Chicago Lakefront Skyline - finished commission painting
I went on many long bike rides along the lakefront to take reference photos and also created images using Google Earth to get some of the views to create the composition. I even went to a professional sailboat race at Navy Pier for inspiration. Many days, I painted for 6 hours straight only taking bathroom breaks or to eat. And this was during the hottest summer ever in Chicago in a studio with no air conditioning!
Chicago Lakefront commission
The painting continues...
It's mid August and just realized I haven't made a blog post this month. Been busy helping out my wife with the Chicago Writers Conference.
Anyway, the lake/water is coming together and added some more layers to the ferris wheel and LSD this past week. Yesterday, I made some good progress on flushing out the buildings and beginning to add the details.
Next up: more building details and textures, the L train, and filling in some more Wrigley Field details...
Updated Chicago Lakefront painting
I've had to rework the boats in this painting a few times. Still some work to do but the composition is basically there. Many more layers of paint to add but I feel like it's really starting to take shape.
Chicago Lakefront Skyline - detailed views
I think it was the heat, because, yesterday this new commission painting took on some bright, psychedelic colors. Below are two shots - left-to-right, close-ups - along with a full view of the painting. The skyline has been filled out with shapes of buildings and parks. I shot some photos of sailboats over the weekend and need to re-work the boats using those images as reference. What's there now needs some work.
It was 101 degrees in the shade today - so too hot to work in a studio with no air conditioning. Time spent doing online research and household chores. But anyway, here's how the painting's looking...
Starting a new commission painting
A few weeks ago, I started a new commission painting. It's a Chicago cityscape that needs to include the lake, L train, iconic buildings, Navy Pier Ferris Wheel and Wrigley Field. A fun challenge!
I began by making sketches based on Google Earth screen captures and shooting on-site photographs while biking along the lake. Next, I made more sketches and started transferring the composition to the 30" x 60" custom wood panel surface.
Late last week I started the painting process. Some images of the work in progress are below. One is the full image and two are close-ups.
The composition is basically down and larger areas of color and shapes are starting to come together. There will definitely be a lot more details as I add more layers and flush out the cityscape. Also more details to the foreground too. Yesterday I got over a hump and was really able to add more movement and color with the additions of the boats and more details on the Ferris Wheel and Wrigley.
Commission Painting (detail)
The commission painting is essentially done. I'll be meeting the collectors later this week for final review and approval. All that will be left is to varnish it. Below is a detailed view of the middle section of the painting.
Snow day!
Lots of snow coming down this afternoon, and after 7 days straight in the studio, today I'm taking a day off. Gotta refresh -- plus, I need to work on some office and business projects.
I'm now about halfway done with my West Loop commission painting. More layers, some colors changes and details to be added. I'm looking forward to having the collectors come for a studio visit next week so they can see where it's at in person.
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| West Loop Skyline - painting in progress |
The start of the West Loop Cityscape commission painting
Today, I painted over the charcoal sketch outlines in order to keep the composition as close to what I initially envisioned. If you look close, you can see that I also added the Lake Street El Train in front of the old grain silos just to the left of center. I also added a little color to add depth and to start playing with ideas for color scheme.
Sketch transferred to canvas
The photos have been taken and sketches done on paper. The next step in the commission painting was to get the composition down with charcoal on canvas.
West Loop Cityscape, composition sketch, charcoal on canvas
New Commission Painting
So far, the art projects are falling into place: a couple of sales, a commission painting as well as a potential art reproduction project for a hotel.
I've started working on some sketches for the commission painting. The collectors live in the West Loop area of Chicago and requested a cityscape featuring rooftop water tanks. Below are the initial sketches done with charcoal and graphite on paper, along with some photos I shot for inspiration and compositional ideas.
Sketches:
