Lavender Field

This past week my wife and I went to a Lavender field on Camano Island which is on the Puget Sound north of the Seattle area here in the Pacific Northwest. This time of year there are a lot of Lavender fields in full bloom and many farms invite you to come and pick bouquets (I use that term loosely as you actually cut them with a sharp blade) for a price. Each plant has numerous blooms rising from them and on this particular farm you are encouraged to cut the blooms of an entire plant which equates to numerous bouquets.

Camano Island is a very heavily forested island without a lot of open fields. There are farms on the island, but it is mostly dense forest. Having said that, the setting was beautiful and the “Lavender Farm” was owned and operated by a very nice young family. Their children helped those of us that came to cut by giving us the tools we would need and barrels to put our “pickings” in while we were in the field.

I asked permission to take pictures of the field and was promptly asked by their children to take a picture of them (which I did and have since sent it to them). I’ve attached six captures from the shoot for this weeks blog. Enjoy:

Lavender 1

Lavender 2

Lavender 3

Lavender 4

Lavender 5

Lavender 6

Our girls and some friends will be the lucky recipients of very fragrant bouguets!!

Thoughts?

Follow my work:

My art gallery: TheWallGallery

Facebook: TheWallGallery.KirtTisdale

Instagram: instagram.com/kirttisdale/

Twitter: KirtWallGallery

Variety of Styles for Orchid Blooms

This week I’m featuring four art prints of orchid blooms that I have created using totally different styles. I like each and everyone, but for entirely different reasons. I’m curious for feedback regarding your impressions.

The first one I created using a very shape defined approach as it relates to shape and outlines.

The Beauty Of An Orchid

The second one I created using a sketching technique.

Sketched Orchid Blooms

For the third one, I used a technique where the watercolor is brushed like puffy clouds and then the drawn blooms are used as an overlay.

Orchid Blooms Watercolor

The fourth and final one, I created using a pastel chalk technique.

Pink And Purple Orchid

Thoughts?

Follow my work:

My art gallery: TheWallGallery

Facebook: TheWallGallery.KirtTisdale

Instagram: instagram.com/kirttisdale/

Twitter: KirtWallGallery

Inflating Hot Air Balloons

I’m featuring three art prints this week that present hot air balloons in an aspect we usually don’t see in pictures….the inflation process. I like to work with different perspectives of things that aren’t usually presented and this part of the hot air balloon process isn’t usually captured. I also took it one step further and used a fauvist style of painting to add an additional element to these depictions. The one standard left alone is the colorful aspect hot air balloons typically represent.

Balloon Collage

Balloon Collection

Almost Ready

Thoughts?

Follow my work:

My art gallery: TheWallGallery

Facebook: TheWallGallery.KirtTisdale

Instagram: instagram.com/kirttisdale/

Twitter: KirtWallGallery

Remote Dwellings On Rugged Coastline

There is something mysterious and unique about dwellings you find off by themselves on rugged coastal bluffs. They create an air of simplicity and peacefulness amongst some of natures most dramatic scenes. These two structures sit right off the infamous Pacific Coast Highway in Oregon. High Above the Surf

Nestled on the Bluff

Both of these settings spur the imagination of what life would be like living this remotely with endless views of the Pacific Ocean and the coastal surf below you.

Thoughts?

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

Follow my work:

Facebook: TheWallGallery by Kirt Tisdale.

Twitter: KirtWallGallery

Instagram: Kirttisdale

 

 

Bougainvillea Glow

I’m happy to report that I am back to blogging after being off the network for the last month. One month ago today I had knee replacement surgery on my left leg. Last August I had the same thing done on my right leg. For me this is the result of 35 to 40 years of recreational jogging, five days a week and four miles a day consistently. I am doing well and take my physical therapy exercises seriously. I’m ahead of average recovery results for month one. I was the same last year and know the importance of doing the exercises as prescribed by my Physical Therapist.

While I was “icing” my knee after exercising and throughout the day, I would spend as much of that time outdoors as I could. We have a three person garden swing on the back side of our patio that has a bougainvillea behind it and part of the branches hang slightly over the swing. As I would sit there stretched out with my leg elevated, my eyes kept getting draw up to the red blooms of the plant about 2 feet above the top of the swing. For those of you familiar bougainvillea, what we think of as the bloom is three red petals with the consistency of very thin paper which allows light to shine though it. The plant is in a shaded area, but some sun does come through. When the light hits the petals from behind it creates that glow.

On the first picture you can see this result very easily by looking at the coloring of the different clusters of red petals.

Bougainvillea 1

On the second picture you can see the glow on the left side petals versus direct sunlight on the front of a couple of the right side petals.

Bougainvillea 2

OK, so obviously I had way too much time on my hands during my 20 minute icing rests, but these shots were the extent of my photography or even digital art work during this month.

Thanks for stopping by and hope this finds you well!!

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!)

Twitter: KirtWallGallery

Instagram: Kirttisdale

 

Cave Creek, Arizona Revisited

Back into my archives looking at prior photoshoots! This week I’m featuring Cave Creek, Arizona. I did a post on Cave Creek in 2014 and am happy to report the only capture I am repeating in this post is the first print because It gives you a feel for the look of this “Old West Town”. I have attached eight prints from my original photoshoot. Enjoy……

Cave Creek Blog 1

Cave Creek Blog 2

Cave Creek Blog 3

Cave Creek Blog 4

Cave Creek Blog 5

Cave Creek Blog 6

Cave Creek Blog 7

Cave Creek Blog 8

Hope all is well with you and yours!!

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!)

