This past Labor Day weekend, my daughter Betsy and I painted together. I treasure moments like this because creating something together allows us to talk about things other than painting. Since she has been on a sunset kick as of late, I suggested we try to emulate a famous work by Edward Hopper, Railroad Sunset. 

One of my favorite artists, Edward Hopper is best known for Nighthawks, his iconic 1942 painting of a brightly lit diner. 

I have been a big fan of Hopper's work since my ungraduate days, when I did a cover of his painting entitled Early Sunday Morning, using acrylic instead of oil. Hopper's New Realism style and subject matter—his treatment of light and shadow—is fascinating. This particular work seems to capture the boundless energy of the American landscape in 1929, that hopeful time right before the Wall Street crash and despair of the Great Depression.

Emulating the style of another artist brings great insight. It gives you the chance to get into their world—to see their vision and understand how they worked. Hopper said, "I have a very simple method of painting. It's to paint directly on the canvas without any funny business, as it were, and I use almost pure turpentine to start with, adding oil as I go along until the medium becomes pure oil. I use as little oil as I can possibly help, and that's my method."

With Railroad Sunset, Hopper worked the paint very dry. He scrubbed the oils onto the canvas with apparent speed and energy, as if he was trying to finish before dark. His sunset uses bold colors of cadmium yellow and cobalt blue. The soft undulating green of the embankment counterbalances the intense horizontal lines of the clouds. Hopper adds subtle details and interesting brushwork in the shadows.

As much as I love and admire Hopper's work, I did make a few changes to suit my own tastes. At 24 x 36 inches, this study is slightly smaller than Hopper's original of 29-1/4 x 48 inches.  I made the green in the sky more subtle. I also made my paint more fluid—'juicier'— but I tried to work the paint with brushstrokes using the same energy as Mr Hopper. I tilted the tracks slightly to the left, though that was more of a happy accident—pure serendipity.

This was an excellent exercise. I may do more like this in the future. Thank you, Mr. Hopper.
You have inspired me.