Robin Kibby’s Urban Landscape Paintings

Today’s featured artist is Robin Kibby, a painter from the San Francisco Bay area.

Robin’s paintings really appealed to me right off the bat since I’ve always been a fan of urban landscapes. I think what I’m most drawn to are the geometric patterns and very logical compositions that present themselves in man-made objects.

This first painting, for example, depicts Interstate 880. At 4″ by 4″ it actually appears larger on the computer screen than it does in real life.

In it, Robin uses her brushes to good effect, building up each pylon with horizontal strokes (which adds a sense of weight and stability) and creating long, sweeping movements near the top rails which seem to suggest the bustle and flow of traffic.

Unlike some urban landscapes, Robin’s paintings contain intense colors—they’re not all dreary, run-down buildings and cement-gray freeways.

(Notice how even the concrete bridge above is a soft red, with contrasting blues and greens to set it off.)

And many of Robin’s paintings are simply telephone poles or wires put against a glowing sky.

Sometimes they feel more like abstracts of the sky itself, as Robin makes use of both the curved and angled power lines to separate each painting into sections of blue or sunlit white.

Robin also creates several paintings at a time to explore different aspects of a single location, so both of the previous paintings belong to a larger series.

If you have a few minutes, head on over to Robin’s website at RobinKibby.com and take a look at the rest of her work. You’ll also find a few beautifully colorful diptychs like the one below entitled Flatland View.