Paintings in Progress: Watertank Blues

Several months ago I found myself on an afternoon photo shoot of old watertanks around the north side of Chicago. The watertanks have been figuring prominently in my both my paintings and photographs over the past few years. More recently, due to the decline of these structures, I've been making it a point to photograph them when I see them. Some of these are then used for reference in my cityscape paintings or as the main focal point. I'm also working on assembling the best for a series of photographs.

This 36" x 48" painting in progress is of the Finkl & Sons blue watertank which I discovered while wandering through the grounds of this near north side steel processing plant one spring afternoon.

Watertank Blues, acrylic on canvas, 2008 (work in progress)

Paintings in Progress: watertank and portrait

weed st watertank, acrylic on wood panel, 2008 (work in progress)

I've been working on a couple new pieces recently. One is part of my watertanks - city by the lake series and the other is a portrait of my wife. The watertank is on wood panel and the portrait is on canvas. I'm using photos as reference for both of these. For the portrait, I'm trying to make it more realistic than what I normally do for portraits, but also applying my usual style and color scheme. It's been a fun experiment so far...

portrait of mare, acrylic on canvas, 2008 (work in progress)