A Photo Shoot: The Old Railroad Station

I was doing a photo shoot of the fall colors around town when I found myself at the Issaquah Historical Train Station. Not one to miss an opportunity for pictures, I wanted to share some of the shots I got that day in their “raw” form…before I have turned them into black and white or sepia prints or paintings.

The train station was originally built in 1889. It was bought by the city of Issaquah in 1984 for restoration by the historical society. It was listed on the National Register of Historic sites in 1990 and the refurbished train depot was dedicated as a museum in June of 1994. Actual train service over the years included passenger service between Seattle and North Bend. The tracks were eventually abandoned and the right of way given to the county for conversion into their trail system.

Issaquah Railroad Station

Station Platform

Logging Equipment

Actual displays of some of the logging machinery and the tools that were used.

Example of Tools

I have played around with these shots of the tools already and they will end up in my gallery as Sepia Art Prints….

Last but not least…

The Yellow Car

A lot of history and the facility is kept very much up to date. It was a great photo opportunity, but more importantly a great example of the Issaquah Historical Societies work at keeping the heritage of  the region fresh for following generations to remember. Since Issaquah is now part of the greater Seattle metropolitan area, it wouldn’t be hard to forget that it once was the gateway to the Cascades and a travel point of passengers and logging materials going up and down the mountains.

Thoughts? Comments?

These photographs will be available shortly in my Color Photography Gallery.

Follow my work on my Facebook page – TheWallGallery by Kirt Tisdale. (Page likes are always appreciated!) Thanks!

Fall in the Pacific Northwest

We don’t have the New England fall where hill after hill is ablaze in color, but we do get color. I have lived in the Midwest, Colorado and San Diego. I have seen fall colors in each of those areas. The midwest gets the colors New England has along their river valleys and in their towns. Brilliant reds, oranges and yellows. Colorado has brilliant yellows and golds led by the aspen trees (brilliant yellows framed by green evergreens). San Diego has spots of colors where deciduous trees have been planted in the urban areas. Spending a summer and fall in the Seattle area, I was curious how the fall colors would be. A local apologized to my wife and I because the foothills where we live don’t go vibrant like new New England and not to expect much. Well, coming from San Diego if there are more than five trees with colors…we’re good. Because there are so many pine trees naturally in the landscape of this part of the country, the brilliant colors come from the trees in urban areas that have been planted. Being a photographer and an artist, I was getting impatient for that perfect day when trees around us were at their peak and the sun would be shining…nirvana, basically. Well, not having seen the sun in two weeks (it is Seattle)….I quit waiting and hit some spots around our community for the classic fall picture taking. I wanted to share five of the photographs that I will be putting into my online gallery as well using them as basis for watercolor and oil paintings.

We live in Issaquah, Washington which is in the eastern suburbs of Seattle nestled up against the foothills of the Cascades. I was walking around town all afternoon to get these shots. The first one is a shot of a picnic table next to an abandoned set of train tracks. The picnic table is actually part of the lawn around the local chamber of commerce which is located in an old victorian home.

Picnic by the Tracks

The next shot is a picnic table located on a walkway connecting the high school with downtown.

Orange Picnic

The next shot is along a boulevard in town where all of the “Big Box” stores are located. During the summer, you can’t even see the stores for all of the trees. Everything around here is built with bike paths and walking paths connecting everything.

The Orange Walk

You truly wouldn’t know that to the left of this picture on the other side of the plantings is a major freeway from downtown Seattle up into the Cascade Mountains.

The next picture was me being the crazy photographer with my tripod in the grassy medium of a busy boulevard waiting for lights to stop traffic for my shot.

Yellow Boulevard

And last, but not least another area of that same street where all of the vibrant reds were.

The Red Boulevard

Thoughts? Comments?

These photographs will be available shortly in my Color Photography Gallery.

Follow my work on my Facebook page – TheWallGallery by Kirt Tisdale. (Page likes are always appreciated!) Thanks!

White Rose

In keeping with the theme of the week – floral – I wanted to share another rose print that I took into a totally different direction than my last one. This one is a white rose bloom (same location that the red rose was taken – a public garden in Portland, Oregon). Again, the original photograph stands on its own as I have it listed as an art print in my Color Photography Gallery. I wanted to add a different dimension, so I did the white rose bloom as a watercolor drawing. The drawing adds an abstract look suggesting the rose shape and the watercolor painting softens the final piece. Below is the original version…

White Rose Color Photography

…and this is the watercolor version:

White Rose Watercolor

Thoughts? Comments?

The White Rose photograph came from my Color Photography Gallery and the Watercolor Rose art print came from my Floral/Still Life Gallery.   Follow my work on my Facebook page – TheWallGallery by Kirt Tisdale. (Page likes are always appreciated!) Thanks!

Related articles

• Poppies in Watercolor (afternoonartist.wordpress.com)

The Gothic Rose

One of the newest art prints that I have added to my Foral/Still Life Gallery is a rose done in a gothic oil style painting. I was actually surprised at the final result. I like the gothic oil style for the earth tone colors and the strong brush strokes. This style of art works in numerous decors. All of that said, I was curious on how a rose would look. We typically use this colorful flower in either photographs or watercolors to keep the vibrancy of the colors forefront. So, let’s look at the original picture. Onto itself, the original photograph is a beautiful capture of a red rose. Absolutely nothing wrong with it. (To give credit where credit is due, the rose is not home grown….I took the picture at a public garden in Portland, Oregon.)

