I decided to give watercolor a try. But since I haven't really done anything in the medium since grade school, I did a couple of experiments. First was this old rusty turnout tredle.
That worked well enough that I didn't even bother finishing it before moving on to the next experiment.
This one taught me that I need to move up to larger paper. So I did a goat.
Which told me I needed better tools so I went shopping before I moved on. This is the result of that shopping trip.
I decided to focus on locomotives that are in museums or excursion service. By going this route I can count on a lot of source material from the net, books and other sources that one old grainy photo often can't provide.
On the drawing board:
So. Is it art?
Becky
PS: these take me about a week from start to finish.
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Answered this over on Trains, too.
Keep going. It's art.
Of course it's art...and pretty darn good at that. I like the first one the best ( the rusty turnout treadle) but all are very good. Something about watercolours that gives the image a very "honest and even vulnerable" look. I have 2 railroad watercolours ...a TH&B GP9 and the TH&B Roundhouse in Hamilton about 6 months before they razed it. ( unusual in that it has all the big wooden doors closed on this large roundhouse with the vantage point just beyond the turntable, so it's not in sight).
Nice work Penny...also luv the pics from the fan trip with NKP 767 (765)...gave me a nice respite from the move this weekend, which of course was nerve wracking, stressful and exhausting.
I'll be back after Oct 1st, from holding a Geophysics Field School in the wilderness for a week ( far North Saskatchewan). No internet at all where we are going, only a Satellite phone for communication.
Keep up the great work Penny.
Its art, and well done a that. I like it when someone goes for a nontraditional view such as the first piece of the rusted turnout. Hope to see more of your work.
Just a quick peek.
Art? You bet! Love the turnout tredle. How many times did I "bend the iron" when I switched for Cotton Belt, Santa Fe, and Deutsche Bundsbahn? I'd be proud to own a signed and numbered print of your initial return to painting! It sure brings back many fond memories. Thank you for sharing! About me: www.railroadevangelist.com Links: Summer 2015 All Aboard, the REA magazine, page eight and nine.
Thanks! I have to give credit where credit is due. The photo I used for that switch tredle came from the archives of the Norfolk and Western Historical Society. They have a fabulous online library! Check it out sometime!
Photo or not, your painting of the old switch tredle really brings life to the picture!
OK, here's somthing I can't really decide on. Clean and pretty, or:
Ex-GTW mikado 4070 under restoration. She undeniably has a lot of character in this rusty but far from forgotten state. (If you look close you can see the grid mapping squares on the boiler and tender.) But what makes the better painting?
Art? OK. I've got an idea...
You paint 4070 as it is in the photo, then put a gaggle of people next to it looking at a pile of parts.
The title of the painting? "I Wonder Where THIS Stuff Goes?"
Maybe these guys:
Penny TrainsOK, here's somthing I can't really decide on. Clean and pretty, or:
A lot of fascination in the texture and different surfaces of the 'work in progress' (have you ever seen the "World of Work" etching series?) and Chris May's view of the large, rusty Santa Fe 'Boxpok by Baldwin' driver is iconic, BUT
following John D. MacDonald's views about science fiction, if you're going to paint the 'work in progress', be sure to paint in a couple of volunteers working on it, with appropriate composition to develop a human sense.
It's one thing to paint the living, breathing steam engines, another to capture some of the weary essence of traditional railroading. But a restoration 'work in progress' is just a still-life study without some human dynamism in it...
http://www.rgusrail.com/vavmt.html#nwm2c115
Art?
When its that good just 'getting back into it since grade school'... yeah, Id say thats art. The progression is obvious. I am curious to see how the 765 turns out, if not already finished? I know the thread is a month old already, I just got to it.
PM Railfan
Art is on hold while I work on this:
...which was finished just before election day. But this:
...and maybe part of this:
will be operational by Thanksgiving Day. I had to give up half of the room where the prewar layout lives to storage of garage sale merchandise, but I may be able to get some buildings to fit. Disneyland construction started today with the unpacking of the models so I can find out what needed fixing (I call it surprise week) and the cleaning of the track. By Sunday the 8' tree with 3,000 lights and 4,000 ornaments will be up and then I can start assembling the layout and decorate the rest of the house.
So, no painting till I get a "lull".
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