Painting #6 – Process

For a change in pace, I am going to switch from the scrapped Brill trolleys I have been painting so far to some portraits of the Flyer trolleys that replaced the Brills starting in 1982. Although these buses are a little boxy and maybe don't have as much "character" as the old Brills, they are pretty much the first buses I actually remember riding, and therefore have a place in my heart. In terms of painting them, I am particularly drawn to the large destination signs with the big, bold type in yellow, and the BC Transit colour red and blue paint.

Because these buses are not on the road anymore, I had a difficult time finding images that I could paint from. I personally had not had the foresight to take any photos of my own while they were still in service. Happily, I found an amazing website run by some young transit enthusiasts from Vancouver.

http://www.trans-continental.ca/vancouver/

One of the webmasters and photographers, David Lam, kindly gave me permission to paint from images he had taken on this site. I am very excited, as they have over 250 photos of just this model of bus on their site, so I will have lots of inspiration.

This is a process photo of my first steps on my latest painting. I am going to try and get it done within the next day or two, and will post the finished result as soon as possible. Thanks for following!

Painting #5 – Exit Door Mirror

This photograph has always fascinated me, with all the ellipses and reflected type. If you are not quite sure what you are looking at, it is an image of the mirror above the rear door exit of a Brill, with a light fixture that has fallen open. I really enjoy painting images that are both abstract and representational. 

48 x 36 inches

Acrylic on wood

Commissioned work

My first post of the New Year is of a commissioned painting I did for a friend. Not a Brill, but an older GM which Rick used to own, and hopefully will own again soon. I am including a couple of process pictures to show the steps I go through on most of my paintings.

I always am excited to do paintings of buses for enthusiasts, so commissions are most welcome.

I usually paint in all the dark areas first. I almost always start with a bright orange underpainting, and draw on top of that to begin the painting.

This is at the "almost done" stage. I usually paint the second most dominant colour (in this case a creamy white) as the second step. For this painting, however, I painted the background first so I could see how the other colours were interacting.

This is the final painting: 48 x 36 inches acrylic on wood. Thanks to Rick for the opportunity to paint his lovely bus.

Painting #4 – Trio of Brills

This painting was from one of my original photographs that I took in 1998. I loved how dramatic the grey sky was, and I took some artistic license to give it even more movement. I am a week behind schedule for this painting, and because I will be working at two jobs for the next few weeks, and with Christmas and the  holidays, it may be the New Year before I get the fifth painting finished. I am so glad to be busy again, however, and I find I use my time more efficiently when I have more structure to my week.

So, to all of my friends, family, and followers, have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

48 x 36 inches
Acrylic on wood

Destination Sign

I thought I would post another older image that I completed. This painting is of a destination sign lying crumpled on the floor of a Brill trolley. It is one of my favourite images; I have already painted two versions of it, and someday may do a third. I love, love, love painting type, so I guess that is why I enjoyed painting this one so much.

Ink and coloured pencil on paper.

Painting #3 – Bus 2271

I have completed the third painting in my series on the Brill trolleys. This painting was done on the 48 x 24 inch remainder of a larger piece of plywood from which the other two paintings were completed. This is  from one of the photos that my friend Rick took, and has a different feel to it because the sky was clear on the day he took it.

Tomorrow I am planning on buying more plywood to complete the next three paintings in the series. I would love to start on the next painting tonight, but unfortunately, the hardware stores are all closed. One of the drawbacks of being a night owl I guess.

Painting #2 – Bus 2282

Well, three weeks have passed and I finally have finished my second painting in the Brill series. I procrastinated quite a bit, but today I buckled down and worked on it all day. I like the juxtaposition of the weedy branches with the sharper edges of the bus; that was the main reason I chose to paint this image.

48 x 36 inches
Acrylic on wood

In this posting I would like to make public my appreciation to a retired BC Transit driver named Rick, who kindly supplied me with more bus photographs than I could possibly paint in the next decade. Some of them are of these same trolley buses, but at an older date when they were in a little bit (but not much) better shape. It will make the series much stronger having such a wide range of images to choose from, so thank you Rick.