All in the technique

Recently I have been distracted with the task of trying to find the location of the scene in the painting. While this has been interesting, even if I were to find the exact location it would not really help in confirming the painting as a Drysdale or ruling it out. It would only really add to the interest of the painting. Maybe the exact location does not even exist. In a video I watched today on Drysdale, he stated that "Bell taught me how to draw from memory". Maybe this picture is an amalgamation of different elements of a typical inner city scene.

In any case, a better chance of determining the authenticity lies within the technique. Another quote from the video I watched today is as follows:

"I was taught to paint by the indirect method, and that is, instead of picking up paint already mixed and putting it on the canvas and leaving it there, I've been taught to build a composition up so that one uses an underpainting - posititve and neutral tones, and the glaze, a film of colour and paint into the glaze and gradually build up the quality of the paint that way."

The painting I have is very textured with what seems to be many layers of paint underneath. Although I have never seriously painted with oils, to me it seems plausible that this painting was painted with the technique described above. I'll need to have a look at some other Drysdale paintings, as the only ones I have seen are the ones that are currently on display in the NSW art gallery. Soem trips to the National Gallery in Canberra and the state gallery in Melbourne could be on the cards.