I finished blocking in this painting yesterday; it is 3o x 40 which is ambitious for me. This is being done from photo reference and the painting I did a few weeks ago: Alley Scene off Harvard Gulch Park. I have not touched the original alla prima painting wanting to keep the freshness of the brushstrokes and the angles I played with. I must remember to keep that going in this piece; my husband had to remind me to knock the telephone poles off kilter, which you can see I did do, but I think they may need a bit more of an angle. I am going to try and post photos of the progression of this piece as I paint it.

 What made me want to paint a brown paper shopping bag you may ask. While sitting in the Saturday class a month ago, Kevin was telling us the next assignment; to paint a large field of one thing and try to make it interesting. His examples were painting a landscape where the majority of the painting is just a field; or take the side of a building, but make it the major force of the composition. Paint this large expanse of one color and make it interesting. Sitting on the floor while this was going on was a chiptole burrito take out bag, which, if you are not aware, is a more vertical brown paper bag with black graphics and a handle on it much like this one. The juxtaposition of the bag and where it was on the floor and the lighting made me think, why not paint a paper bag? All one color and a large field with the handle to break up the space with good shapes. BUT, once I got started, I realized there really were too many plane shifts on this bag to fit the assignment. It is not yet finished, as I want to put the logo on it - a clothing store. I have no idea where I got this bag, but it sure was a fun project. And there is so much variation in color in just a "brown" paper bag! Painting is always an adventure.