Happy Fourth of July!

Most of the paintings I do are inspired by the every day places or things I encounter.  If I'm lucky enough to have my camera with me when inspiration strikes, I'll snap pictures that I can work from later.  Two summers ago Robert and I drove up to Memphis from Oxford for the day and ended up at "Bike Night on Beale."

When I saw this motorcycle I guess it struck a cord with my patriotic side.  It took me two years, but I finally got around to painting it. 

"A Ride with Pride" 5x7 watercolor on paper by Holly B. Johnson ©2012

Obviously I mostly copied my photo, but I did take a few artistic liberties like leaving out the backpack on the back of the bike and nixing that guy with the towel around his neck and the lovely trash can next to him.  I also ended up having an actual physical model to work from, which was super helpful.  I like to simplify the subject matter in my work but I can't really do that until I've figured out what's what.  I was having trouble distinguishing all the parts on the bike from just looking at the photo so I called Robert over to help me.  He looked at the picture for like a nano second and then steered me outside. 
 

Turns out the bike in the picture is exactly like his- same make and model and everything- only his lacks the stars and stripes paint job.  We do have the stars and stripes proudly flying out on the front porch though. 
Hope you're displaying some patriotic pride today too!  We're so blessed to be living in a free country! 

Happy 4th!!