Day 12 of the 30 in 30 - "Stripes in Kuala Lumpur"

Well, I have fallen a day behind in the 30 in 30!  Oh no!  The good thing is that there are no laws dictating that I MUST post a pic every day, so I won't be going to jail any time soon.... :)

Anyway, today's painting is in the Worlds 8th most visited city in the world - Kuala Lumpur.  The capital of Malaysia, it is also the largest city.  I, for some reason was attracted to all of the colorful buildings in Kuala Lumpur.  Something that is sorely lacking in cities like New York.  It is funny how when you look around cities you start to notice things like this.  You can go up and down the street in Kuala Lumpur and find bright, colorful sometimes outrageously designed buildings. This, once again made it hard to choose what to paint.  I opted for this building as I liked the people sitting in the cafe setting and the very rigid striped pattern of yellow and red.  Lots of patterns in this one and also a very different composition from the other "Glimpsed" paintings I am doing.

Stripes in Kuala Lumpur, oil on panel, 4"x18"
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Day 11 of the 30 in 30 - "Passing by Dubai"

Dubai is a city that seems to have sprung up out of the dust in the Middle East.  It is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates known for luxury shopping, ultramodern architecture and a lively nightlife scene.  I first heard of it about 8 years ago when the tallest building in the world (The Burj Khalifa)  was erected there. I thought it would be cool to paint the Burj, but alas, it is difficult from Google Streetview to get a good view of it.  As I mentioned yesterday, it is also difficult to decide which scene to paint in these cities. There is so much to see and many disparate areas.  But, Dubai was pretty clear to me.  When exploring the various areas of Dubai, I generally found that there is ultra modern, futuristic looking buildings springing up everywhere (Dubai seems to be in a perpetual state of construction)  and then on the outlaying areas, you have vast areas of low slung, very average looking buildings.  I chose a view from one of the many twisting highways, zipping by a particularly nice arrangement of shiny skyscrapers.  For some reason, it reminded me of Tatooine, the fictional Star Wars planet Luke Skywalker was from.

Passing By Dubai, oil, 4"x18"
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Day 10 of the 30 in 30 painting Challenge - "Istanbul, Sultanahmet Square"

The challenge of designing painting after painting on 4"x18" panels is more difficult than I thought it would be.  The severe vertical-ity of the composition is limiting - there are many times I see a composition I would love to explore, but it is square or a long horizontal...  But I am pretty determined that I will stick with the 4"x8" to the end of the 20 Glimpsed paintings...  Why? because I have found that even if I think I am bored with a subject or idea etc... I find that there is always something new to discover if I keep plugging away at it... Today's painting is the 6th most visited city in the world - Istanbul.. (bear in mind, I have come across several other sites that list the cities in a different order, or sometimes other cities completely) 

Another challenge of this Glimpsed series is trying to decide which scene I will use.. I mean, there are infinite views available on Street View, and often cities have posh shopping districts, slums and everything inbetween.  What to choose?  For Istanbul, I chose a Mosque as there are so many mosques in the city and it seemed an important feature.  It was what I was most attracted to. Other cities haven't been as clear.  Like New York for instance!

Istanbul, Sultanahmet Square, oil, 4"x18"
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Day 9 of the 30 in 30 painting challenge - "I Love New York"

Back to globe trotting... Today's painting is a glimpse of the world's 5th most visited place - you guessed it, New York City.  This was the most challenging painting in this series so far for many reasons... the biggest of which is that New York is not just ONE thing.  Of course neither is Paris, or Bangkok, but, New York is just so many things.  The people,the buildings, the scenery, the energy! So much to see.. It is impossible to choose just a glimpse of New York to try to represent the city. So, I ended up opting for a traditional city scene, right near Time's Square, with a traditional "I Love NY" sign displayed... 

I painted this one more loosely and with lots more paint to attempt to capture the energy and life of the city.

I Love NY, oil on panel, 4"x18"
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Day 3 of the 30 in 30 - Passing the Grand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand

I am currently fascinated with what I call "Glimpse" paintings. The severe composition (4"x18") is intriguing, challenging and surprising... So, during this 30 in 30, I will be doing a series of glimpse paintings that will show 'Just a Glimpse' of the 20 most visited places in the world.  Today is the first in the series - the #1 place people visited in the world last year was Bangkok, Thailand.  This view is of a side entrance of the Grand Palace, a not to be missed landmark in Bangkok.  I am excited to bring you glimpses of hot spots around the world!

Passing the Palace, Bangkok, Thailand,  oil, 4"x18"
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