Vapor Trails (der Leiermann) Painting

I saw this sky full of jet trails while driving home one winter afternoon in 2015. I don't think I've ever seen that many all at once, and hanging off the side of one of these vertical trails was a cloud that looked like a pole dancer. Ha! I took a shot with my phone. But it didn't really become an image for me until probably several days later when I happened to hear on SiriusXM a song that I've loved for a long time, Schubert's "Der Leiermann" from the coldly beautiful and haunting Wintereisse cycle, and suddenly the hurdy gurdy man appeared in my drawing, playing songs no one wants to hear. Even the dogs snarl at him. Watching you, old man, I see myself in you. One day I will play This hurdy gurdy too. And so I became the hurdy gurdy man, the dancer fading away in his past, in this watercolor, an oil and a linocut. This is on heavy watercolor paper, 23 x 30 inches, mounted on 3/16" archival foamcore, 27 x 34 inches, ready for framing. WATERCOLORS When I returned to representational art in the late '70s, watercolor was my first love - probably because it was so different in technique from the abstract oils I had done back in Florida eight years earlier. I became a transparent watercolor purist, working from light to dark, no opaque paint, ever. I used masking fluid in all kinds devious ways to achieve intricate highlights I couldn't get by painting around them. I got over the purism eventually, and sumi dishes from Japan became my preferred watercolors. Some of the lighter colors are more translucent than transparent and can be almost opaque if dry-brushed, allowing me to use them on black paper a few times - something unheard of the watercolor world! But mostly I use white paper for light, and I still use the masking fluid when necessary. I try to get the same high contrast, dramatic chiaroscuro effects in my watercolors as in my oil paintings.

Painting:Watercolor on Paper

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:34 W x 27 H x 0.3 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.