THE UGLY AND THE PRETTY by TOM BROWN

CLICK HERE for this original oil painting in my eBay auctions.
     What I found so interesting here was the contrast between the “ugly and pretty” elements of this scene. The plain concrete structure with no artistic ornamentation or decorative qualities and the beautiful palm tree gracefully swaying in the breeze next to it.
     I discovered this on a backstretch of what had been the famous El Toro Marine Corps base here in Southern California.
     It’s a historic location. During its active years every US President since WWII had landed at this famous airfield in Air Force One.
     I had painted on this airfield in the past, during the filming of a couple of episodes for my plein air TV show. I had felt very honored to have been asked to do so.
     The base had then been decommissioned and was to become the site of the Orange County Great Park, and the buidings I captured in paintings during those shows were scheduled for demolition.
     In fact during the last episode we shot here the TV crew filmed me painting one of the control towers even as it was being destroyed. The next day it was gone forever.
     Somehow the ancient building in today’s painting seems to have been temporarily overlooked, so when I happened upon it I decided to preserve it in this oil painting before it disappeared too.
     As a point of interest I’m showing a photo of the site along with my interpretation of it. Other artists who follow my blog often comment that they appreciate seeing both the “camera’s view” as well as the painting, so the photo is for them. Enjoy!
If you have questions or comments I’d love to hear from you. Email me at tombrownstudio@cox.net