Monthly Archives: February 2018

Pacific Northwest Lighthouses – Featured Art Prints

I am featuring four lighthouses today that are located along the Oregon and Washington Coastline. I did these art prints using a very (I emphasize the word “very”) subtle sketching and soft watercolor technique. The prints look like soft photography, but if you look closer you will see the architectural detail and landscape detail sketched to highlight it and the coloring has just a hint of watercolor blending.

These are just four of many lighthouses dotting the coastline of Oregon and Washington. I have featured them in order of south to north…north being the last one and the only one in Washington (just across the border from Oregon) of these four.

Umpqua River Lighthouse Sketched

This lighthouse was a replacement for a prior lighthouse and became operational in 1894. It is located above the entrance to Winchester Bay. Wikipedia – here!

Yaquina Head Lighthouse in Watercolor

This particular lighthouse was built in Paris and shipped to Oregon. It became operational in 1873 and is located near the mouth of the Yaquina River near Newport, Oregon. Wikipedia: here.

Cape Meares Lighthouse in Watercolor

Short, but powerful, this lighthouse became operational in 1890 and is located near Tillamook Bay. Wikipedia: here.

North Head Lighthouse

North Head Lighthouse is located in Washington just north of the Oregon border. Sitting high on a rocky promontory north of the mouth of the Columbia River and Cape Disappointment. Wikipedia: here.

I love lighthouses and try and take advantage of seeking any out in my travels. This series came from a trip my wife and I did when we lived in San Diego and decided to do a road trip to visit our youngest daughter who at the time was going to the University of Washington. We flew up to the Bay Area in Northern California and rented a car. After a brief stay in Napa Valley, we headed over to the Northern California coastline and took the coastal route up into Washington state. We visited as many along the way as we could and if you are interested in seeing more of my artistic interpretations of these and many more lighthouses visit my Lighthouse/Nautical Gallery. Thoughts?

Please visit my main gallery: TheWallGallery (All domestic orders over $50.00 – free shipping!)

Follow my work:

Facebook: TheWallGallery by Kirt Tisdale. (Page likes are always appreciated!)

Google+: TheWallGallery

Twitter: KirtWallGallery

Instagram: Kirttisdale

Midwinter in Rural Iowa – Featured Art Prints

31 Replies

Five years ago at this time in February, I was in Iowa to visit family. I took the opportunity to drive out into the landscape of rural Iowa for some inspiration (artistically speaking). There wasn’t a lot of snow as the temperatures had gotten above freezing. This time of year the landscape is stark, lacking the vibrant green of spring and summer, yet I still find beauty in this starkness. The fields are a golden brown and the trees stand like guardians with their bare branches. In recreating the scenes I came across, I used an Impasto technique (impasto: to lay paint on thickly creating deep textured brush strokes) to give the scenes texture and brightened up the browns of the land into a more vibrant golden hue.

Country Road

This first scene is a dirt (muddy) road that I took trying to get a photograph of a red barn I had seen through the woods. After getting out of the car and looking back at where I had come, I decided I preferred that scene the way the road curved around the bend.

Winter Creek

Another typical scene for this time of year is this frozen creek bed on a farm. Same golden fields and stark trees along the creek bed.

Snow in the Dirt Road

I have a thing about paths, sidewalks or roads that wander off into the distance as they create depth to a picture and stimulate the brain of the curious wondering where they go.

Old Abandoned Farm

And then lastly is this discovery near the frozen creek bed, an abandoned farm. The setting seemed perfect for these buildings that were still standing, even with them being as dilapidated as they were.

My tribute to mid February…thoughts?

Please visit my main gallery: TheWallGallery (All domestic orders over $50.00 – free shipping!)

Follow my work:

Facebook: TheWallGallery by Kirt Tisdale. (Page likes are always appreciated!)

Google+: TheWallGallery

Twitter: KirtWallGallery

Instagram: Kirttisdale

Twin Falls – Excerpts from a Photoshoot

31 Replies

I’m featuring three photos from a hike I did to Twin Falls. This particular Twin Falls is located just outside of North Bend, Washington. North Bend is located in The Snoqualmie Valley east of Seattle as you climb into the Cascade Mountain Range. There are a number of hiking trails in the valley many of them ascending into the mountains that encircle the valley. The hike to Twin Falls is considered a milder hike compare to most of the others. The trail takes you along the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River through beautiful forests until you reach the falls. It isn’t two water falls side by side, but two waterfalls one right after the other.