Red Rose

So, from that to this. It creates a totally different look, a classic and simple elegance in deep earthen tones.

Gothic Rose

Thoughts? Comments?

The Red Rose photograph came from my Color Photography Gallery and the Gothic Rose art print came from my Floral/Still Life Gallery.   Follow my work on my Facebook page – TheWallGallery by Kirt Tisdale. (Page likes are always appreciated!) Thanks!

Related articles

• Rainbow Roses (moonfrye.com)
• House of Roses (tiltdiary.wordpress.com)

The Morning Fog

The art print I’m using for this post is a watercolor of a New England fishing village. The setting is a coastal New England town in the early morning. The fog is still hanging over the harbor and creates a serene peaceful scene. Using  watercolor to capture the scene supports the softer hues and tones.

The Morning Fog

The setting reflects the gray subdued lighting with just a hint of color in the middle building, the grass and the trees.  Thoughts? Comments?

This particular art print came from my Landscape Watercolor Gallery.   Follow my work on my Facebook page – TheWallGallery by Kirt Tisdale. (Page likes are always appreciated!) Thanks!

The Path

I love hiking and I have this thing with taking pictures of hiking trails. There is something about a picture of path that makes me want to know where it goes…human element of curiousity…it’s the same thing that keeps me hiking on paths over the next hill or around the next bend. I wanted to share such a picture from somewhere in the coastal forest of Washington State. In my galleries, I have taken the original picture and done it in two styles of watercolor, since watercolor painting gives the scene a softer look.

The Path in Traditional Watercolor

This first art print is done in what I would refer to as a traditional style of watercolor. The brush strokes are subtle and the shading gives the picture more texture and depth, yet stays true to the original picture.  Next…..

The Path in Pointillism

The pointillism style is just what it says…many points of color to create a picture. It renders an even softer scene and is more suggestive of the subject matter as opposed to the first one.

Thoughts? Comments?

These particular art prints came from my Landscape Watercolor Gallery.   Follow my work on my Facebook page – TheWallGallery by Kirt Tisdale. (Page likes are always appreciated!) Thanks!

Related articles

• These Amazingly Real Pictures Are Actually Watorcolors – And They’re Painted By a Glenn Beck Fan! (theblaze.com)
• Venetian. – Watercolor Step Painting (kiajinniyhouse.wordpress.com)
• Shadow Jump (victoriakloch.wordpress.com)
• Materials: Watercolor (peachypatchyblog.wordpress.com)

The “P” Barn

From a photo shoot I did last February around the Amana Colonies in Iowa, I have added the attached art print to my Landscape Oil Gallery.  I found this interesting barn (I truly do not know what the “P” is for).  The barn takes on an interesting element when we see it done in a Fauvism style of oil painting. It creates a more abstract image.

The P Barn

Below is the original photograph inspiring the painting.

Original Photograph

Thoughts? Comments? Thanks!

This particular art print came from my Landscape Oil Gallery.   Follow my work on my Facebook page – TheWallGallery by Kirt Tisdale. (Page likes are always appreciated!) Thanks!

Related articles

• Barn Study v1 HandPainted Oil On Canvas Landscape Art by Mary S. Hines (artbymaryhines.wordpress.com)
• Grand old Iowa barn is standing tall, will be featured on annual tour (omaha.com)
• ‘Lone Ranger’ barn will be open for tours (qctimes.com)

Urban Architectural Elements 2

As a follow-up to last weeks post, I wanted to share another series of art prints and the difference the media makes on them. This series I call “Looking Up”. It’s from downtown Seattle and is exactly what I call it….looking up. The first picture is the original shot.

Looking Up – Original

Just like the “Street Corner” shot from last week, the original stands on its own. Now let me take it to a black and white shot.

Looking Up – Black and White

The black and white brings another element to the picture. Without the color, the lines and contrast carry the picture. This type of black and white (using a skyscraper) is similar to a series I did for a business in San Diego. That series used all black and white photography of San Diego landmarks and highrises. They were framed using a white matte and black frame. It fit the “urban chic” of that particular office suite.

Looking Up – Pastel

Using an abstract watercolor technique now gives that same shot a completely different look. I’ve brought the color back into the equation and actually made it a focal point. Again, this type of style would fit a contemporary, modern office environment.

So let’s move to oils….

Looking Up – Impasto Style Oil

We keep the color and the lines, but add the depth of large brush strokes. This type of art print would fit the more traditional office decor.  It makes a very a very bold statement while staying true to form.

Let’s now take it to the old world feel…..

Looking Up – Gothic Style Oil

The blue tones are about the only thing left in common with the impasto style. The gothic style of oil painting gives it an old world look and with the strong brush strokes again, bold. This type of art print would look good in an urban office that has a very traditional, classy and warm decor.

Let’s pop it up a notch…..

Looking Up – Fauvism Style Oil

Just like last weeks post, the Fauvism style of oil painting takes more liberties with an abstract style and becomes a crossover between traditional and contemporary.

As you can see, the media used does impact the final presentation of the art print and the decor the print ultimately compliments. Thoughts or impressions?

These particular art prints came from my online art gallery, TheWallGallery. The B&W print can be found in my Black and White Gallery, while the painted prints are from my Cityscape Gallery.  Follow my work on my Facebook page – TheWallGallery by Kirt Tisdale. (Page likes are always appreciated!) Thanks!