Another Day

"Another Day" is a large, (18x24) colorful and textured abstract painting on gallery wrapped canvas.

It depicts a man in a hat, shown in silhouette, and standing at a doorway. There is a bright light emanating from outside the building (possibly the sun) and his body is casting a shadow on the floor from that light. He has splashes of yellow on his body, and it's not clear whether he spilled some paint on his clothing, or if perhaps he has been shot full of holes!

This place, whether it is his home or not, is quite drab and depressing. There is little to no decor, and it seems the paint is actually peeling off the walls. The baseboards or floorboards and the crown molding and trim around the doorway are all a light gray in color, (although they look almost white in the photos here). He can't be happy to be there!

There's a real sense of mystery in this piece. Does this man live alone or does he have a family? Is he even human? It is not clear if he is facing the viewer or facing away from the viewer, so perhaps he is leaving these drab surroundings for a new life and/or better tomorrow (which the bright light may or may not symbolize, the bright light could be the light from an alien spaceship coming down to abduct him!)

The shadow that the man is casting on the floor continues on the bottom of the painting, which I show in the angled photo here.

While I used primary colors that are not usually associated with paintings that are this serious and somber in tone, I feel that somehow these colors work in this composition. The deep red glaze on the wall has a lot of depth to it, which I achieved by painting on a glaze of burnt umber on top of the red, and the blue walls have the golden tones showing through from beneath, giving them a very "organic" and abstract look. Also, the gold on the floor, transforms into a lighter yellow the higher up around the "man" you go., finally turning into white at the area above his head to simulate light. The door has 2 panels on it, that are chocolate brown colored, with a navy blue trim around them.

I created this piece by first laying down the texture paste. Then I sketched out the angles of the walls, and doorway, and then I just started applying color, finally painting the man, and his shadow and then the sides.

I signed it on the back, and it is ready to hang.