The Boise Union Block Building

The Union Block building

Inked in

I’m back to Boise again with the old downtown Union Block building.  It’s a sandstone structure designed by John Tourtellotte – the same architect who did the Waymire Building I drew last summer.  It was built in 1902 and refurbished in the 1990’s after being slated for demolition.  I am so glad it was saved.  Too many of these great old buildings are gone all across the country and Boise seems determined to save its heritage.

Surprisingly, it is not named for trade unions as I initially thought, but is a referral to the Civil War, a dig of Northern sympathizers against Southern ones some 40 years after the war.

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The finished child’s portrait

Finished

I have finished my son’s portrait and after letting it set for a while, I am happy with it.  This drawing of him at two pretty much reflects his personality – happy and enthusiastic about his life.  I still have the hardest time with mouths when I paint people, but this one is turned out okay after multiple adjustments.

I don’t have enough confidence to sell commission portraits of people, but I have enjoyed doing the ones of my family.  I think I’ll stick to the architectural and pet portraits for my online etsy store.

Portrait redone

Pencil sketch

Inked up

After I finished the all of kids’ portraits earlier this year, it was suggested I redo my son’s at a younger age to fit in better with the others.  We searched through the photos and I decided that this was appropriate because the wide smile is reminiscent of the one I did of my grandson.

They are both very smiley people with a great joy for life.

Pond Painting

Pond Painting

This last month I was inspired watching the British tv show “Landscape Artist of the Year” and decided to try something plein air myself.  It’s technically  not quite plein art as I am sitting inside behind my studio doors and painting through the glass, but it is a real landscape not a photo.  I just prefer to think of myself as well climatized.  LOL

This is about 90% finished after 3 sessions.  I like it well enough, but am not quite happy with the water yet.  I need to let it sit and percolate before I work on it again.  I think the water should be a bit more horizontal looking and something slightly more defined in the foreground.

After doing this, I am utterly in awe of some of the work I saw done in just four hours for the tv show.  It’s on Ovation tv and if you get the chance to see any of the episodes, it is well worth watching.  There is also a “Portrait Artist of the Year” and I find those episodes equally amazing.  I can’t work that fast, ever.  Or that well.

Finished Landscape Painting

The finished landscape

I finished the latest Boise landscape earlier this month. This piece was painted over a rather extended period of time – most unusual for me as I tend to work in spurts and not drag things out.  We had our 3 week trip to Boise for our grandson’s 2nd birthday and the birth of our next one smack in the middle of the painting sessions, so I got quite the “distance” to evaluate where it was going.

In the end, I didn’t change too much during the second split session.  I glazed over the upper part to soften it and blur out some of the details, which I though I overdid.  I am enjoying taking a break from the line work with these paintings, but I think I may head back to the inks pretty soon.

 

 

Idaho Landscape

Base coat

First layer of color

All four of my previous Idaho landscapes went to their new home in Boise, Idaho, in August, so I decided I had to paint some more to list in my etsy store. These are the first two layers of a recent work.  It is up in the foothills looking down onto some of the numerous trails that are there.

We do hiking and photo taking every time when we are in town visiting family, but don’t ask me where the view is from.  We have looked up and down from so many places that I can’t keep it all straight in my head.  Heaven forbid I keep notes as I photograph LOL but if someone really needs to know, I am sure my son can tell me.

Two more gel prints

Palm trees

Dragonfly

I made wo more gel prints, but neither one has made me really happy.  The palm trees were not distinct enough when I pulled the print and I had to touch it up afterwards.  At least I remembered to put in the texture on the final layer.

Not so much on the dragonfly one.  I was happy with the pulled print, but I forgot to add the bubble wrap texture on the final layer.  I think it would have added something, but maybe not.  Since I penned in the veining on the wings, maybe it would have all melded together.  Who knows.

These are all works in progress with a lot of experimentation (deliberate or not LOL).  So far I am having fun and I seem to be selling more prints in my etsy shop, so what the heck.  I’ll keep on trying.