Train Carts – Featured Art Print

 

Train Carts

“Train Carts” is the art print I wanted to feature today from my Architecture Collection.  The print is of old train carts that had been used at the Issaquah Train Station to load and unload luggage and packages from the trains stopping on their run from Seattle to the mountain towns in the Cascades. The style I used on this print is an impasto oil technique that emphasizes bold brush strokes and bright colors. The bold brush strokes create texture and dimension to the print. The bright colors reinforce the red of the building and the color of the carts, which match the trim of the station. The station is now a museum with an abundance of historical items for viewing that I have featured on prior posts. It is kept in pristine condition to reflect the time when it was a busy transportation hub for this town nestled in the foothills of the Cascade Mountain range just east of Seattle. I loved the setting and have used it for many prints, from the train station itself to the yellow caboose on the tracks and now these old carts. There is a lot of history in this one setting and I can just imagine the amount of activity that once went through here. No detail has been left to chance in the way this museum has been refurbished to reflect its heyday. Looking at this print, you can almost imagine the carts getting pulled over across the platform for the arrival of the next train. Take a journey back in time and enjoy the print!

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Butchart Gardens – Excerpts From a Photo Shoot

The excerpts from a photo shoot I want to share today are from Butchart Gardens just outside of Victoria, British Columbia on Vancouver Island. My photography doesn’t even begin to do justice to the beauty of these gardens. What started out on the personal estate of the Butchart family and their cement quarry has evolved into a National Historic Site of Canada. I chose this backdrop for today’s example in cropping photographs.

Cropping: to cut the edges to produce a better picture or fit a given space.

I want to talk today about cropping a photograph to produce a better picture and/or pictures as in the examples. I talked about this awhile ago when I had a client ask me to take a landscape picture I had created and turn it into two portrait prints for their wall (reference my blog: Fountain Urns). A similar theme surfaced this week as I was working on some new art prints for the Gardens Collection. I am constantly renewing and updating the different galleries or collections. As I add new items, I take older ones out and/or re-look and refresh them. I came across some prints that were a few years old and with a fresh eye starting cropping and playing with them. I wasn’t doing anything extreme, just resizing some of the older prints to more standard sizes. In doing that exercise I found myself creating two completely different looks to what was once a single print. To show you the best example, I went back to the original photograph that these prints had been created from.

Butchart Gardens One

This first shot is the original photograph of a lily pond. If you look closely to the left and center, you can see people walking through the gardens. I love this shot and have been fortunate enough to have it featured in a couple of different showings. The different elements of plant life and lighting create a flow across the picture. Let’s dig a little deeper and look at the lighting. The sky is overcast and we have the left half of the frame in shade and the right half in sunlight.

Butchart Gardens Two

Again, the difference makes an interesting picture and pulls your eye across the print. But, what if we just played with it a little bit. In the second picture, I cropped the left portion of the frame into a square. See how it created a different look to the scene? You have the light accenting just the right edge and the foreground.

Butchart Gardens Three

Let’s crop and square the right side, which I did in number three. In this version your photograph is brighter and there is more of a focus on the reflection in the pond.

This example of cropping wasn’t about taking a bad picture and making it better, but looking at what you have and what more could you do with it. What elements of a shot change by cropping the picture a little differently? Where does it shift your focus? These are just things to think about as you evaluate your photography. Thoughts?

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Covered Bridge – Featured Art Print

Mosby Creek Bridge

“Mosby Creek Bridge” is the art print I wanted to feature today from my Architecture Collection.  The print is a covered bridge in Oregon. The style I used on this print is a watercolor technique that emphasizes the soft tones of the setting and the weather. The setting is rural with the architectural elements of the bridge reinforcing that image as the road crosses the creek. The weather was intermittent rain with a slight chill to the air as wisps of fog hung around the hills. It’s springtime and the leaves are starting to come out on the trees as the fields are greening up. The entire scene speaks of a quieter, slower pace to life. It beckons one to stop, breath in the fresh air and savor the moment.

I confess to having been ignorant on how many covered bridges there are in Oregon. I was enlightened on one of our many road trips from San Diego to Seattle. Our youngest daughter left the family home in San Diego to go to college at the University of Washington in Seattle. Over her four years of school, my wife and I made many trips to the Great Northwest, sometimes flying and sometimes driving all the way through California, Oregon and most of Washington. It was on one of those driving trips through Oregon that I finally clued in on just how many covered bridges there were in that beautiful state. This realization, of course led to spending a few days scouting some of them out. This particular covered bridge, as I’ve stated, is the Mosby Creek Bridge. It was built in 1920 and added to the U.S National Register of Historic Places in 1979. It is the oldest covered bridge in Lane County, Oregon and is still open to traffic. Take a journey back in time and enjoy the print!

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Urban Cluster – Featured Art Print

Urban Cluster

“Urban Cluster” is the art print I wanted to feature today from my Cityscapes Collection.  The print is a group of high-rise buildings in downtown San Diego. The style I used on this print is a sketching technique that emphasizes the linear aspect of the group of buildings.

