Painting en plein air in Benton Park neighborhood during the Paint Saint Louis Plein Air competition

SUMMARY OF PLACE:

Attractive views of the Anheuser-Busch campus are numerous from the streets running east and west in Saint Louis's Benton Park neighborhood.  On this chilly November morning, I was looking east down Pestalozzi Street, just slightly uphill from the brewery.  Brewery exhaust was billowing into the cold air, creating large attractive clouds of smoke in the morning sky.  The neighborhood was still asleep, except for the occasional dog-walker. 

INSPIRATION:

For this painting, I wanted to capture the effect of the early morning light upon the neighborhood's aged structures and upon the smoke rising from the factory.  The composition emphasizes the presence of the factory beside the neighborhood.  A person walking a dog clarifies that the subject is an urban neighborhood setting. 

Down Pestalozzi Watercolor 12X13