It Nearly All Went up In Smoke!

I nearly called this one Lazarus, as it almost died on me and took a lot of resuscitation. The smoke and steam went from bad to worse. I have never painted clouds, let alone steam before and, being me, I don't do test pieces... life's too short.

I tried so hard but it looked like soup. I got to the point when I had nothing to lose, and let the brush take over and do the painting instead of me.

The painting is far from perfect and missed my expectations by miles, nevertheless, the mixture of pen & ink on canvas with paint seems to be an avenue worth pursuing.

Quite a big painting then, by my standards. It doesn't do justice to Josh Friedman's photograph, for which I apologise.

                                                           Veteran Steam Engine                                   John Simlett
                                                                                                                         (from a photograph
                                                                                                                           by Josh Friedman)
Pen & Ink and Acrylic
On Stretched Cotton Canvas
31.5 x  23.5 inches (80 x  60 cms)

Reference Photograph Courtesy of
JoshFriedmanPhoto New York
(6 x 4 inches)