These two works were done primarily from life but also touched up back in the studio. I did the wharf picture on site using colored pencil and watercolor. I redrew it on toned paper that night, using my sketch and photo references. I was really interested in getting the geometry of the buildings and the dark squares balanced. The view of the harbor started on a gloomy day when it wasn’t really practical to draw outdoors. From the 5th floor window I could see the wharf area and the large parking deck in the foreground. I wanted to get the sweep of the harbor on the paper without resorting to shrinking it to a horizontal band. I compressed the view and decided to include the parking deck (albeit without cars). When I brought it to critique I was encouraged to continue working on the values and achieve more contrast. I went back to work on it the next day but the weather had changed and it was no longer gray and overcast. I decided to change the water and sky to the blues I saw. I do still like the parking deck.
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