"Waiting"16X20"
Oil on canvas
This is not a recent painting. I think I painted it sometime last year...or maybe the year before. I can't remember. I decided to post it here, because it represents my latest obsession: I want to paint like Edward Hopper. Why, you might ask, am I so interested in painting like Edward Hopper? There are a couple of reasons.
First of all, I love the man's use of light. He loved to paint sunlight, and he did it very well. Whether the light was part of an outdoor scene or streaming indoors through a window, Edward Hopper captured the dramatic effects of sunlight, or any other type of light for that matter. The lighting in my painting here is not nearly as dramatic as Mr. Hopper's, but for my artistic journey it does represent a big step in the direction I wish to go. Hopefully future paintings will show further progress.
The other reason I love Mr. Hopper's work is that he is able to say so much with so little. My favorite paintings of his are rather simple subjects, solitary figures in very ordinary settings, and yet each of these seems to have an entire novel behind it. I wonder if any writer has ever been inspired to write a book based on one of Mr. Hopper's paintings? Perhaps I should put down the paint brush for awhile and take up the pen?
At any rate, if you have not seen any of Edward Hopper's paintings, I suggest you check out the online exhibit from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. You can view the paintings and get a rare glimpse of the artist's sketchbook. I think I'll go take a look at it again right now...