New home portrait for Boise Idaho has been mailed

Finished

My second home portrait Christmas commission is finished and gone.  As it was a new build, I enlarged the landscaping and greened up the grass to help it settle into the landscape.  It was kind of fun to do a portrait from a far away place that I had actually visited near.

I did hear from the client that it safely arrived and that she was delighted.  I had wrapped it so that she couldn’t see it directly on opening the shipping box and she said it was like her own Christmas!  So happy she is happy.

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The Waymire Building Finished

Watercolored Waymire

The Waymire Building is finished. While not as colorful as the previous Boise businesses, it is appealing none the less.  The red trim makes a nice accent to the white building.  The shop “Hyde & Seek” takes up much of the first floor and is filled to the brim with an eclectic variety of items.  We enjoyed wandering through and making a few purchases the last time we were there.

Next up is a local house portrait.It’s a lovely brick two story and it’s owner is moving away after many years of residence.

The Central Fire Station in Boise

Central Fire Station

After several sessions, the final watercolor for the Central Fire Station in Boise, Idaho, has been finished and it has listed in my etsy store.  The distinctive corbelled brick makes quite the statement for this corner building, don’t you think?.  The tower is pretty spectacular, too.  I believe the original signal bell is still hanging up there, although I can’t say how and when it might still be used.

The facade of the building is mostly the same since when it was opened in 1902. All of the upper story windows (sans the awnings of course) were there and the main entrance was on the right side even then.   The three fire bays had arched openings across the lower left.  If you google the station you can see wonderful old photos which have the fire crews and horse drawn fire trucks out in front.  With the signal bell clanging away, it must have been quite the spectacle to see them all charge out of the doors to head off to put out a fire.

Boise’s Central Fire Station

Pencil up

Completed inking

The Boise Central Fire Station was finished and occupied in 1903.  It was the first fire station in Boise to house full time paid fireman in the city.

This brick structure has been described as Romanesque due to the tower, the semi-circular windows, and the symetrical patterning.  The corbelling on the tower and above the second floor add a lot of visual interest.  I don’t normally like awnings, but they do dress up the windows here.  Watercolors will be a lovely orange/red color for the brick and the awnings a darker accent.

The Adelmann Building

Watercolored

I’m almost finished with the Adelmann Building in Boise, Idaho.  I’m not happy with the shadows on the lower right and the folded umbrella quite yet.  I just have this little niggling feeling that it needs a little something more.  Maybe I’ll see what it is after a couple of days.

Overall, I enjoyed working with the colors and architectural shapes in this one.  That red turret set against the painted brick is delightful.  Old town areas have the best architecture, don’t you think?  These days no one can afford to do buildings like this. Not much whimsey left in architecture any more, it seems.

Boise foothills finished

Boise foothills landscape

After about 4 sessions of painting, I am pretty well finished with the Boise painting. I’ll check again in a week or so and see what changes I think it needs, but I pretty happy with it so far.  At 16″x12″, this is the largest acrylic painting I have done in a very long time.  I tried to keep the style loose and concentrate on color rather than specific details.  For me, the heavy bodied paint works against minute brush strokes, even though I use a paint drying retardant and it thins it somewhat.  I’ll be ready to try my other big canvas with another Boise landscape soon.

Boise foothills

Boise foothills

We visited family in Boise, Idaho last month and of course I took pictures.  I ended up lugging my nice Canon camera with the wide angle telephoto lens on the plane with us so I could take some architectural photos, family pics, and some outdoor shots.  Lots to see in our first visit for our grandson’s birthday.

The landscape out there can be quite stark when the summer dryness hits.  There are some colors in the vegetation but it tends towards muted greens and silvers.  Flowers that looked like a small yellow sunflowers and other plants with tiny white ones were scattered about, but they tended to be widely spaced.  I look forward to seeing the spring explosion next year.  This particular spot also had some interesting eroded areas which add a rich orange color.

I decided to try a slightly larger canvas (16×12) and maybe keep it in a little looser style this time around.  the size will help carry it.