John Kitses – John Kitses https://johnkitses.com Artwork Wed, 29 Nov 2023 13:27:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://johnkitses.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/JK-circle-150x150.png John Kitses – John Kitses https://johnkitses.com 32 32 Northeast Philadelphia https://johnkitses.com/2019/12/01/northeast-philadelphia/ https://johnkitses.com/2019/12/01/northeast-philadelphia/#respond Sun, 01 Dec 2019 16:55:21 +0000 https://johnkitses.com/?p=2054

The Great Northeast

Paintings made in Northeast Philadelphia.

See more of them here.

[modula id=”2056″]

]]> https://johnkitses.com/2019/12/01/northeast-philadelphia/feed/ 0 Site of the Disastrous Train Wreck https://johnkitses.com/2019/08/20/site-of-the-disastrous-train-wreck/ https://johnkitses.com/2019/08/20/site-of-the-disastrous-train-wreck/#respond Tue, 20 Aug 2019 15:15:50 +0000 https://johnkitses.com/?p=2035

Railroad bridge near White River Junction, VT.

I came across this 19th century railroad bridge while driving along the White River in Vermont. The immense cement bases and heavy ironwork of the tracks were striking, and appeared ancient, colossal, and impressive in the bright summer sun. Wading into the river, I painted the scene, and returned two more times over the course of a week to paint more.

In 1887 the bridge was the site of a Disastrous Train Wreck, the worst rail disaster in Vermont history, when the rear cars of the Montreal Express fell off the tracks and burst into flames, destroying the train and the bridge. The massive cement piers at the base survived, and were incorporated in the replacement.

The Bridge

[modula id=”2071″]

The Paintings

[modula id=”2038″]

]]> https://johnkitses.com/2019/08/20/site-of-the-disastrous-train-wreck/feed/ 0 Three paintings in progress https://johnkitses.com/2019/04/14/three-paintings-in-progress/ https://johnkitses.com/2019/04/14/three-paintings-in-progress/#respond Sun, 14 Apr 2019 12:12:29 +0000 https://johnkitses.com/?p=1498 Concrete Plant

[modula id=”1487″]

Maspeth Creek Winter

[modula id=”1501″]

Plank Road

[modula id=”1526″]

]]> https://johnkitses.com/2019/04/14/three-paintings-in-progress/feed/ 0 Low Tide – closeup on Newtown Creek https://johnkitses.com/2019/03/03/low-tide-closeup-on-newtown-creek/ https://johnkitses.com/2019/03/03/low-tide-closeup-on-newtown-creek/#respond Mon, 04 Mar 2019 01:57:32 +0000 https://johnkitses.com/?p=1375
[siteorigin_widget class=”WP_Widget_Media_Image”][/siteorigin_widget]

From time to time when I’m painting and exploring at Newtown Creek, I will point my camera down to the water. Low tide reveals much more than mud. Newtown Creek has been a dumping ground for anything imaginable for 200 years. The larger visible items are varied, broken and random. What variety of things are there at the microscopic level?

[modula id=”1390″]
Although my main goal for “Recovered Landscapes: Newtown Creek” is to paint large landscapes, taking a break for smaller side project such as this detail, is a way to keep my painting fresh and to experiment with ideas and techniques I can use in larger pieces. Here is a sequence of pictures of this painting’s development.
[modula id=”1408″]
]]> https://johnkitses.com/2019/03/03/low-tide-closeup-on-newtown-creek/feed/ 0 Tonal Studies https://johnkitses.com/2019/02/14/tonal-studies/ https://johnkitses.com/2019/02/14/tonal-studies/#respond Thu, 14 Feb 2019 19:17:22 +0000 https://johnkitses.com/?p=1307

I’m getting ready to start my larger paintings, buying paper and paints and new brushes. In the meantime, I’ve been working on some quick studies of landscape views that I captured in plein air paintings or photos. Here are ten tonal studies, quick sketches meant explore possible larger compositions. For color I used only burnt umber and Prussian blue. These were brand new tubes of Daniel Smith watercolors, which turned out to be fantastic – rich, deep colors and great texture.

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Image_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

 

]]> https://johnkitses.com/2019/02/14/tonal-studies/feed/ 0 Studio Painting – Plank Road https://johnkitses.com/2019/01/25/studio-painting-plank-road/ https://johnkitses.com/2019/01/25/studio-painting-plank-road/#respond Fri, 25 Jan 2019 15:32:12 +0000 https://johnkitses.com/?p=1269 The paintings I’m making for my project Recovered Landscapes: Newtown Creek will be large. I’m used to painting watercolors on-site, making quick small sketches that capture a lot of immediacy. Returning to the studio however, allows me to paint on an expanded scale. The challenge is to maintain the energy in the work.

