Finishing the architectural streetscape

Final

This painting went through a few odd twists. After several days of adding detail that I wasn’t exactly overwhelmed with, I decided to switch gears and paint it up side down.  The painting, not me.  LOL  This would totally change my perspective and I could concentrate on the colors and not be so obsessed with the details. It actually worked pretty well.  I feel like I balanced the composition better.  Not perfect, but certainly better than the barn ended up being.

Streetscape

Layout

The first layer

Whoops, I forgot to post yesterday!  All of my days are running together now.  I was planting in my garden since the weatherman has assured me that the frosty weather is over and I just lost track.  I am super sad though because it looks like my lovely Japanese maples are going to succumb to the hard freeze we had recently.  We had planted them when we move in here and the two of them were getting large and nicely shaped.

I decided to try another architectural painting.  I haven’t done one in several years since the catastrophe of the stone barn, but that tree painting gave me some confidence in slapping the old paint on for buildings.  Also, an art video company has been showing hour long segments on youtube from their catalogue of painters and I have learned quite a lot from them.  This is a streetscape from Washington DC when we where there for a memorial service some time ago.

The second day on the tree

Heart tree

After I got the courage to take up the brushes again and add some more paint, this is what turned out.  I really had moments of hesitation over what to do next and spent a lot of time just looking.  I have worked on it several times since that last photo and am not quite sure it is done, particularly in the lower right area, but I am pretty pleased with the results, probably more than with any landscape that I have done so far.

Back to painting

Base coat

Day one

I decided to go back to painting after I binge watched watched “Portrait Artist of the Year 2020” last week on youtube.  If you get the chance to do so, I highly recommend seeing this series as well as the landscape ones.  Both are so inspiring to me (with a minimal amount of envy, truth be told.)

I had this photo I took about 30 years ago at a timber framers conference outing stuck in my files. I loved the heart shape at the base of the tree and always thought I’d have a print made of it.  Maybe too late now as I only have a negative and a print and how would that work now in this digital age.

Anyway, I was very happy with the first day’s work.  Enough so that I was intimidated to work more lest I “ruin” it.  No fear, I have done more, but it took me two days to pick up the brushes again.

Maybe it’s finished

Foothills

Here is what probably is the final for this painting.  I have played around with it for several sessions trying to figure out what it needed.  I ended up using some glazing to help define the shadows rather than more paint and I am fairly happy with that decision.  Once this pandemic is over I will be listing the recent work for sale.

Another Idaho landscape

Preliminary layout

Another day in

I’ve tried another one.  No sky here.  I wanted to play with the landscape more without the distraction of the sky.  The vista is still dominated by the far landscape, but I am able to concentrate more on the foreground shrubs and trees.  It has more of a red cast than the blue of the last.  We’ll see how that works out.

Maybe the final for this landscape

Foothills final

I think this one might be done.  The overall effect is pleasing and the foreground is the best part to my eye.  I like the colors and the suggestion of the grasses.

I worked on the midground shrubs and I think improved them.  The shadows using acrylics still seem to give me the most trouble but I am finding that a darker glaze, judiciously applied, sometimes helps.  I can more subtly darken an area without covering it up completely.  Time will tell.