Illustration Friday: Speed
Knight Street, Oil on Paper; © Jennifer Pohl
In this spirit of today’s Illustration Friday I’ve decided to post as promptly as possible. I love to walk, so cars passing me often seem pretty speedy.
Friends may laugh at the thought of me and the concept of speed. I tend to work many pieces over months –and sometimes years– reworking, layering, and letting the work breathe so I can go back with new eyes and keep the colours fresh. But this tiny piece (the first of my night scenes, and my first to appear in a commercial gallery) was done in a single sitting the day it was to be installed, and the minute it was finished I called a cab to deliver it just in time for the opening. Sometimes it’s very hard to stop painting. I take solace in the fact that celebrated painters like Ross Bleckner have been known to ship wet paintings, and Turner was said to retouch and varnish his paintings while hanging in the gallery. More recent examples from the night scenes series can be seen in my new online gallery.
