Painting the Unusual

"Mexican Sun", Oil on Panel, 6x6 inches
Jerry Lebo, 2007

We are going to leave Santa Fe in a few days and I was thinking about some of the unique things that you only find in Santa Fe--and trying to paint a few of them. For those of you who have been to Santa Fe, you will know what I mean--this place has its own style. As a painter, you can use this to your advantage--and find subject matter that really speaks of the place.

It strikes me as ironic that most of the things you find in Santa Fe are made elsewhere, in Mexico, Africa, Central/South America, and other places. Everywhere you go you see imported goods--just like the people.

Anyway, I was walking around and saw this clay sun hanging on a wall-and thought it was strange to think that these things are hanging all around Santa Fe--they are so common you would think that they are made here. In fact, they are all brought up from Mexico. Isn't it strange that in sunny New Mexico they have to import their suns from Mexico? In thinking about a possible painting, one of the things I liked about these guys is how they all have the same face, but in some way have their own unique quirkiness as well. They are like little cartoon characters hanging around the walls of Santa Fe.

So there you go, an instant painting. I took a quick photo and printed in color and B&W. If you saw my demonstration of how to develop a painting using a monochromatic underpainting then you will be ready to paint a "Mexican Sun" yourself. The painting looks pretty simple, but it is a difficult painting to pull off. You need to pay careful attention to which details to include and which to ignore. It is definitely a painting where you need to focus on what is essential to make the image and sensation of what you are seeing.

I hope I did it justice, but you be the judge. Would you hang this happy little guy on your wall?

Anyway, keep up your painting. Tomorrow will probably be my last post from Santa Fe before coming back to Washington--so expect a landscape painting to close things out. All the best, sixtyminuteartist