More Interlocking Shapes and Silhouettes

In this painting of the town square in Franklin, Tennessee, just south of Nashville, I was again very aware of the shape of the background buildings, which also determined the shape of the sky. The silhouette of the buildings interlocked with the sky in jig-saw style. I must confess to moving a few things in order to keep the roof line on the left side from being a boring straight line with no interrruptions, and therefore, no interlocking shape.

Also note that the colors and values run from warm darks in the foreground to cool lights in the distance to instill a feeling of receding objects. Without over-defining each separate building, the colors and shapes do the lion's share of the work. Overlapping the monument using small shapes of darks further accentuates the foreground and provides an aerial perspective to complement the linear perspective.

Silhouettes and gradation come in aid of an interesting shape. It doesn't take millions of details to give the feeling of a small city landscape. It just takes good solid values that overlap.