Leeds Street 1

Really great painting Joseph ! Perspective, movement, such intense colours emphasizing the light and shadow. You manage to combine fantastic detail with such a light touch. I've said it before : you tick all the boxes !

I like the way the bright yellow and orange stand out against the black building

Brilliant painting. i love the way you've captured the light and the shadows.

Oh no, just when I'm feeling reasonably happy with the way my city views are going, along you come and post this beauty for me to gaze at and those feelings of envy are back! This one is fabulous Joseph. Such good colour, just enough detail including those shiny bikes, the bins and yellow jackets and a perfect composition with strong shadows and again the confident sweeps of dark paint. The sign writing on the shop is just right as well without being overdone. Please tell, have you used masking fluid to get the lettering? This is seriously good !

Louise has said it, seriously good! I love it!!

Yes Louise's 'seriously good' phrase sums this one up nicely. Good rich tones and colours but does not feel heavy, great work.

It's is a great one Joseph and you have such excellent depth of colour in this medium, great composition of course, that mix of rideable transport and business rubbish collection bins makes for great subject matter that you captured expertly, a joy to see

Showing off now, eh! Seriously, this painting is magnificent. All the little touches, like the touch of green on the carrier of the blue bike in the foreground, and the echoing of the yellows and oranges throughout the painting, set this one as being up there with the best. It deserves a wider audience that just POL so I hope this is going on exhibition somewhere impressive.

Superb !!!

Wonderful - indeed, wondrous. I love the way you've made an otherwise 'period' street scene contemporary by adding the scooters and wheely bins.

Superb piece, Joseph - love the atmosphere and the superb brushwork that lends such immediacy to the painting.

Just brilliant, and you make it look so easy. Have a feeling you could be the winner of the "The Artist" competition, no, you should be the winner!

Super painting Joseph! Great attention to light and shade, the simplicity of your brush strokes make it all look far easier to do than it really is. Magic!

It has all been said, and you know I am a fan of your work, but this is is exceptionally good.

Thank you all for your superb comments - very much appreciated. Louise I didn't use masking fluid (I never have).

Well, however you did those letters, they're pretty good and I shall have to practice my lettering now .LOL

Streuth Joseph......this is amazing!!!

Thanks for the FB like Joseph. We artists can be a fragile lot don't you think and I was beginning to have my doubts about that particular one :)

Excellent work

Great work! I do like the energy flowing through the painting.

Thank you for all your great comments - again much appreciated.

Many congratulations for winning the Artist front cover competition!!

Hope you don't mind me asking Joseph but I'm painting the Man United ground at the moment and am struggling with the red lettering. It's too late to alter my effort now but as I'm going to paint another (well try to paint another) I remembered your lettering on this one and wondered just how you painted it without using masking fluid. Is it just penciled in and painted round and how come you're such a good writer!? If you're happy to tell me how, I'll look here, under this painting for any reply :)

Hi Louise, yeah no worries. I lightly pencilled the text - (if you can, use very fine lines), then I painted in the yellowy gold taking care as to where the light source is coming from - in this case I was trying to recreate the bevelled look). After this I paint around the lettering (paint very light at first so that if you make a mistake its not such an issue, then paint bold using a fine paintbrush for the edges). Doing lettering is extremely time consuming so if you are not 100% confident you could create a pencil grid so that it is accurate or do some sort of tracing method? I used to be a paste up artist when I was young so I know my way around text a bit - I used pencil rough visuals with all sorts of different fonts, this is why I don't bother with masking fluid (I find masking fluid to be a little bit too blobby for text anyway). Hope this helps you a bit and good luck - ps do the text first on your painting, this way if you do make a mistake you haven't wasted hours on the rest of the image.

Thanks for that Joseph and for taking the time and trouble to explain. I'd guessed that you'd had some sort of experience in lettering from this painting. I trained as a textile designer, all flowers and colour, no text! The lettering that I've just painted dips at the end, I didn't even get the horizontal line , never mind the spacing right. .I'll post it when it's finished if you promise not to mention the dodgy sign over the football ground.....LOL Doing the lettering first makes a lot of sense. Thanks again.

Glad I can help Louise.

I've had it with lettering..They took forever and then just looked overworked...LOL

Joseph, I love shadows and that one cast by the scooter is class.... no messing around there! You lashed it in with gusto and got a beautiful result, the touch of dry brush on the edge works brill. Great use of colour too.