between the lines - i and ii

this is an interesting one. i have wanted to do something along these lines for a while. a lass named nikki spannuth posted a black and white photo on facebook that made a perfect subject. i was most interested in the way the light draws the viewer and the subject toward the unknown of the distance. i am not entirely happy with this piece - but it is a good start. i find that it is harder to please myself these days. that means i am either become better or worse - or, perhaps, grumpy...

i was going for a "dog day" afternoon motif. the ones remembered. the unyielding light and the softening shadows. there is something remembered about this - something very 60's, dylanesque. perhaps overly romantic. it is perhaps too busy. the shadows not strident enough against the light in the foreground. maybe it should be starker and more simple. the light going into the distance is there - but the rest of the piecee fails to uphold that. that is what i do not like.

so, here is the second version. smaller. starker. more strident. simpler too. can be simplified further i think...