Love New York City. Was driving through Chinatown when I captured a few reference shots used to paint this picture. I’m usually attracted to light. In this case, what struck me was the shadow. Liked the cool, subtle detail on the neon signs and the grid-like angularity of the scene. Liked how the woman in the foreground hides the little girl from the bright sunlight. Particularly enjoyed painting the helix-like pattern of the fire escape shadows in the extreme background – must have had work on my mind, because it reminded me of a DNA strand. My wife told me this work was “different for me.” Once it was finished, placed it on our fireplace mantel next to “Eiffel Tower Carousel.” Told Stacey it wasn’t much different after all – can see a similar theme and composition (strong off center foreground figure facing the viewer; washed out background detail) in both pieces.
