Back Alley, Frederick, 11 x 14, UART 400

I looked at the picture with fresh eyes this morning and I saw  that the right side of the house at left was too fat!  So I shaved it off and was immediately MUCH happier with the picture.  I made other small changes, trying to soften a bit of the detail at the left. The last thing was signing it with a majenta pencil, then adding some of this color into the bushes. It was amazing how much difference the building made and how quick it was to resolve.  In the photo, both buildings are the same height. I purposely shortened the one at left to minimize it’s importance. In so doing, however, it became a little more squat than it is. So straightening and lessening the right side made a difference. The building is now there but not calling attention to itself as I felt it was before.  I haven’t done much of this type of subject matter lately, but I love doing pictures of back alleys, with signs and telephone poles and blue trash barrels!  They have so much character and interest to me. Frederick, MD is a great place to see this, along with lots of church steeples and water towers! What I loved about this scene was the angles of the truck, sign, and shadows, contrasted with the point on view of the houses and foreground shed.