Daily Painting Plein Air Practice - Day 11 - The Red Trailer

There is an area in Omaha called Dundee. It is a small neighborhood with its own main street. In fact I show some work at the Dundee Gallery. It is home to the second richest man in the world (Warren Buffett) and its houses are unique and wonderful to look at.
But what is the first thing I paint when I go to this neighborhood? Stately houses?... no. A quaint scene on main street?...no.
I paint a red trailer.
This trailer sat there calling out for some Omaha artist to come by and paint it. So I did.
Here is a great example of how my self critiquing works when I get it back in the studio. Once I looked at it again I decided the branches at the top of the painting needed to go. It needed more light. So I painted more sky, rounded the trees and worked on the front shadows a little.

click on the image to enlarge the picture

The Red Trailer
9"x12"
oil on canvas board

I really enjoyed this one. I found a nice surprise also. Having a strong center of interest kept my interest in painting it. I should keep that in mind the next time I struggle or loose patience with a scene. Having that strong center of interest also made me slow down and think about the space around the trailer. I tried to keep that space from competing with the center of attention. One example of that is the decision I made to not paint in the wires strung from the power poles. An artist's prerogative. If I were to do this as a larger painting I might include them but here, I decided they took too much attention from the star of the show.