Nightcap by Richard Whitney, PhD.H

Several years ago, my wife and I were walking along the streets of Montague, MA looking for night scenes to photograph and paint, when I came across this scene of two men in a bar.  Over the next few years, that image stuck in my mind, so I finally decided to paint it.  I loved the interplay of the light from the pink, green and violet electric signs as they fell on the sidewalk and also how they contrasted with the cold street light shining on the buildings down the empty street.   I thought it made a beautiful design.  I painted the scene as faithfully as it appeared except for greatly reducing the size of the electric signs in the bar windows so the men could be more clearly scene.  I called the painting "Nightcap" to emphasize the lonely feeling the scene evoked in me.