the viewer could go right into the painting.  This is done with linear and atmospheric perspective.  In the linear the water is wider at the bottom of the picture and gets narrower as it goes back.  Atmospheric is demonstrated by the boat in the front being bigger than the ones further back.