Edward Hopper often developed his compositions like puzzles, experimenting with the pieces until they made sense. He used variables, from the time of day to the direction of the light, to set the mood. He divided his 1939 painting Cape Cod Evening into simple geometric shapes. In his 1940 work, Gas, Hopper paints a road on a diagonal line that moves the viewer’s eye through the scene. Hopper’s 1950 painting Cape Cod Morning, is a composite of many different real places in Cape Cod.