Fish Out of Water!

 "That Green Bug is Cool!" 8 x 10 in.

This is my "keeper" from the first two days.  Painted this on 12th and O'Ferrel St in Boise.  Only one person came up to me and he was very nice.

For the last few years, I have focused solely on landscape painting.  Mostly because I love it and mostly because it gets me outside in nature.  However, this week I have been a fish out of water. I signed up for "Plein Air Boise" which is my very first plein air painting competition (above is my "keeper"....the others stunk)

I'm not big into competitions. I think I spent all my competitive spirit when I played sports but since it was local and since I had never done one before I thought, "ah, what the heck?"  What I realized is how different cityscapes are.  In general terms they're not that much different form landscapes, you still have to do all the art stuff like values, color, design, edges, brushwork, etc.  What is different is all the city "junk" like people asking for directions, honking horns, crazy people talking to themselves, bike riders bolting past you, foul smells form trash cans, little kids asking "what are you doing?", dogs sniffing you, delivery trucks driving right in front of your subject, and people listening to their I-pods way too loud. 

I guess some people love humanity and others don't....put me down in the don't category....till next time!