Logan Circle 2, oil on linen, 16 x 20

Last weekend I delivered three paintings to Gallery Plan B in Washington D.C. for the exhibition, Local Color. The show opens July 28. This is another architectural study from my series on Logan Circle. It is really fun to walk the streets and see how many great buildings have been preserved.

Chimney Pots, 24 x 30, oil on canvas

When you look at all the hillsides around here one thing jumps out – repeated patterns. Most of it is the geometric shapes of houses. The idea behind this painting was the red chimney pots and how they created small areas of interest as the light caught them. It was a rather complicated scene that I did before as an 11 x 14 study. This piece was a combination of the study and a photo.  www.donoughe.com

Logan Circle, 16 x 20, oil on linen

These are part of a small series I'm doing for an exhibition in Washington DC next month. The show is titled "Local Color" at Gallery Plan B.  Because the Gallery is close to Logan Circle, I've decided to feature this historic area. The sculpture is John Logan, Commander of the Army of Tennessee during the Civil War. The area, which is also a traffic circle,  is surrounded by amazing Victorian homes. If you get to DC, it is well worth a visit.

Shadyside Light, oil on panel, 6 x 14,

I'm often asked if I'll do a painting of someone's house. The answer is yes – if I can do it from my own plein air study and photos. Usually these commissions start with a small sketch and study. The one above was done after visiting the location at different times of the day to get the best lighting situation. Optimum time was late day, around 6:30 - 7:45. That was perfect. The morning was all back-light and afternoon wasn't working either. The key was to have a nice distribution of light and shadow with the entry way becoming the focal point. After this small study was approved I started the larger size, which is 24 x 45. The final painting was started in my studio and finished on location. The process was about 2-3 weeks. A lot of that time was spent conceptualizing how it to create a painting that was worthy of that handsome house.