Butterflies in a Variety of Colors

This week I am sharing a series of new prints I created of butterflies. The process for these prints started a couple of weeks ago when out of the blue I remembered a couple of photos I took of butterflies over a year ago. Not sure where that came from, but I dug out the photos. They really weren’t much to work with as I only took them to remind me to pursue butterflies as a possible subject. It only took that long for that particular process to work for me…duh!! Anyway, I took the subject matter and started drawing butterflies. Still not sure what I was going to do, I kept after the drawings and finally was able to complete a look I liked. To pop the color, I used a photoshop technique to make the butterflies colors take on a texture. After trying to recreate more butterflies, I simply copied the one drawing I liked the best…resized it as needed and pivoted them in different directions. I then started playing with colors as I wasn’t sure what the final color was going to be. This led to more experimentation and various colors. To finish the look I was after, I chose a soft background in similar shades to the butterflies. In Photoshop one of the brushes paints in leaf shapes, so I used that in the various colors and sizes. I then lowered the opacity to soften it as a back drop. The final result was five different colored butterflies on five different prints and then one print combining all five.

Yellow Butterflies

Red Butterflies

Purple Butterflies

Blue Butterflies

Green Butterflies

Colorful Butterflies

Thoughts?

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More Coastal Art Prints

This week I wanted to continue the coastal theme of the last few weeks, but am switching sides of the North American Continent to the eastern coast. The attached three prints were inspired by the inter water coastal region surrounding Martha’s Vineyard. Martha’s Vineyard is just off the coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The area is interspersed with islands and is popular for boating and fishing. It’s not unusual to see large homes, as this is the summer playground for the wealthy. The setting is naturally beautiful and an artists dream to capture the look and feel of this unique New England paradise.

The first print is titled Lighthouse Point In watercolor:

Lighthouse Point in Watercolor

The second print is titled Boat Moorings:

Boat Moorings

The third print is titled Sailboat in New England.

Sailboat in New England

Thoughts?

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Bold Orchids

I have attached two newer prints I created using orchids as a subject matter. In the case of these two, I used an impasto technique to create two strong visual experiences. This technique uses large and bold brush strokes creating a very distinctive visual texture. Add bold colors and the prints definitely stand out.

Purple Impasto Orchids

A good friend of ours has a green thumb with orchids and I used two of her plants as inspiration for these prints. I loved the deep purple of the one plant which inspired the first print.

Back Lit Orchids

I also like the look of back lighting these types of flowers (the blooms are thin enough to create a glow when back lit) and tried to replicate that look with these red orchids.

Thoughts?

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And More Lighthouses…..

With last weeks picture of an abstract lighthouse, I thought it would be appropriate to go back to the lighthouse theme I did in August. I drew those lighthouses using an ink and watercolor technique. I have completed three more lighthouse drawings since those posts of Oregon Lighthouses, with these being in the state of Washington.

Mukilteo

The first one is my rendition of the Mukilteo Lighthouse on the east side of Possession Sound in Mukilteo, Washington. The lighthouse is an operational navigational aid built in the 1950’s north of Seattle and just south of Everett. The Mukilteo location also sits next to one of the ferry terminals serving auto and pedestrian commuters between the mainland and the numerous islands in the Pacific Northwest.

West Point

The second one is West Point Lighthouse which is located in Discovery Park (Seattle, Washington) It sits on the north part of the park on a piece of land that juts out into Puget Sound on the north end of Elliot Bay (Elliot Bay is the body of water that downtown Seattle fronts opening into the Puget Sound).

Admiralty Head

The third and final one in the series is Admiralty Head Lighthouse constructed to replace the original structure in 1903. The location of this lighthouse marks the north end of Admiralty Inlet which connects The Strait of San Juan de Fuca with the Puget Sound (for ocean voyage between the port of Seattle and the Pacific Ocean, you would sail out of Elliot Bay into the Puget Sound heading north towards Canada sailing through theAdmiralty inlet to connect to the Strait of San Juan de Fuca which separates the two countries and then westward out to the Pacific Ocean).

