Village Cafe

I am working on a few studio paintings in the River Ranch area of Lafayette, Louisiana.  The Village Cafe is the first one completed, which is also the place I have a few of my paintings on display.  I needed to go by there to take a few reference photos to paint from but time allocation was my dilemma. So, as a solution I decided to try a different approach.

I downloaded an app on my ipad called "Mobi Maps" which is the same as Google Maps for tablets. It has the street view option just like the regular version of Google Maps.  Some of the advantages I found painting from Google Maps was that I can move around until I get a view I like.  I was able to pan 360 degrees, zoom in and out and change my vantage point a little.  It almost feels like you are standing right there.  It is obviously much better to paint from life but I think this is a great alternative.

"The Village Cafe"

24 x 24 - oils on gallery wrapped canvas

The following photos are my painting progression photos:

1.  This photo was taken in a very early stage of the painting.

2.  This next photo shows the painting progress a little further on.  Even though the table by the front door is in the right place according my perspective view, I didn't like the way it hid the front door so I just removed it.

3.  This photo shows my progress with the table edited out.  Since my vantage point didn't show the front door, I went to the Village Cafe to take a couple of photos.  I made front door changes, added the little tree in the front and final tweaks to get to my finished painting (see above).

Note:

I have more of these I am working on and will be posting soon.  

This painting is for sale and can be purchased from my website www.mariarandolph.com

Happy Painting!