Today’s submitted artwork is by Brian Simons, a painter from Vancouver Island, Canada. (Incidentally, I featured his brother, David Simons, several months ago on EmptyEasel as well.)
While I liked all of Brian’s work, I was particularly drawn to his cityscapes. Not only has Brian allowed the personality of the cities to shine through, but I think the shapes themselves are well suited for his particular style of brushwork.
Winter Streets Vancouver suggests an early morning to me—although I suppose it could be evening as well. It reminds me of my home town of Portland actually, with wet pavement and glowing, foggy skies.
The dark, almost silhouetted, car in the foreground adds a nice weight to this painting, and I love the nearly monochromatic use of black, orange, and white. There are touches of blues and purples all throughout it, however, which manage to impart a subtle wintry chill.
If you prefer the hustle and bustle of city nightlife, however, this next painting entitled Cityscape might appeal to you more.
In all of Brian’s paintings (not just his cityscapes) he shows an affinity for intense, vibrant color and here he’s used that color to accentuate the electric feeling of activity downtown.
On the calmer side of urban settings, this last painting entitled Mexico was also a favorite of mine.
As in all his paintings, he uses a full range of intensity, from the bright white walls to the dark shadows in the windows of the vehicles and in the alcoves of the buildings.
I also love the intense complementary colors seen in the blue sky and brick orange all throughout the city.
If you’d like to see more of Brian Simon’s cityscapes (or his other paintings) check out his website at www.briansimons.com.