Here is a medium-scale painting of Plank Road, at a size of 11″x32.” This is about half-size of what the final paintings in this series will be. My next step will be to get a few large rolls of watercolor paper and expand this further.

]]> https://johnkitses.com/2019/01/25/studio-painting-plank-road/feed/ 0 English Kills at Morgan Ave. https://johnkitses.com/2019/01/22/english-kills-at-morgan-ave/ https://johnkitses.com/2019/01/22/english-kills-at-morgan-ave/#respond Tue, 22 Jan 2019 23:40:06 +0000 https://johnkitses.com/?p=1071

As Newtown Creek twists and meanders through the industrial area on the border of Queens and Brooklyn, it gradually becomes narrower and more still. The farthest reach of the creek ends entirely in Brooklyn, near the bustling, trendy area of Bushwick at Morgan Avenue. At this point the creeks is a murky, haunting body of greenish water. Creeping out to his remote and polluted area is not pleasant, and a little frightening. I went there twice this past year, once in October 2018, and again in January 2019. The warm fall had kept much of the grasses and trees green and lush through the autumn, but the midwinter landscape was more desolate, and the colors muted by the sky and walls surrounding the space. Here are some paintings created at those two visits.

English Kills in October, 2018

[modula id=”1337″]

English Kills in January, 2019

[modula id=”1338″]

]]> https://johnkitses.com/2019/01/22/english-kills-at-morgan-ave/feed/ 0 Exploring Newtown Creek https://johnkitses.com/2018/10/05/newtown-creek/ https://johnkitses.com/2018/10/05/newtown-creek/#respond Fri, 05 Oct 2018 20:47:32 +0000 https://johnkitses.com/?p=960

I am drawn to painting the places where nature and human development meet, and so the urban landscapes of New York City are especially interesting to me. After 5 years of living in Queens, following 25 years in Brooklyn, I finally ventured to the borderland between those two boroughs, the neglected brownfields and polluted waters of Newtown Creek.

Newtown Creek was once a rich natural complex of wetlands, woods and thriving marine life. Starting in the 19th century, unrestrained industrial development along the creek transformed the area into one of the most polluted waterways in the nation. There are current efforts underway to remediate and revive the creek, which are quite ambitious. I support a future for the creek which features parkland, cleaner waters, bustling activities and responsible development. But right now, the haunting and surprising beauty of the creek at this point in time has captured me.

I painted these watercolors on-site, while biking around Newtown Creek in the summer and fall of 2018. I plan to expand on these sketches to make large-scale paintings in my studio, and am seeking funding for a larger project focused on raising awareness of the remediation, and inherent beauty of Newtown creek.

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widgets_ImageGrid_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

Sketches of the Creek

[modula id=”1334″]

]]> https://johnkitses.com/2018/10/05/newtown-creek/feed/ 0 Greece Summer 2018 https://johnkitses.com/2018/07/16/greece-summer-2018/ https://johnkitses.com/2018/07/16/greece-summer-2018/#respond Tue, 17 Jul 2018 00:41:39 +0000 https://johnkitses.com/?p=899

Beaches of Milos 

The Acropolis

 

Milos – Adamantas and Plaka

Thessaloniki balconies

]]> https://johnkitses.com/2018/07/16/greece-summer-2018/feed/ 0 Subway Series – Drawings from the New York City Subway – On View Until May 2 https://johnkitses.com/2018/03/29/subway-series-on-view/ https://johnkitses.com/2018/03/29/subway-series-on-view/#respond Thu, 29 Mar 2018 20:13:12 +0000 https://johnkitses.com/?p=667

“Subway Series – Drawings from the New York City Subway” is on display, at a great cafe gallery in Jackson Heights, Espresso 77. This is an exciting show for me, which came together very quickly over the course of this past winter. Fellow subway sketcher and Jackson Heights resident, Jonny Goldstein and I have been drawing people on the subway for a while, and worked hard to put up a show of both of our work. One cold January day we rode the 7 train and sketched dozens of drawings, meeting people along the way.

Stop by to view this show before it closes on May 2!

Espresso 77 in Jackson Heights is a well designed space for showing art

Here are some of the small ink drawings that were collaged together in my larger pieces.

Subway Series
– Drawings from the New York City subway

A two-man show by Jonny Goldstein and John Kitses

March 16–May 2, 2018
Espresso 77
35-57 77th St, Jackson Heights, NY
Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/b8sFRxrkzSA2

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Image_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]
A few of my drawing and painting collages.
Two mixed-media pieces by Jonny Goldstein.
Jonny G. in front of his pieces, soaking up the musical and artistic vibes of Jackson Heights.
Custom “Moments in Transit” stamp.
All of my pieces are custom stamped with a “Moments in Transit 2018” stamp next to the signature.
A few more drawings are in a side hallway.

Below are a few images from the opening.

]]> https://johnkitses.com/2018/03/29/subway-series-on-view/feed/ 0