The overall visual of this painting has been on my mind for a while now…over a year and a half actually! I was first inspired by a university trip to San Francisco back in December 2013. There is something special about San Francisco that I can’t put my finger on. It must be the combination of unique elements that makes this city stand out. From its eclectic architecture to its cable car culture….The Golden Gate Bridge to the island of Alcatraz….All of these features call the steep rolling hills of “The City by the Bay” home. It was partially this hilly terrain that inspired this painting.
This painting is about three main things for me: the distinctive San Fran geography; the interaction between the man-made buildings and the natural light; and finally the meaning behind the word “chasing” in the painting’s title. The first two elements are fairly self-explanatory, the third one maybe not so much. So let me explain… : )
I thought for something different (and because I finally remembered to take progress shots!) that it would be fun to post sequential photos of my painting process (you can see them at the bottom of this post). As you can see I forgot to take an initial photo since I already blocked in some colour, but at least you get the picture (pun not intended). If you look close at the first and second images in the slide show you can see that the car in the foreground changes. The reason behind this was my dad took a look at the painting’s progress and asked if the car in front was special for any reason. I replied with a “no”. He made a passing comment about how it would be neat if that car could look like the Ford Mustang from the 1968 movie “Bullitt” with Steve McQueen that was set in San Francisco. Being slightly younger than my father, I had no idea what movie he was talking about let alone what car! So I proceeded to run with the idea and do some research on this movie (which I discovered is arguably one of the best car chase movies of all time). Thanks to Youtube I had the chance to watch the car chase scene…boy did those cars take a beating flying up and down the hilly streets of San Francisco! So needless to say, I changed the car and then made reference to the well-known (to some) chase scene in painting’s name. Thanks to my dad for the inspired idea!
ROSALIE LUYMES STUDIO 