February 18, 2011

People in a crowd - "Tourist trap" - painting in progress

[click on images to see larger]



I have always been intrigued by people I do not know. I wonder who they are, how do they experience things? Probably there are similarities with my own experience, but what differences are there?

In an anonymous crowd, they tend to take on a distant disposition, and yet feeling anonymous, they are curiously open to our scrutiny.

My Curiosity is not agressive or invasive but rather tender and compassionate. Each one has their own story, their own cares and joys.



 On a more technical note, I always try to depict them in the least detailed way possible and still evoke how I perceive their state of mind.


What is their relation to the where they are and what is their interaction with people nearby or sometimes simply their spacial connection to the whole scene.

In this particular scene, the light picks out one person and gives her focus giving a more interesting or dynamic feeling to the painting.
Paintings by Peter Hobden

9 comments:

Rodney van den Beemd said...

Love the way you show the painting in progress here!

Pete said...

Thank you Rodney. I will be putting together a video when it's done. I have 86 snapshots so far.

Kay said...

very nice!

Pete said...

Thanks for stopping by, Kay.

Anonymous said...

I love your opening sentence - and the painting. Strangers are a perfect canvas for my projections and for the concept of "different" - perhaps better? The tension of intimacy seen from external - I guess that's what makes strangers so interesting for me.

Pete said...

Hi Detlef. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Yes, a lot of things are tied up in that other/different/similar relation, not to mention the alone in a crowd feeling.

welsh said...

Your enchantment shows in your work, it's charming. I love the emotion! I also liked seeing the progression. Thanks for sharing that.

Pete said...

Thank you very much for your comment, Donna

Anonymous said...

Why everyone wants to stand out from the crowd? Is there anything else than just feeleng bit better after all?

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