Painter Brad Blackman’s view of Broadway

Brad Blackman is a sponsor for the next City Crossword. This month if you solve the last riddle, you can win a print of his painting “Boot Country.”

If you’re just checking us out, City Crossword is an online crossword game you solve with your neighbors. All riddles are local trivia based on news, history, sports and more. The online game is at 3 p.m. this Saturday. RSVP on Facebook and invite the type of friends you’d want on your trivia team.

To give you an idea of the Blackman’s painting process check out his home studio, which includes an adorable painting partner:

Among other things, Saturday you can win a print of the Brad Blackman painting below. I caught up with Brad and had him answer some questions about his “Boot Country” painting. And pay attention. A detail from this blog post may make it into the crossword ;)

What made you think of painting this painting?

I’ve always been drawn to the old buildings on Broadway. The late Victorian architecture of the late 19th-century architecture is humble yet stately at the same time. Humble because of the variegated colors of the brick, and stately because of the way they reach up and hint at the skyscrapers to come in just a few short years. I love the texture of the brick and the arches of the windows, and how the buildings themselves seem to age gracefully if kept up. The irony is in the flash-and-dash of the tourism industry in this area. It’s not something I’m always comfortable with, but it’s there and it’s necessary for the local economy.

 Do you have cowboy boots?

No. I’ve always been more of a hiking boot and Doc Martens kind of guy, probably because I came of age about the time Nirvana hit it big. 

Are cowboy boots a proper symbol for Nashville?

If you go back about 40-50 years ago, I would say so, since that is when Country (and Western!) really cemented Nashville’s reputation as Music City, USA. (Sure, the Grand Ole Opry got its start long before, but the true heyday of country music legends like Johnny Cash, etc. is in the 50s)

What’s your most memorable experience with a tourist?

I grew up in Antioch, so I didn’t have much interaction with tourists as a kid. Although in recent years I remember not being able to remember how to give directions to Frugal MacDoogal on Division Street.

What was your process for painting this painting?

I did this the way I do pretty much all of my paintings: I work from a digital photo that has almost always been enhanced to be more dramatic and/or colorful, printed out as reference. For large paintings I create a grid on paper and draw the image there, and transfer it to the canvas by applying charcoal to the back and tracing the essential lines so there aren’t a lot of erasures on the canvas. (Oil paint + pencil or charcoal erasures = bad smudges). From there I build up base colors into something more dimensional by applying thin layers of dark paint and thick layers of light paint.

How do you describe this part of town to others?

Touristy and fun. It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, though, but hey there’s plenty of stuff to do in Nashville.

Be sure to check out Brad Blackman’s blog to learn more and join us online Saturday!