Twitter: KirtWallGallery

Instagram: Kirttisdale

 

Fall Bench – Featured Art Print

Fall Bench

“Fall Bench” is a wall art print done with a prayer of mine as an overlay on a color photograph of a park bench amongst fall foliage.

The setting of the park bench is Issaquah, Washington (an eastern suburb of Seattle). I did a fall shoot in Issaquah during October of 2013 when we were living there while our house was being built in Arizona.

I featured this shot in a blog post November 26, 2013 called “Park Bench”. In that post I described how I came across this shot as follows…”there are those occasions when you are out and about and you catch something in the corner of your eye. If possible, you stop and go back at that moment. I have been known to make sudden side trips with a passenger in the car and they look at me , like are you nuts….no…I saw something. My wife has gotten use to this, so she humors me. I saw this in the corner of my eye the other day, but couldn’t stop and take advantage of it, so I had to pass it up. It weighed on my mind the rest of the day and into the next. I finally decided, I had to go back and take some shots now…unfortunately for me it was raining, a nice steady rain, but I couldn’t get it out of my head…yea, I ended up hiking in the rain to get that shot.”

Later, I added a prayer of mine as an overlay to create what I now call “Fall Bench”. The setting reminded me of a prayerful meditation exercise I participated in years ago…..clear your mind and picture yourself having a one on one conversation with The Lord just as you would with your spouse or best friend. Where would that conversation take place? Believe it or not it was a park bench just like this and I think that’s why it caught my eye that day back in the fall of 2013. Thoughts?

Please visit my main gallery: TheWallGallery (All domestic orders over $60.00 – free shipping!)

Follow my work:

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

Google+: TheWallGallery

Twitter: KirtWallGallery

Instagram: Kirttisdale

 

 

Log Houses In Gothic – Featured Art prints

Today I am featuring three art prints I just completed. I decided to feature them as a “before and after post”. The log houses are part of the Sharlot Hall Museum located in Prescott, Arizona. I did a photo shoot blog of these buildings last November, so you can see the before pictures there and the resulting art prints here.

With these images I used the gothic oil technique I have worked with before to give these log structures that “old world” or historic look. This technique focuses on bold brush strokes and earth tone colors to create this style.

The Original Arizona Governors Mansion

This first art print is the original Governors Mansion built for the newly appointed capital of the realigned Arizona Territory by President Lincoln.

 

Fort Misery In Gothic

The second art print is of Fort Misery, which is the oldest log building associated with the territory of Arizona. Originally built in 1863-1864 along the banks of Granite Creek (two blocks south of the museum). It was disassembled and reassembled on the museum grounds in 1934. A trader from Santa Fe built it as a home and store.

The Ranch House In Gothic

The third art print is The Ranch House, which was built for the museum in the 1930’s to represent typical ranch houses from the 1800’s.

Thoughts?

Please visit my main gallery: TheWallGallery (All domestic orders over $60.00 – free shipping!)

Follow my work:

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

Google+: TheWallGallery

Twitter: KirtWallGallery

Instagram: Kirttisdale

Black and White Photography – Mood and Depth

I have shared on a number of my posts, my love of black and white photography. I have always been drawn to it for a variety of reasons, two of which I wanted to talk about today; mood and depth.

Eliminating color from a picture can create an entirely new more interesting image. Key word there is “can”. It doesn’t compliment or help create a visual story on every image, but on certain images it tells a better story to the viewer than leaving it color. Two of the elements that are impacted by using monochrome coloring are mood and depth.

Eliminating the visual busyness of color helps create a mood to a capture. Yes, it is typically more of a somber mood, but this can add flavor to the overall look the photographer is going for.

Black and white can also enhance contrast between visual elements highlighting depth to a particular capture.

I have attached three black and white photographs from my gallery that highlight both of these elements.

The Carriage House in Black And White

In this example, the subject matter presented in black and white helps create a somber rather subdued tone to this capture. The photograph was taken an a cold, cloudy winter day. The barren tree branches reinforce this element of season, but also due to the stark contrast from the background help build depth to the visual experience. It recreates what I felt on the day I took the shot…it was a rather gloomy day and I loved the element of this carriage house being tucked back from the main property.

River Walk

In this capture the light centered on the walkway creates a brighter and more upbeat mood. That aspect is reinforced as there isn’t any competition with color which allows the shaft of light to take center stage. The element of depth is supported in a more subtle way with this shot. Your eye is pulled to the center of the frame due to the shaft of light, but then meanders around the curve of the walkway back into the picture realizing there is more going on further into the picture under those hanging tree branches. The various shapes and contrasting darkness over lighter backgrounds create this depth.

Coastal Surf

The black and white aspect to this last capture creates a very neutral mood in that this could have been taken on a bright sunny day or a cloudy day. The biggest impact for this is depth. The dark tree branches frame an ocean coastline and reinforce the point of view as being high above the pounding surf. The foreground of craggy tree branches as the darkest element create the starting point to depth. Your eye is then pulled into the frame across the surf to the bluff across the way…distance and depth.  Thoughts?

Please visit my main gallery: TheWallGallery (All domestic orders over $60.00 – free shipping!)

Follow my work:

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

Google+: TheWallGallery

Twitter: KirtWallGallery

Instagram: Kirttisdale

The Pear And Apple: Simplicity in Still Life

Orange Pear Watercolor

Pear and Apple Watercolor

Thoughts?

---

 

Please visit my main gallery: TheWallGallery (All domestic orders over $60.00 – free shipping!)

Follow my work:

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

Google+: TheWallGallery

Twitter: KirtWallGallery

Instagram: Kirttisdale

 Tsu: KirtWallGallery