City-fied Painting

In late November I met with a few Chestnut Group members to paint in a Nashville area called "The Gulch." I felt intimidated by the fact that cityscapes are filled with my artistic enemies: straight lines, perfect right angles, the need for flawless perspective. In order to feel safe, I picked a spot that had a comforting stand of trees in the distance. To my surprise, I ended up with a painting I'm pretty happy with. Another pleasant surprise–I had very little trouble from passersby, even though I was painting on a sidewalk. Very few people walked by, with the notable exception being an ex-army guy I will call Mr. Talkative. His chatty presence actually didn't bother me, because I like to listen to either music or talking while I paint, and my iPod battery was dead at the time. So as I learned about the life and interests of my new sidekick, I painted my first cityscape:

"Two Hour Parking" 5x7