There was a drum circle for Earth Day in one of our parks here in Atlanta, and my wife & I attended, and brought our drums.
Usually, the people here who participate in this don’t like photographers, but I explained that I was only taking shots to make a painting, so they let me do it. I used my photos as reference for this oil painting. It’s about 40″ x 30.” That’s my wife on the right, playing the conga.
I had painted the moon on her drum, and there was a sun on the blanket that they had laid down for people to kneel on, so I thought that was a neat juxtaposition for the painting. The whole thing (the drum circle I mean) turned out pretty well… about 20 or 30 people showed up.
I like big drum circles like this. Even though I don’t play any kind of drums very well, I find that if I bring my bongos, I can just stop thinking and let my hand do what they will… they kind of fall into place, and keep the beat all on their own.
This happened a few years ago, to be honest, but I thought I share it with you all, because the painting did come out pretty well.
It’s extremely difficult to depict that sort of scene (60s, hippies, new age, etc) without it looking cliche. Most writing, painting, photography along those lines really falls flat for me. You, however, have transcended that problem, went beyond the “scene” and found the people. Really well done. I think it’s got a bit of Diego Rivera in it.
[img]http://planetpov.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/rivera.jpg[/img]
Buddy, really great work. I don’t know why it reminds me of Seurat
[img]http://parkwestgallery.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/grande-jatte.jpg[/img]
Funk — This is one of my favorite paintings, ever.
I love this painting too.
If you haven’t seen the show “Sunday In The Park With George,” then you should definitely rent the video. Stephen Sondheim is not my favorite composer, but Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters both deliver excellent performances. It’s a musical, and it’s all about Georges Seurat and this painting in particular.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_in_the_Park_with_George
If you do decide to rent the video, then DON’T WATCH the following excerpt, which comes near the end:
Buddy
This painting reminds me of some paintings(I am sorry I don’t know the artist) that were featured in the Cosby Show. They were pastoral scenes of black women and the artisty caught my eye.
I am a Thomas Pradzinsky fan. I love his paintings of Paris streets. I have one of his serigraphs number 12 of 200. Cour de L’Etoile D’or is the name of the painting.
I had to look that up, because I’d never heard of Thomas Pradzinsky:
[img]http://www.viningsgallery.com/_images/featured-artists/thomas-pradzynski/lg/cour-de-l-etoile-d-or.jpg[/img]
Yep, that’s a good painting alright! It’s so real-looking.
He was Polish and emmigrated to Paris where he painted street scenes. He was killed with his wife in a car accident a few years ago. I have two of his, the serigraph and a small oil. I could only afford the small oil. Together they cost me 14k but it was worth it. The two painters above are also reminiscent of your work. I just love his work. Buying a nice piece of artwork is a different experience. Do you sell yours? You should. I buy local artists and have three of them from Benicia Ca. All watercolors.
Buddy,
Another beautiful painting!
I love the soft- almost ethereal quality.
Buddy, this is wonderful. The dappled sunlight is perfectly done. The trees are amazing. And the character I like best is the woman on the left with her frank, steady, unsmiling but not unfriendly gaze out at the viewer. She pulls the observer right into the painting.
I’m recovering from a ridiculously expensive car repair at the moment, but I would still love to make arrangements to be able to own my very own signed Buddy McCue! I’m going to hold that thought!
Kudos Buddy. Another great painting. I really like this one. (not that I don’t like the others) 😉