San Antonio River Walk – Featured Art Prints

I’m featuring four art prints this week that I created from a photo shoot I did a couple of years ago from a visit my wife and I took to San Antonio. I hadn’t been to the River Walk since I was a young adult and my wife had never been. We had business in Austin and since the two cities are only about an hour and a half apart, we took a day for me to introduce her to the infamous River Walk. From that shoot, I used a two different watercolor techniques to soften up the images.

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of visiting the River Walk, it is along the San Antonio River in downtown San Antonio. It sits about one story below street level and winds throughout the downtown area. When you descend onto the River Walk, it feels like you have just entered another world. The hustle and bustle of street traffic disappears to the quiet of a peaceful river walk lined with restaurants and shops.

The first two pictures I created using a slightly abstract watercolor technique that creates small abstract shapes to “paint” the picture. They give you a better perspective of the walkway as it winds along both sides of the river. Love the trees as they shade all of the outdoor cafes.

“San Antonio River”

“Post on the River Walk”

The last two pictures, I used a more traditional watercolor technique giving you a view of two different outdoor cafes.

“Lunch Above the River Walk“

“Lunch on the River Walk“

Thoughts?

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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?

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Garden Lamp – Featured Art Prints

This week I’m featuring a series of three art prints. All three are of the same subject, but each having a slightly different perspective. The subject matter is a simple yard lamp, yard light or garden lamp, whatever terminology you choose to use. In creating these three prints I was looking for a somewhat abstract style to create prints that were simplistic in nature while capturing the look and feel of the setting.

Wall Art Print: Yard Lamp and Vine

Wall Art Print: Yard Lamp

Wall Art Print: Garden Lamp

The setting itself is surprising in that this lamp is attached to a wall in a garden inside the Alamo complex in San Antonio, Texas. My wife and I were visiting the River Walk and the Alamo a couple of years ago, when I spotted this simple yard lamp. What appealed to my eye was the manner in which the vine was growing around the light. There was instinctively a composition here, but I wasn’t sure what type of presentation I wanted to do for it. After experimenting with a number of concepts, I decided to move forward with this type of look. As I mentioned earlier, I wanted a simple, clean look for this composition and I think this style created just that.

Thoughts?

I invite you to visit my Gardens Gallery to enjoy these prints and many more.

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River Walk Outdoor Cafe – Feature Art Prints

The San Antonio River Walk is the setting for my featured art prints in this post. From a visit my wife and I did last May, I took a series of shots along the River Walk and the Alamo. I have attached three of them to this post of an outdoor cafe nestled on the banks of the river. I wanted to show the original photograph and then two different water color versions based on the same scene.  The two different versions highlight the importance of style of print as it relates to your interior design style.

This is the original capture….

River Walk Cafe Original Capture

Using that scene as the basis, this is a traditional watercolor style of painting capturing the same composition. This style of watercolor creates a softer, warmer look to the scene and would typically be used in a room with a more traditional interior decor.

Traditional Watercolor

The last attachment is the same scene done in a more abstract watercolor. Notice the details are combined into single shapes and colors giving this art print a look for a more contemporary decorating scheme.

 

Abstract Watercolor

So, this is an example of where not only the scene can dictate a specific look, but the style the art print is done in also dictates a look for the interior decorating style you are working with.

 

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River Walk

As a follow up to my last post on the Alamo…one cannot visit the Alamo without enjoying the San Antonio River Walk. One of the most photographed areas along the banks of the river… I really couldn’t bring anything more to the table with my photography (check this site out for some really stunning pictures) . So, what I decided to do was capture the elements of the area through painting. The project evolved from a typical traditional watercolor approach to a more modern edgy abstract look. As an example the first picture is an actual photograph that I used as a basis for a traditional watercolor…picture 2. That’s when I shifted gears and decided to approach it from a different perspective.

From Kirt’s Main Gallery

Typical spring day along the river walk…..

From Kirt’s Main Gallery

Same scene done in a traditional watercolor…

From Kirt’s Main Gallery

A completely different look and feel. I felt like this approach brought a more contemporary and edgy look.

From Kirt’s Main Gallery

I popped the colors a little more to bring an additional element of strength to the picture.

From Kirt’s Main Gallery

I like the look of these shapes in the sun, so I focused on bringing them out….

From Kirt’s Main Gallery

I was tempted to change the coloring of the river from it’s normal murky, but decided against it after playing with it for awhile…after all it is a river and not the Caribbean …

From Kirt’s Main Gallery

And of course what would a river walk scene be without……

From Kirt’s Main Gallery

people and restaurants!

I appreciate any feedback and thoughts about the look of the pictures I have done. This series will be posted in the near future on my main gallery site. Thanks!