This particular print had its birth in a project I was doing for a San Diego based company. I was doing a full day shoot around the core areas of San Diego. My shoot took me along the bay in downtown San Diego, then across the bay on Coronado Island. From Coronado, I used my telephoto lens to shoot the skyline of downtown. In the middle of all of those shots, I found this particular scene. Although I never used it for the project, I was pulled to it seeing some elements I liked. After cropping the shot tighter and squaring it, I found the look I was after. I then played with a technique giving it a sketched appearance with watercolors. I liked the result as it highlights the straight lines and sharp points of the architecture in each of the buildings. It’s a group of five buildings caught at such an angle that they look grouped together. In reality, they are not. The buildings in the forefront are about a block apart from each other and the pointed building in the background is at least a half a mile away along with the high-rise condo on the extreme left. The use of a telephoto lens creates an interesting element in the depth perception as it pulls the background in closer, especially in a tight shot like this. Thoughts?

I invite you to come into the gallery to view the collection in Cityscapes.

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Pine Forest – Excerpts From a Photo Shoot

Pine Trees 1

The excerpts from a photo shoot I want to share today are from a picnic lunch we had with some friends last weekend. As I always travel with my camera, I was ready for these shots. We had traveled Saturday morning to watch a scrimmage football game by Arizona State University. The facility they have been using is a camp nestled in a pine forest away from campus and the city. With the heat here in Phoenix this time of year this certainly makes more sense for the players. The drive doesn’t take that long and before you know it, you have climbed in elevation, the desert is behind you and pine trees are everywhere. After the scrimmage, we drove further up out of the valley into the mountains and found this spot to eat. The view was incredible, the food and company were great. It was nice to just sit and relax in conversation as gentle afternoon breezes blew through the pine trees.

This first shot is of the valley where we had just been. The area we had found had a small granite ledge that jutted out over the edge.

Pine Trees 2

The second shot is from our picnic table looking through the trees towards the ledge in picture 1.

Pine Trees 3

The third shot is the forest with the valley in the right of the frame. The lack of undergrowth in the woods was very different than what I was hiking in last year in the Cascades, but reminded us of the Colorado pine forests where we had lived many years ago. Obviously the rainfall is different between this part of the country and the Pacific Northwest. 🙂

So, this week, I’m just sharing some shots from my weekend, no words of wisdom or incredible insights….just enjoy the scenery!

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San Diego Skyline – Featured Art Print

San Diego Skyline

The art print I wanted to feature today is from my Cityscapes Collection titled “San Diego Skyline”.  The print is of the San Diego skyline from across San Diego Bay. Using the same style I displayed in last weeks feature, a fauvism oil technique, creates this abstract and brightly colored rendition of the downtown San Diego skyline.

San Diego is a very beautiful city, not only due to the natural topography it occupies, but the city itself. I know I am biased, having lived there for 24 years, but it does occupy a beautiful stretch of coastline from the beaches lining the north county, down through Mission Bay (SeaWorld) and San Diego Bay. I love to go across to Coronado Island and look back towards the downtown skyline. With San Diego Bay as the anchor, you see the buildings making up the skyline, the convention center, hotels and condos dotting the sky. This particular art print is from the ferry landing on Coronado Island looking back across the bay. I love using this style with this subject matter as it adds an element of fun and vibrancy to a setting that features a lot of straight lines and linear features. Adding the dock for the ferry landing in the foreground with people adds an element of interest to the scene and creates more depth to the overall print.

I usually look at this style of art and think modern and contemporary. Yet, this style is traditional and old. Not being an interior designer, I’m clearly not the expert, but I do know what I like and how it looks. I have come to realize that the manner in which an art print is matted and framed can make a world of difference in the final presentation. Will this art print be a focal point for your wall and room or will this be a compliment to the overall look. Determining this factor will also help you decide on a print and the manner in which you matte and frame it. Thoughts?

I invite you to come into the gallery to view the collection in Cityscapes.

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The Village Shops – Featured Art Print

The Village Shops

The art print I wanted to feature today is from my Street Scenes/People Collection titled “Village Shops”.  The print is of a New England village street with shops lining the sidewalk. I used a fauvism oil technique to create this abstract and brightly colored rendition of this typical New England setting.

I love the look of old New England villages with their streets lined with shops and cafes. The roads are narrow and the architecture quaint and inviting. Since I am always trying to capture a moment that will speak to a viewer, I like the aspect of this setting. We have just enough street and buildings to create the overall scene. The other elements to finish the look are the trees, lampposts and of course, people. I love the bright colors and abstract painting as it creates an upbeat feel to the print and doesn’t get lost in the detail, but has enough that the look makes sense.

I usually look at this style of art and think modern and contemporary. Yet, this style is traditional and old. Not being an interior designer, I’m clearly not the expert, but I do know what I like and how it looks. I have come to realize that the manner in which an art print is matted and framed can make a world of difference in the final presentation. Will this art print be a focal point for your wall and room or will this be a compliment to the overall look. Determining this factor will also help you decide on a print and the manner in which you matte and frame it. Thoughts?

