Downtown
On my way to Lawson to buy takeaway dinner one evening in Kyoto, a marching band of lights caught my attention. It was headed up by blue fairy lights. A Japanese lantern fell in behind. To the rear, neon signs and street lamps formed an abstract cohort, dazzling and reflecting all the way down to Shijo-dori. What a colourful cacophony. I thought there might be a drawing in it so I took a few photos.
During the last fortnight as I worked on my drawing, Petula Clark’s song “Downtown” (1964) popped into my head. The song begins…
When you're alone and life is making you lonely
You can always go downtown
When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry
Seems to help, I know, downtown
Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose?
The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares
So go downtown
Things will be great when you're downtown
No finer place for sure, downtown
Everything's waiting for you.
Julie Podstolski - Abstract Realism 
Julie
These are AMAZING
so amazing
I wonder if Robin has done / did do anything in Germany?
Claire
Sent from my iPhone
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Hi Claire, I’m not sure what Robyn has done of late regarding art. I know she found it too cold to do any drawing outside while in Germany. She and I (and our partners) are going to be in Venice at the same time for a few days in May.
This is gorgeous Julie , I have never seen such intense colours in coloured pencils before . The drawing is so much more interesting and mysterious than the photo .
I like the way you have given emphasis to the rather untidy scrawl of lights on a cord , somehow elevating them to a deliberate ( rather than random )element . I like it very much .
Judy .
Hello Judy, it was the fairy lights (the untidy scrawl of lights on a cord) that got my attention in the first place. I took some photos where the fairy lights were out-of-focus with the lights behind IN focus, and vice versa. I decided I wanted those fairy lights to be the ones IN focus in my drawing.
Thanks for your words on the intensity of the colours. This is what I was trying to achieve.
Absolutely wonderful! Your work is delightful. One can almost feel the warmth emanating from some of the lights, and yes you’ve also captured the atmosphere. So no doubt that song was playing in your mind as you executed the drawing/painting. I can totally relate to the singing aspect as it happens to me too. One time in particular was when l was doing a charcoal copy of a drawing of ‘Phil Lynott’- the famous front man from ‘Thin Lizzy’ – ‘Dancing in the moonlight was on replay the whole time. So l feel it’s a form of meditation and in your case as you drew, your piece became imbued with the ambience of ‘downtown’.
Fantastic work Julie.
Hi Marian, I have a slightly different experience to yours. It was only at the very end of working on my drawing that the song “Downtown” turned up in my brain. When it came to mind I knew it would be just right as a title. It is the kind of song which lodges and then it won’t go away!
You’ve captured those lights very well!
I also love that song, so enjoyed singing it to myself, having been reminded of it.
Hi Jean, it is such a good song isn’t it. I particularly like the line, “Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city” as it has such gorgeous rhythm; thinking back to high school English, maybe the word is ‘metre’… (the basic rhythmic structure of a verse).
What a riot of colour! So rich and deep. I love the fact that this drawing is semi-abstract, it tells a different kind of story from a more realistic interpretation, giving a sense of the buzz and excitement of the the evening, of what may be found by following the lights down a Kyoto alleyway.
Thanks Anna, I like the semi-abstract aspect of this one as well. I wasn’t sure if I approved of the drawing overall but I THINK I do. A new drawing can take a bit of getting used to. Do you find that as well?
I do! Some more than others. The olive tree which I drew recently I am still on the fence with. But I do think this one of yours is a success. A bit different but still within the family.
Nothing really wrong with ‘on the fence’ as we need to be constantly questioning rather than living in a state of certainty. Tonight I remembered that The B52’s did a version of “Downtown”. Were you into the B52’s? I like their punk version a lot.
I did like the B52s, but don’t remember their version of Downtown, I can imagine it being good though – there were a lot of punk bands that remade classic pop songs and most were so much better than the originals!
You should google it, Anna. Very shout-y…in a neat way.
Wow, your drawing is so much richer in colour and mood that dreary real-life. Like the song, it imagines a world of wonder and joy.