Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 21 - DP No. 44

"Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 21"
6in x 6in Oil on Panel
Click Here to Purchase

This was a really beautifully colored shophouse on a cloudy day.  It had the ceiling rafters painted a white, kind of similar to some of the homes in Charleston.  I'm just continually amazed at the different color combinations that have been used on these houses.  They use a lot of very interesting complimentary colors.  Take those windows above for example.  They used a muted green and a muted red for the shutters, and the house itself is a light aqua.  Sometimes the colors come out garish, but often it somehow works.  I try to stay pretty true to the color schemes of the homes, as I feel like that is an important part of what makes them what they are.  And sometimes I do edit the details a bit - the Rococo style homes are an absolute bear to try and render all of the detail correctly.  So some artistic license is used, but not too much. I like to think that if you ran across the home on your own, you would definitely recognize it.

Oh, and in other news, I finished my midterm for my Cityscape class.  The one that I mentioned was a doozy?  Well, here it is completed.  I really love the way it turned out, but the funny thing that I've noticed with my work - I don't do industrial and gritty.  Part of why I was attracted to this scene was how industrial it was - the heavy machinery, the movement, the containers.  But by the time I was finished with it, it had lost all grit.  I also liked the way the light hit the yard, which is what I wound up subconsciously emphasizing and making the focal point.

Well, this is how I think art tells a lot about an artist, even without them knowing it.  Every time I have a gritty, dirty scene, it winds up having a lot of light and hope.  I'm an optimistic person (mostly), so maybe this says a lot, and maybe I should just focus on the type of scenes that play well to my personality, like the shophouses and other cityscapes.  I think they wind up reading more true.  I've always been a believer in trying to strengthen your weaknesses, but I think this is more about playing to your strengths.  I was definitely surprised at the result.  Sometimes things have a way of painting themselves, pretty funny, isn't it?