Clock Tower, Prague

61 x 46 cm, oil on canvas

The famous Prague Orloj towers above the Old City Square, and I took some photos of it while walking with Max one day. The architectural paintings I had done up to that point were improving, but still not right. The compositions were boring and whatever had drawn me to the images in the first place was missing. So whenever someone was trying to tell me something important, I wasn't really listening because my head was solving the problem of how to paint buildings. One day I was trying to arrange canvases so nobody would notice how many unfinished ones were just lying around and I picked up this blank one, looked up the clock tower photo, reminded myself of what I wanted, and got to work.

Instead of carefully plotting out the lines or doing any undersketches I worked fast and freehand until I had my composition and the suggestion of the level of contrasts I was after. I stretch and prime my own canvases, and I'm not sure why this one was different, but it had a very rough, fuzzy surface that resisted the use of smaller brushes and detailing. Parts of the first painting stage charmed me so much I left them, and they serve to reflect how the eye works, with the center of vision in focus and the peripherals more undefined. I left some humans in the picture but took most of them out because the crowds down there are annoying.

This is the more popular side of the tower with its astronomical clock. Due to the narrow street here you can't get a good view of the whole tower unless you lie on the ground and point your camera at the sky. The clock itself is nice enough on its own - I'm sure it doesn't need me to paint it. I don't know who the girl is. It's not my photo. I do wonder how they kept other humans from entering the photo as there are always thick crowds there. Maybe it was early morning. If only there were some way to know what time the photo was taken.