Penny Bank c. 1940

Charles Charon made this "Penny Bank" from watercolor and graphite. It's interesting to see how someone chooses to depict an object, right? It's always a process of filtering and interpreting. Here, the green is striking, almost like the house has been dipped in it. I wonder if that’s how it actually looked, or how Charon remembered it. The way the color pools and gathers, it feels like he’s really exploring the texture of the paint. He really captures the feeling of the penny bank. Look at how the windows are articulated. There is a definite sense of volume despite the flat color, those tiny lines bring a lot of depth. It's cool to think about how someone like Wayne Thiebaud might approach a similar subject, focusing on the repetition and almost sugary quality of everyday objects. There's a quiet, unassuming beauty here, like the art is whispering secrets about seeing the world in a fresh way.