In a previous post within the Painting section, I related a story about an experience I had when painting abroad in Taipei, Taiwan. This painting is another from that same summer trip and it is a street view, which I later adjusted when I was back home and in my studio, but it doesn’t include any indication of the large numbers of residents and tourists found walking about on the sidewalks or within the cross-walk, or the density of the traffic passing through the intersection.
Because of the business and nature of the location I felt that I needed to work quickly, capture information needed, and then pack-up and move on so that I wouldn’t become too much of an impediment to the pedestrian flow. I wish I had had more time to do a more considered study of this view, perhaps from a slightly different angle, but all the same I am satisfied by what I was able to accomplish in a short time.
This is an example of one of the situations faced by artists when plein air painting. There is the usual dealing with the weather and changing light, but there is also – negotiating moving pedestrians, interruptions by the curious and the well-meaning onlookers, and traffic congestion – and yet, I hope that others who are interested in trying their hand at doing cityscapes see all this as less of a problem, and instead find a way to find pleasure in the process and experience.