This painting, "Academy Basement", received a merit award at the spring student show.  The assignment was to paint an interior at school.  I was excited with the way the pipes and other objects break up the surface of the painting and the abstract shapes that emerge.  I loved the process of painting this and was sad when we were summoned for the final critique (and I had to stop).

I did this painting for an in-class (and out-of-class) assignment.  There were two models (the man and the woman) in the studio and we had to invent an environment.  I made the mistake of not coming to the first session with a clear idea of what I would paint.  I only knew that I wanted to do an inner-city scene with graffiti.  Ha.  There were no obviously good images on Google and I somewhat impulsively decided to use Depression Era photos as references. So my second mistake was choosing to paint something I could not easily relate to.  I felt strange painting a very serious subject, ie. poverty, which I know very little about.  Was it wrong to use images of a very sad human condition solely for the purpose of creating art?  I know that question has been asked before and I am not sure there is a real answer.  Mistake 3: I started off with the square hut right in the center of the painting.  I have since made many seemingly minor adjustments with placement and perspective.  Breaking up the surface with various panels was also important.  Another issue that is still unresolved:  The girl looks strange and out of place.  I was not using a very good reference (hard to read).  Someone suggested I remove her altogether.  I'll let you be the judge.