Tenth Avenue North

Christian rock, Sharpie® rendering

When someone tells me I’ve captured my subject matter, and they mean that I’ve captured the subject’s spirit or its essence, not necessarily the likeness, they can’t pay me a higher compliment. It is my opinion that Christian rock captures the essence of the Christian rock concert I attended on Sunday.

Rock band hieroglyph, Sharpie® rendering

Warm-up, 5.5 x 7" watercolor

 At times of trouble my brother used to say, “Get out your paints.” Last week when I invited my brother’s son to spend Father’s Day with me, he invited me to join he and his girlfriend to run down to Myrtle Beach to hear a Christian rock band that goes by the name Tenth Avenue North. He told me I might want to paint them. My nephew knows how to stir my interest.

The watercolor paper I took with me wasn’t nearly absorbent enough, and so took way too long to dry for this type of quick on- location painting. I resorted to my Sharpie® markers.

My experience with outdoor concerts is that if you have a really good view, a crowd will gather right in front of you. We were forced to move back for a better view, lest we be drowned by the mass of people that moved in front of us. The people attending were just as interesting to me as the band, so I came away with many pieces similar to Groupies below.

Groupies, 5 x 7" watercolor