From floral the last two weeks to architecture this week…
I have always had an appreciation of architecture having taken a number of classes related to it during my school years. Fast forward to today and I have been able to use a sketching technique that highlights the intricacies of good architecture and even street scenes that celebrate the architecture that lines them. In my opinion detail sketching is one of the best ways to display the beauty and intricacies of classic architecture. On that vein, I have attached four art prints that highlight two buildings and two street scenes in Boston!
In keeping with floral pictures like last week, I thought I would share a process I often go through to arrive at a print that I like and looks good. Sometimes the final product is the original capture and in cases like this post it’s the starting point to create something better. Having said that, the following pictures start with the original photographic capture and the resulting two art prints created from that.
Back up 10 years ago right after I had upgraded my 35mm camera. I was getting use to all the options it offered and made a number of experimentation shots I usually don’t share. This is one of them. I was working on the macro focus, lighting, exposure and as always framing the subject. I took a series of shots of an orchid plant we had on our patio. This was just a few in a series of shots I did that day and didn’t really have a chance to look at all of them until later. Of all the shots of the blooms from this plant, attached was one that I liked only because of the framing of the macro shot. My next step was to take the file into my digital art programs and start working on changing the look of the capture into something I liked.
Original Photograph
I worked through the various options I had to create a change in the appearance. I kept with the actual framing of the original, but started working on the lighting and coloring to create a more interesting art print. I softened it with just a slight touch of a watercolor presentation.
I liked them for different reasons and decided to keep both in my gallery. As a side note it was six shots of that particular plant that day that led to one capture I wanted to work with.
Next week I will be sharing a series of captures I took at a Tulip Farm we visited last week. The farm hosts an annual Tulip Festival and we didn’t want to wait for that as the day we went was perfect weather…sunny and high 60’s. The days prior and since….cool, cloudy and rainy. Have a great week!
For those of you that follow my blog, you know that I have not posted in a few weeks due to our move to the Seattle area. We are now pretty well settled after waiting for over a week for our furniture and belongings to arrive. We hadn’t anticipated it taking that long for the moving van to show up, but you just have to role with the punches. It gave us time to paint a new color scheme throughout the house and shop for some much needed new appliances.
The attached two prints came to mind as our journey in life brought us up to the Pacific Northwest.
Just wanted to give a “heads up”…..I will not be blogging for the next couple of weeks. My wife and I are in the process of moving from Los Angeles to Seattle. After months of house hunting, we finally closed on a house in early February. We were up there a couple of weeks ago painting, window blinds…new carpet, etc and now the actual move is upon us. We are looking forward to it as we will be near both of our other daughters/husbands and a new grandchild. I also think Alaska Airlines will appreciate the frequent flyer activity between LA and Seattle from our LA daughter/husband/grandchildren and us as I know we will.
This week I am featuring an inspirational art print called Isolation. I used a lighthouse to depict isolation and guidance. Then I added my inspirational thought to complete the print.
This week I’m featuring two different lighthouses. One from the Oregon coast and one from Massachusetts (or one from the US west coast and one from the US east coast). I just recently completed the three attached prints using a softer watercolor technique.
The first lighthouse is Heceda Head on the Oregon coastline. This lighthouse sits remotely on a bluff overlooking the ocean to the immediate west. The Pacific Coast Highway that follows the coastline is the access point for this site which does include a caretakers house.
I’ve attached four art prints that are simple geometric shapes and two of the four are really simple colors: black and white. The other two introduce blue and red as part of the simple colors equation. I created these simple abstract art prints a number of years ago on a specific project I was working on for a client. What has surprised me over the years is how often these prints have been used on throw pillows. The third party art galleries I sell on have evolved from just selling art prints to using the art on a variety of products. So, imagine my surprise when in the case of these four they are suddenly hot looks for throw pillows!! You just never know!!
As we head into the Christmas week I thought I would feature three art prints that have one of my favorites from 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8, known as Love Is Patient. It fits so well on these three art prints.
The first one supports this time of year. The art print is a photographic capture of a Christmas snow in the Seattle area.
This week, I’m switching things up a bit to showcase three art prints of brightly colored orchids. I used a fauvism technique which creates somewhat abstract shapes with very bright colors. For anyone that has been following my work over the years, you have seen this technique used by me on a variety of subject matters.
The first one is a red orchid stem showcasing a number of the blooms.
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