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 pond
08 Oct 2019 4 Comments
in artwork Tags: acrylic art, acrylic painting, acrylics, Boise, Boise Idaho, Boise landmark, boise train depot, landscape, lily pad, lily pond, water lily, water lily painting, water lotus, water lotus painting
Another lily pad painting
02 Oct 2019 7 Comments
in artwork Tags: acrylic art, acrylic painting, Boise, Boise landmark, boise train depot, landscape, lily pad, water lily, water lily painting, water lotus, water lotus painting
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
24 Mar 2019 2 Comments
in artwork Tags: acrylic art, acrylic painting, acrylics, animal art, Boise, Boise Idaho, Boise landmark, koi, koi pond, landscape, lily pond, water lily, water lily painting, water lotus, water lotus painting
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
17 Mar 2019 Leave a comment
in artwork Tags: acrylic art, acrylic painting, acrylics, architectural art, architectural artwork, architecture, Boise, Boise Idaho, Boise landmark, boise train depot, koi pond, landscape, lily pond, streetscape, water lily, water lily painting
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
10 Mar 2019 Leave a comment
in artwork Tags: acrylic landscape, acrylic painting, acrylics, Boise, Boise Idaho, Boise landmark, boise train depot, landscape art, lily pond, pond painting, water lily, water lily painting
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
03 Mar 2019 2 Comments
in artwork Tags: acrylic art, acrylic painting, acrylics, Boise, Boise Idaho, idaho landscape, landscape, landscape painting, lily pond, pond painting, pond reed painting, water lily, water lily painting
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
24 Feb 2019 4 Comments
in artwork Tags: acrylic art, acrylic landscape, acrylic paint, acrylic painting, acrylics, Boise, Boise Idaho, Boise landmark, boise train depot, landscape art, landscape painting, lily pond, pond painting, pond reed painting, pond reeds
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.