Another lily pond

Intermediate layer

Final layer, maybe

The lily pad paining number five may or may not be finished.  I have let it set a few days and I still can’t decide. I’m more pleased with it than when I stopped, but I am not yet convinced that it is done.  I think the gloss varnish will help deepen, yet soften the colors, but I’m not quite ready to take that step.  Overall, I am happy with the balance of colors.

Another lily pad painting

Under-painting

Lily pad’s first color layer

The lily pad paintings have been calling to me to do another one. I went back to the photos and picked one with pink lotus flowers instead of white and a nice mixture of colors for the pads.

This is 12X9 and the lily pads are larger compared with the other two paintings close to this size.  I will have to find a good balance of detail versus abstract.  I still have way too much problem with any intricate brush work.

One Last Pond Painting

Koi pond

I decided to paint one last acrylic of the Boise Train Depot pond.  There were quite a few large koi swimming in the pond and it seemed a shame to ignore their presence.  So here are a few more lily pads and one large koi.

Somehow, I forgot to take progress photos of this one, so you get to see the final right away.

Pretty much finished

Boise train depot

After a few extra days of fiddling around, I think this one is pretty much finished.  I like the way this one has turned out. The building is delineated but not overpowering.   The white tower and slight orange of the roof reflect subtly in the pond surface.  The lily pads break up pond water but allow the reflections to come through.  I framed the whole thing with the green of the trees and a little bit of shore.  All in all, I think it worked out well as a minor foray in an architectural in acrylic.

The Boise depot

Depot pencil drawing

First layers of paint

After the success of the previous pond paintings, I thought the Boise Depot itself should finally have a feature.  I was not happy with the first achitecturals I did a couple of years ago, but I thought now it was time to try again, but with a slightly different emphasis.

As a compromise to my feelings of inadequacy in painting buildings with acrylics, I wanted to make the building recognizable, but not the main focus. One reference photo seemed to fit the bill.  While the main tower grabs the eye first, its reflection in the pond lets your eye move around to the water and surrounding vegetation.  I was not so intimidated with the building in the background and  I was feeling good about how the previous pond pictures had gone, so this seemed to be a good next step.  I was happy with how things gad progressed to this intermediate step.

Reed painting finished

Reeds in the lily pond

The reed painting is finally finished.  I must have sat and fiddled with it half a dozen times after I thought I might be done.  And I’m still not super happy with with it.  I kept playing with the shore line behind the reeds more than anything else.  I still think there is not enough definition, but I may just let it sit for a month and look at it later.

Others have said they like it, even thought I am not overly thrilled, so it must have some qualities.  (Mom said she’d take it today LOL)

Pond reed painting

Pencil up with the ground layer

Two sessions in

I thought I might be done with the pond paintings, but my husband commented in passing that he liked the reed reference photo. I said, what the heck, and decided to try another.

I was feeling pretty good about the three I had done so far, but this vegetation was quite different than the lily pads, even if the color palette was close to the same.  As I worked along, I tried to remember to keep it loose and define the shapes with dabs of color rather than sharp lines.  The preliminary work was okay, but I knew I needed more depth.