I’ve started my fourth oil painting that is based on a photo I took while walking the streets of Rome, Italy.

The city is full of beautifully aged fountains and plastered buildings with bold colored shutters. This particular clearing that opened up after going through some narrow streets caught my eye. I loved how the buildings towered above so a crouched down to take this photo. The resultant lines on the photo inspired me to create a painting from it.

This past Saturday, I finished my first pass of blocking out the painting. I am happy with the hues and tones of this painting more than my last already.

If you recall, this was something I wanted to work on for this painting. I think I finally understand what the teacher, Lee Hartman, was trying to teach me with the use of varying intensities of greys formed by two base colors as the foundation for the other colors in the painting. The other thing she keeps emphasizing is the magic of a little bit of cad red to give colors some life.

Loni Stark is an artist at Atelier Stark, self-professed foodie, and adventure travel seeker who has a lifelong passion for technology’s impact on business and creativity. She collaborates with Clinton Stark on video projects for Atelier Stark Films. It’s been said her laugh can be heard from San Jose all the way up to the Golden Gate Bridge. She makes no claims to super powers, although sushi is definitely her Kryptonite.