"Telegraph Hill" by Lesley Spanos. Acrylic on paper. Copyright ©2009, all rights reserved.
This was one of those crazy weeks when I thought I’d never get anything done for the current Different Strokes From Different Folks challenge hosted by Karin Jurick. My first mistake was forgetting to seal the paper before I started painting in oils. The paper sucked all the oils out of the paint and it felt like Play-Doh under my brush. I should’ve just started over, but I kept torturing myself with it. Here’s where it was when I abandoned it:
"Up Telegraph Hill" by Lesley Spanos. Oil painting on paper. Copyright ©2009, all rights reserved.
It didn’t totally suck – the light was okay in parts of it – but I didn’t like how tentative it looked. It was obvious I was unsure of myself and was adding detail just because I didn’t know what else to do.
I needed to loosen up, and it was too early in the day for wine, so I turned on some music, got out my acrylics, out and did a quickie:
Not pretty, but it got me out of that paint-every-detail mindset so I could move on. I started wondering how much detail I could omit and still have it read as a street on a hill. Using the same colors I used in the first painting, I painted this:
I almost left it like that, but I thought it needed a couple more identifying elements:
Hopefully now it looks more like city streets than a canyon.
I tried a new technique to get the telephone pole straight: I dipped the edge a piece of cardboard in paint and stamped it on.
This is going to be one of those paintings people either like, or will say “WTF?” 
Just in case any of you artists are still working on this challenge and need a street view of some of the finer details, here’s the location:
View Larger Map
This is actually a block closer than Karin’s view, at the 3-way intersection at the bottom of the hill. I know that view well – Karin was probably next to the San Francisco Art Institute when she took the reference photo. There’s a cable car line that goes from Taylor to Columbus in this intersection, so painting in a cable car wouldn’t be out of the question. (I thought about it…) Just around the corner on Columbus, you’ll see the world famous Bimbo’s 365 Club. Up at the top of Telegraph Hill a couple of blocks over is Coit Tower, which has some really cool murals in it.
Lesley Spanos
Lesley Spanos is a painter working in Indiana, USA.Translator
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Lesley, I love the transition. I need to try that once as an exercise to loosen up. When you mentioned that you started using oil on paper. What kind of paper to you paint on?
Thanks, Robin. I used Arches hot pressed (smooth) watercolor paper. It’s not a big preference, just something I have laying around and need to use. I use Atelier Binder Medium (acrylic)as a sealer. A layer or two of that on paper makes a nice surface for oils. If I paint something I like, I glue it to a panel and varnish so it can go in a frame like any other oil.
My first thought was “that is so cool, I have to click over and see what Leslie has to say about it…” Really great.
Leslie! Love the transition from realistic to abstract…and your thought process is so valid. I love the painting!
Wonderful!
Looks cool. Sure you weren’t at Height and Ashbury?
Definitely not a “WTF” painting … it’s wonderful!
This made me smile, I have definitely gone this route myself on DSFDF (Rehoboth Beach). It’s very satisfying to just glide that brush along, obliterating all the foufou details. And I see you already painted it realistically — well I’m giving you credit now for all that effort. Great job on all the versions!
This entry is one WOW painting, but I like each of yours, from realistic to modern.
Thanks for allowing me into your thought process on this one! Enjoyed your DSFDF painting.
I really enjoyed your entry this week. This is a really great interpretation of the photograph. Well done!
They are all very nice.
I had a vision of driving 100 mph with everything a blur–and then the hill.
I like the way you boiled it down to this somewhat abstract piece. The power pole is what really pulls it together making it a streetscape. Very well done. Too bad about the paper…the first one looks pretty darn good too.
Wow! Your painting really caught my eye and imagination, as I paged through DSDF looking for something else. I often just don’t have time for the challenge, and this week, I thought, ouch, I could never do that one (detail is not my strength) – but YOURS, wow, I can feel Steve McQueen flying off the top of that hill, and I can feel the heat and the coolness and the ache in the legs – what a wonderful painting!
All I can say is you’re an amazing artist. I love your work.-ALL of it !
Wow, love all that process you went through and I like all of them actually. well done
Awesome rendition, Lesley~
Appears a bit more rural to me, and the motion is thrilling…..I feel like I’m flying over those hills on a skateboard…..
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