Thoughts?

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Mayan Ruins Sketched

In sticking with black and white art prints, this week I’m sharing black and white sketches. The subject matter is Mayan Ruins and this series of sketches is of the ruins at Chichen Itza, Mexico (Wikipedia). I should have been an archeologist as I love exploring the architecture of ruins from a variety of prior civilizations. In the case of Chichen Itza, I have visited this site a couple of times and find the structures fascinating. Black and white works well with this subject matter as it highlights the details of the architecture.

The central focal point of the city is the pyramid (Temple of Kukulcan). I have had the pleasure of hiking up to the top during my first visit and the second time we went down there, it had been closed off to people walking up the stairs.

“Mayan Pyramid”

The next two sketches are of the Observatory…..

“Mayan Observatory”

“Mayan Remnants”

These last two sketches are of the Temple of a Thousand Warriors.

“Mayan Columns”

“1000 Columns”

Cape Blanco Lighthouse

In reference to last weeks post on remote dwellings along the Oregon Coastline, this week I’m continuing that theme by featuring an ink drawing and watercolor print I created of the Cape Blanco Lighthouse.

This lighthouse is located on the southwestern coastline of Oregon. It sits on the western most point of land in the state and was first lit in 1870. For more information: Wikipedia.

Cape Blanco

Thoughts?

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Hot Air Balloons In Fauvism

Over the last few years, I have shared numerous art prints of hot air balloons, but none of them in a fauvism style. I like the surreal colors and abstract look of fauvism, so this week I am sharing three prints I created using that technique.

This first one is titled “Singular Flight” .

Singular Flight

The second one is simply titled “The Yellow Balloon”.

The Yellow Balloon

And last but not least, “Rising Behind”.

Rising Behind

Thoughts?

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We Are In This Life Together

“Judging Others Leads to Being Judged by Others”

Thoughts?

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More Hot Air Balloons in an Abstract Watercolor Look

I have featured hot air balloons from my gallery here a number of times using actual photography and various digital painting styles. Today I wanted to feature three I created using a soft abstract watercolor technique and then going back in and drawing lines to create the shapes of the balloons.

Subtle Abstract Hot Air Balloons

Hot Air Balloons In Red

Hot Air Balloons In Subtle Abstract

Not shy with color, I love the end result! Thoughts?

Side Notes:

1. Those of you that follow my blog, I had mentioned that I would be off all of August after having total knee replacement surgery August 8th. Recovery and Physical Therapy has been going well. It’s a long and steady process over a number of months, but I am up and around…walking without assistance (no walker or cane). End of last week I was cleared to start driving (bummer…I was liking being chauffeured around by my wife). So, bottom line getting back in the swing of things!!

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Balboa Park – More Spanish Revival Architecture

From my post a few weeks ago of the door at the Glendale Train Station in the Los Angeles area, I featured an example of Spanish Revival architecture. Continuing on that same vein, I wanted to feature another structure in California that was built in the same tine frame with the same style. In my attached sketches I have include three art prints that feature the Museum of Man in Balboa Park, San Diego, California. Built for the Panama – California Exposition (1915-1916) in Balboa Park, this style of architecture is prominent throughout the park. I chose to feature the Museum of Man, as it stands out so prominently as a representation of this style.

For those of you not familiar with the history of Balboa Park in San Diego, here’s a link to their main site: Balboa Park. The park features numerous museums, restaurants and the world famous Old Globe Theater and sits right next to the San Diego Zoo. Having raised our family in San Diego, needless to say we visited the park and the zoo numerous times over the years.

So the prints I decided to feature start with the main entrance to The Museum of Man. This sketch shows the ornate architectural detail just above the main entrance.

“Museum of Man”

The next sketch shows the top of the tower connected to the museum…..

“Ornate Tower”

And this last sketch  shows the entire tower along with the dome to the Old Globe Theater.

 

“The Tower and Dome”

Thoughts?

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