Over time my process has changed, and getting a stylus for my iPad along with a new Adobe drawing app allowed me to incorporate more hands-on drawing back into my work. As I sketched out the palm tree I had to consider how it would translate to canvas. In the end my preference was to carry the hand-drawn look through to the final piece. The raw, sketchy look of the palm fronds betrays the effort required to paint all of those points, angles, and lines. That looseness carries over into the wooden slats of the house, where I held back from my tendency to be more precise. The more architectural details like the windows, chimney and facade of the porch, however, seemed like they deserved more attention.

While working on this piece I had an involved conversation about color with my son, and we were looking at a Van Gogh painting of flowers in a vase along side another painting of his of an outdoor cafe scene. They were very different subject matters, but the color palette used on both paintings was very similar. There was some point I was trying to make to my son when I decided to paint Palm House in the same colors. I’m sure there was a valuable lesson in there. 

The house featured is in New Orleans’ Garden District on a route I like to walk in the evenings.