Playhouse Square I

I am working on the drawings for my new series–Playhouse Square–which I wrote about earlier. The series is based on photographs I’ve taken of Cleveland’s Playhouse Square. I wrote before about how I planned to use figures from different days in the same locations, about how I plan to use the entire Square and its inhabitants as my studio–so to say.

The drawing for the 48″ x 60″ Playhouse Square 1 is taking some time, and I’m not ready to show it. The composition combines figures from three photographs; two taken on different days along Euclid Avenue in the Square. Ironically, one figure is from a photograph taken not in Cleveland but in New York. I took a photo of this figure outside Penn Station. You can see the outline where I cut him out and pasted him into the composition.

For some reason, I like this figure

There is something about this figure I like. I’ve tried to work him into several paintings before getting him into this one. He’s self-absorbed yet alert. This won’t be the last time I use him in a painting.