Riding the Bike Lane II

I love bicycles. I love riding trails near home and riding the bike lanes here and there. I’m always looking for a bike rider to include in a painting. Most of the time the bike and rider are just an accidental contributor to my thought process. That is what happened in this painting, “Riding the Bike Lane II”. We were on our west coast swing doing the tourist’s thing at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. The day was perfect with bright sunlight that created rich shadows. Pedestrians were in abundance and a group of biker riders, probably a family, passed by. I’m always ready with a point and shoot camera or my iphone. I snapped several frames and knew I had the makings of a good composition. Good fortune comes to those who wait. I made some adjustments to the position of the rider and added some pedestrians in strategic locations to end up with a bicycle painting that I’m happy with.

I video recorded the process of designing this painting from the layout, the digital collage to the first unsuccessful try then the second drawing and the final painting. I presented the recorded process to a couple of my art groups as a recorded demonstration.

The videography was fun but I know now that I have more to learn about such endeavors.