John's Grill Painting

Neon Sign of John’s Grill in Downtown San Francisco. Ant’s-eye view showing part of the sign and the building rising above it. Watercolor Third Place Winner: 2019 Art Competition at the Cultural Art Center, Temple TX, February 2019 People's Choice Award: Orlando Museum of Art First Thursdays June 2018 Best of Show Award: Sanford Art Walk August 2017 Several passions drive me in making this piece. I've always been inspired by the Photo Realist movement, although I do not go to the extreme of using airbrush or projection. I love the freshness and look of watercolor on paper, therefore I include what I call "happy accidents" such as color or water bursts along edges and corners. My goal is to portray man made objects, particularly buildings, in their natural state of decay. Texture is important in these works and is shown through detail of the natural break-down of materials such as rusting metal and peeling paint on buildings and signage. Through this I portray a sort of melancholy of nostalgia, a time before, and quiet celebration of subjects such as Americana and pop culture. I also put a focus on structure and geometric shape by exaggerating the perspective a bit. This particular piece focuses on American neon signage. These old signs are still in usage, and yet many are disappearing from urban landscape. Lately, I've turned my focus to neon, so it is a reoccurring theme in my work. As to the materials, this is painted on 300lb Arches Watercolor Rough Surface. I paint all the way to the edges, so the work has slight holes I repair all the way around. I personally show the work floated in a shadowbox frame so I can see the deckle edge and all. I look to use high quality light-fast watercolor tube paint. Watercolor can be tricky. To build up this kind of color, many layers are painted in flat washes piled on top of each other, sometimes even 20 layers are required, while some areas are reserved for the white paper to show through.

Painting:Watercolor on Paper

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:29.5 W x 40 H x 0.1 D in

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