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INDEPENDENT PROJECT 5

Description
This is the second in a series of works depicting Egyptian culture in the first half of of the 20th century through street scenes. The series currently has 2 pieces in total, but it's developing.

What were the artistic and/or cultural influences for this project? Who/what influenced either the composition and/or the style.
The idea for the subject was influenced both by Hedayet Chiraz and Edward Hopper whom I researched, in particular one untitled work from Hedayet, and 'Nighthawks' from Hopper. The subject is based on a corner between Fouad St. and Sherif St. in downtown Alexandria which I visit often, I had seen old photographs of the location, which used to house a famous cafe by the name of 'Baudrot', I also took my own photographs of the location this year. The style was influenced by Hedayet and Seif Wanly (an Egyptian artist, whom I had previously researched). I would judge the piece as unfinished, however it already shows evidence of influence from those artists, for example if you focus on the stairs leading into 'Baudrot' you can see that they are unrealistic, because they form a checkered pattern in light and dark, this was decision was influenced by my research into Seif Wanly and cubism.

What materials/media/processes did you use and or experiment with, and how?
I used oil paints on a large canvasm however I experimented throughout the piece especially in showing texture. For example at the cafe sign I used a wooden stick to etch into the paint to show the weave in the radiator grill, and in the 'velvet' curtains in the window. When painting the lines in the white walls, I tried two different techniques. In the first, I painted an entire area solid white, then using a thin wooden stick I indented the lines into the thick-layeres paint. In the second, I used my brush to build up ridges of paint to form the lines.

weaknesses/areas for improvement in the piece
As I have previously mentioned, the piece feels unfinished, and I will add to it. Currently, it's seems too amateur even though I used oil paints, It needs to have more texture and tone, the color palette I used was unfitting. Hopper's paintings were empty, but they were not simple, he used complex tone and shading techniques, and gave details to his figures (mine are too 2D).;

strengths of the piece
I feel that the subject drawing was successful, also the piece is impressive due to its size in real life, and will be even more so, along with its twin in the series.

What could you take through to the next project and develop further? This could be anything, from a technique to an idea, not necessarily just the theme?
I feel that I gone a long way in developing my painting technique with oils, I set up station much more effectively at home and so on, however one problem that I face is that when working on a such a large canvas, my hand often smudges the parts of the painting that I'm not actually working on. I want to take forth the canvas size, and the general medium. I want to develop the street scene subject idea, and continue developing the use of figures. Techniques like etching and giving a relief effect I will also reuse.