Squire's Castle
I grew up in the eastern suburbs of Cleveland. One of the things I miss most about Cleveland is its wonderful Metropark system. Not far from my house there is a place called Squire's Castle. It's a real live castle that was meant to be the gatehouse for an oil tycoon, but he abandoned the property and the Metroparks acquired it in the 1920s. Legends say it's haunted. It's made up of the shell of the building, with picnic tables and useable fireplaces inside, and it's surrounded by wonderful hiking trails. It's the kind of place that sets a child's imagination on fire, and I pretended all manner of things there as a kid. It's one of my favorite places in the world.
So when I decided a building would be fun to try to paint with a knife, I thought castle, and then I thought Squire's. I'm so proud of this one... all the lines and crenellations took a lot pf patience and I learned a ton while I was painting this. I was going to paint a girl playing with a dog in the foreground (me, theoretically), but ultimately I decided I liked the idea of a picnic better. I thought it needed something to frame it and to break up the long lawn, so I added the tree later.
This one is for sale. It's entirely knife painted except for the roughed-in base coat, done on 11 x 14 stretched canvas with a blend of oil paint and impasto medium. The medium makes it a little shiny and difficult to photograph, so I'm goign to wait for an overcast day and try to get you some better views of the finished product. $75
So when I decided a building would be fun to try to paint with a knife, I thought castle, and then I thought Squire's. I'm so proud of this one... all the lines and crenellations took a lot pf patience and I learned a ton while I was painting this. I was going to paint a girl playing with a dog in the foreground (me, theoretically), but ultimately I decided I liked the idea of a picnic better. I thought it needed something to frame it and to break up the long lawn, so I added the tree later.
This one is for sale. It's entirely knife painted except for the roughed-in base coat, done on 11 x 14 stretched canvas with a blend of oil paint and impasto medium. The medium makes it a little shiny and difficult to photograph, so I'm goign to wait for an overcast day and try to get you some better views of the finished product. $75