Street Scene

Orchard Street

The street scene shown on the opposite page and the one shown in the frontispiece are interesting vignettes of the seamier aspects of city life.

Before painting either of these pictures, I took a number of photographs, finally choosing, in "Third Avenue," the period of day when the lighting conditions were most interesting—around 4 p.m. I did not paint either of these pictures on the spot but used knowledge acquired on location for a more detailed and interesting studio rendition.

"Orchard Street" shows another aspect of city life on a rather dismal day. "Third Avenue" is nearly completely representational, but "Orchard Street" is a composite of impressions of an area. "Third Avenue" has a softening trace of sunshine, and "Orchard Street" is shown right after a rain storm. Both pictures convey a mood of bustling city activity.
The street scene, like the figure, is not for the amateur painter. As a matter of fact, I have been approached by experienced painters who have found the street scene a bit elusive. I include it here not only because it is a phase of American life but because of its great interest to those who know only that phase of life.

This picture was painted in the same manner as all my pictures are painted— from light to dark and finishing with detail. Both "Orchard Street" and "Third Avenue" were drawn with reasonable accuracy, but in "Third Avenue" the elevated structure was lost as the washes were applied. Possibly seven overtones were used to achieve the final effect.

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