A Seat At the Bar

ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 12″ x 12″
Sold • prints available; email julie@juliemeridian.com to buy prints ⇢

This new painting is based off a photo I took at the Jack Rose, tucked away off Highway 9 between Los Gatos and Saratoga. The bar is illuminated by yellow lights and creates a very cool effect on the concrete floor, especially with the line of bar stools.

I tried a couple of new things on this one. First: instead of sketching this one by eye, I tried out carbon paper. Much faster! Since these are just guidelines for getting the alignment correct, I’ll probably do more of this in the future. The carbon paper also doesn’t smudge as much as pencil does.

I also tried out a new paint color which created an interesting effect here. After I layered on the basic tones with the yellow ochre, burnt sienna, and burnt umber, I added on a few spots of nickel azo yellow. I thought it would pop out the lighter yellow colors, but instead it added an interesting oxidized-copper looking green to it, making the reddish bits in the burnt sienna pop out on the bar stools.

Ever since painting The Raven I’ve been paying more attention to the contrasts in the dark tones. Here, I used ultramarine only in the areas around the figures to make those a sharper contrast and let the rest of the barstools fade away.