I invite you to come into the gallery to view the collection of Street Scenes/People.

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The First Snowfall – Excerpts From a Photo Shoot

The excerpts from a photo shoot I want to share today are from the first snowfall in Seattle last year. It was the first week of December and very welcomed by us having lived in San Diego for many years. Yes, I know it’s August and here I am posting snowfall pictures, but our friends down under can appreciate it, as this is their winter. J Each week, I go through different photo shoots to determine what I want to blog about. This week was a no brainer for me, as I have been working with pictures from this shoot for the last few weeks. A fellow blogger had asked me about Christmas cards from my Note Card Collection. I had responded that I had done a private selection last year for family and friends, but hadn’t thought about putting anything up for this year. To be honest when you are in 107-degree temperatures day in and day out, Christmas seems like a life away. Yet, the request was enough to start my mind thinking back to a series of shots I took while we lived in Seattle last year of the first snowfall, which led me to revisit that shoot and start working with it. From that, I came across these two shots and wanted to share them as I created two prints I will be putting into my Landscape Oil collection.

The setting is a paved path on the campus of a junior college near where we were. Following my prior blogs of getting numerous shots and playing with depth and composition, I narrowed it down to these two shots to work with. Taking each shot as a basis, I used an oil painting technique to create the final prints.

1st Snowfall #1

The first two pictures are the original shots. I took both from the same position with 1st Snowfall #1 being a normal range composition.

1st Snowfall #2

For 1st Snowfall #2, I have not moved an inch, but zoomed in slightly to play with the framing of the shot. As a reference point, look at the electrical poles in both pictures. OK, two shots from same location and they look very similar, yet look at the slight difference in lighting. This element plays a large part in the final art prints as it creates two very different looks to the same setting.

1st Snowfall #3

1st Snowfall #3 creates an element with a longer path winding its way through a forest. The light dusting of snow is still evident, but the colors of the woods become more prominent.

1st Snowfall #4

1st Snowfall #4 creates the illusion of coming out of a darker forest into a bright meadow where the anticipation of a snow-covered landscape becomes more prominent.

In summary, sometimes it is the little things that make a difference and this is another example of having multiple shots to work with for your final product. Thoughts?

(On a side note, the shots I will be using for the Christmas cards have much more snow involved then these two shots as this area was protected from most of the accumulation.)

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New Orleans Cafe Old World – Featured Art Print

New Orleans Cafe Old World

The art print I wanted to feature today is from my Street Scenes/People Collection titled “New Orleans Café Old World”.  The print is of an outdoor café on a second story open-air balcony overlooking a street in the French Quarter of New Orleans. I featured a black and white sketching of this same scene a few weeks ago, as it is one of my favorites. In this rendition, I took the scene and used a gothic oil technique with earth tone colors creating a warm old world style.

Typical in the French Quarter are outdoor cafes utilizing the second floor balconies, which are a prominent part of the architecture. In my work, I try to capture a moment that speaks to an observer long after the fact. This scene does that. You can see the waiter prepping a table and diners involved in their lunchtime conversations. On the street below you get a glimpse of some of the foot traffic of people meandering around the French Quarter.

I usually look at this style of art and think it is best suited for a traditional interior design with the earth tones and old world feel. It has been one of my most popular prints and I have been fortunate enough to see it framed and displayed in a variety of interior designs. The element that has made the difference is the way it is matted and framed. I have seen it matted using basic white and then framed in black hanging in a living room that you would consider a very modern style. I have also seen it matted in an earth tone with ornate framing in a very traditional interior design. I think the style is abstract enough that it can work in a variety of designs. Thoughts?

I invite you to come into the gallery to view the collection of Street Scenes/People.

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New England Lighthouse – Featured Art Print

New England Lighthouse

The art print I wanted to feature today is from my Lighthouse/Nautical Collection titled “West Chop Lighthouse”.  The print is this lighthouse as seen from the coastal waters looking towards the coastline. It is done with a traditional watercolor technique highlighting the soft warm colors of the coastal setting. It’s springtime in New England with the sun glistening off of the water and the trees newly leafed out.

West Chop Lighthouse is located at the entrance of Vineyard Haven Harbor in Tisbury, Massachusetts on the northern tip of West Chop. The first rubble stone lighthouse and dwelling were built on the bluffs of West Chop in 1817. Facing a problem of constant erosion the lighthouse was moved back in 1830 and again in 1846. The present structure and dwelling were built in 1891. In 1976 West Chop Light became the last Martha’s Vineyard lighthouse to become automated. Today, the former light keepers dwelling serves as living quarters for the Menemsha Coast Guard Station. Since an art print represents just a moment in time, I thought the West Chop Lighthouse setting was a perfect representation of the coastal area of Martha’s Vineyard. Thoughts?

I invite you to come into the gallery to view the new additions to the collection in Lighthouse/Nautical.

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