Charlotte Skyline - Finished!

This triptych of three large canvases (each 22"x28") was commissioned by my sister-in-law, who lives in downtown Charlotte, NC. She wanted the Charlotte skyline painted in earth tones/dark colors and gold, to match her favorite colors and her apartment's decor.

First, to see the blog posts of this massive painting in progress, visit these:

• Planning and Sketching: http://untilthewaterfalls.blogspot.com/2018/02/charlotte-skyline-in-progress-planning.html

• First Layer of Paint: http://untilthewaterfalls.blogspot.com/2018/02/charlotte-skyline-in-progress-first.html

• Adding Details 1: http://untilthewaterfalls.blogspot.com/2018/03/charlotte-skyline-in-progress-adding.html

• Adding Details 2: https://untilthewaterfalls.blogspot.com/2018/03/charlotte-skyline-in-progress-adding_14.html

• Adding Details 3: https://untilthewaterfalls.blogspot.com/2018/03/charlotte-skyline-in-progress-adding_28.html

• Finishing Touches: https://untilthewaterfalls.blogspot.com/2018/04/charlotte-skyline-in-progress-finishing.html

And now, without further ado, here is the finished piece -

The entire set of three canvases

Note: If they look a little tilted/not completely lined up, it's because they're just leaning against the wall in our basement in these pictures, and not hung on the wall. Also, I personally think the colors look a little gross in this blue-gray room - I guess I should have taken these photos in another room instead! They'll look much better when they're hanging up in Juile's apartment, surrounded by colors they better complement. :)

The far left canvas

The middle canvas

The far right canvas

There is still one step left - adding a layer of varnish on top to help protect the paintings. Once that is finished and the varnish is dry, I'll be packing these canvases up and shipping them out to North Carolina, where they'll hang on my sister-in-law's wall!

Charlotte Skyline in Progress - Finishing Touches!

After working on this painting for about two and a half months, I'm finally in the very last stages! Below are my final "in progress" photos, as I finished up this three-piece acrylic painting on canvas.

Adding in layers of dark green, dark blue-green, and lighter brownish-green for the silhouetted bushes along the bottom.

Close up of some of the ground-colored paint (while it was still wet and particularly shiny).

Dark bushes in silhouette. Once the first layer is dry, I'll add a bit more dimension.

Adding in glowing street lamps along the bottom, and some foliage details.

I used looser brushstrokes for the bushes, just as I did the background sky.

The looser brushstrokes give the bushes a more abstract look than the crisp lines of the architecture.

I added some glowing red lights to the tops of some of the skyscrapers, to match the street lamps along the bottom.

More glowing red/white lights.

And now the triptych is finished! Check back soon for another blog post, featuring pictures of the finished set of three canvases!

Winter Photos

It was another snowy winter in Michigan! There was even a stretch in February there where it seemed like every day we got another couple inches of snow. (I think I'd much rather have a single 10-inch snowstorm than five 2-inch days in a row - then you only have to shovel your driveway once instead of every day for five days straight.) What a ridiculous state... at least the snow is pretty, though! (When you don't have to drive in it.)

Here are some of my favorite snowy pictures I took this past season, including pics from December 2017 - March 2018.

As always, I also tried to take pictures of flowers, when I happened across some in my day to day life. They were few and far between this time of year (obviously), but I did get a couple nice shots. The first is of a potted plant that was left on my desk at work (they had a lot of extras after an event, and went around handing out potted plants to everyone). The second is of tulip bouquets at a local supermarket the week of Valentine's Day in February.

I'm excited for spring flowers to arrive! We planted a bunch of tulips in our front yard landscaping this past fall, and some are already starting to grow! More pictures of those to come, of course, once I have an entire compilation of spring flowers to share. :)

Charlotte Skyline in Progress (Adding Detail 3)

I've been busy with this triptych acrylic painting lately, finishing up the architectural details! Here are some more "in progress" photos as I worked through this painting, building by building.

Darkening and adding window details to a building on the far left panel

Can you tell which buildings I still have to do? :)

Changing a gray building into a brown building, and then adding tiny square windows

Working on another office building and parking structure. On the left, you can see the little plastic containers I was using to store mixed paint so that it wouldn't dry out.

Finishing up the building on the far right of the far right panel.

Can't forget to add the details on the sides of the canvases, too!

Another row of buildings that continue across a gap in the canvases

The edges on these buildings aren't finished yet, because I will do that when I paint in the bushes around it.

Same for this one - when I add the black/green silhouetted foliage, the building's edges will become more defined.

Finishing up two buildings in the lower right corner.

Another building (an arena, perhaps?), this one with a domed roof.

Starting to add window details to this light colored building...

...And finishing said building!

Working on the buildings that are smack dab on the edge of the middle and right panels.

Here are those buildings finished!

The entire triptych so far!

Finally I finished all of the buildings! Now all that's left is filling in the silhouetted bushes/foliage on the bottom to darken those up and cover up stray brushstrokes, and adding in some red light details for street lamps and the tops of some of the skyscrapers. Almost done!

Charlotte Skyline In Progress (Adding Detail 2)

I've been working hard on this three-panel acrylic painting, commissioned by my sister-in-law who lives in Charlotte, NC. After getting the first few skyscrapers done, I fell into a sort of rhythm and completed several other buildings.

For my next skyscraper, I first changed the building color from gray to more of a tan/brown, to go with the color scheme of the sky and the rest of the painting. Then I added some details to the lights and pattern of the roof, before going in and starting to add windows line by line.

Changing the building's color and adding roof details

Four colors of paint on my makeshift paper plate palette - three for the windows and one for the main building color

The finished skyscraper

Working on the skyscraper on its right, as well as adding final details to the bottom of the skyscraper

After that section was done, I turned my attention to the tall skyscraper (the tallest of the three panels), rising up behind an already completed dark skyscraper. I changed the color from gray to more of a tan/light gold color, and then added details to the architecture and windows.

Layering paint to change the building's color

The finished building

The far-right panel so far, with its four largest skyscrapers now complete

I next went through and worked on a few of the smaller buildings that were squished in between/peaking out from between other, larger buildings.

This skinny brown building is on the left side of the far right panel

This building is front of the first skyscraper I painted, in the middle of the middle panel

And this building is also on the middle panel, to the right of the second skyscraper I completed

Moving back over to the left panel, I next worked on this interesting building, which takes up a good amount of space in the skyline foreground.

The completed building, with window details

The entire triptych so far

I worked on some details for this light-colored building on the right side of the left panel.

Adding in lines as architectural details

I completed another shorter but wide building next - this time on the middle panel.

First I changed the colors so that it was more of the tan/brown colors of the rest of the buildings

Then I added window and light details

I still had one very tall skyscraper I hadn't yet touched (which I was sort of putting off because of it's interesting shape), so I finally tackled that one next. This is the far left skyscraper on the far left panel.

I darkened the main building color, then added some light accents along the sides and started adding in yellow window details

The entire painting so far, with one more skyscraper complete

As you can see, I still have several buildings still to go - though they are mostly smaller buildings (comparatively so). I also still have the bushes/trees in silhouette to complete on the bottom/in the foreground of each panel.

It is certainly coming along though! I can finally start to get a sense of how it might look when it's all done, and whether or not the color scheme is working as a whole the way I want it to.