Liberty Building Painting-Watch my Process

I was comissioned to paint the Liberty Building and just recently finished the commission. It was quite large-22” x 30”, which is a full sheet of Arches Watercolor paper and I wanted to do justice to one of my favorite places in Spokane (The home of both Auntie’s and Pottery Place Plus, makes it dear to my heart).

I started by doing sketches on site, trying to figure out proportions and settle on a size for the commission.

I counted windows and was surprised that there were more on one side than on another!

After I got the ok from the patron, I went to my final drawing and transferred it to the watercolor paper and began inking.

Inking is a slow and deliberate process.

A shot in action as I waited for the sky wash to settle down. I tackled the largest washes in the background and the road since I wanted soft edges between the road and the background.

Next the brickwork!

Working my way down.

Full color!

I had so much fun tackling this great subject in a big way. I can’t wait to visit it in its final home! Right now, it is at the printer, so 11” x 14” prints of this guy will be available soon!

Hope some of you can mak it to the show this weekend! It’s always a good time and supports the historic Woman’s Club!

Wandering Hillyard

Hillyard is a charming neighborhood with a gritty rail yard past. On Market Street you can see plenty of historic buildings as well as a multitude of murals. In this painting, my eye was caught by the combination of the bull's eye sign and the vintage minty-green building wall!

Initial Drawing.

In progress.

Finished!

The shocking orange and red colors down a side street caught my eye as I was walking around the Hillyard Neighborhood. Then I saw the lovely hand lettering on the sign above the door and all the great peeling paint texture and I knew this had to be a painting! I have no idea if the Olympic Pack & Ship company are still in business, but it seems like this scene has a story to tell.

Initial drawing-only one person!

I'm really starting to lost the lamp posts here in Hillyard.

And now two! 

I loved the green and yellow color scheme on this building. Beautiful! The rest of the scene is a series of subdued neutrals to set off the yellow and green. 

The Spokesman Review

The Spokesman Review building here in Spokane is a very distinctive landmark with it's tower and the way it dominates the corner of this block. It is an icon of an older time, but I love that it is still in use and, for what I believe, is its original purpose-housing our local newspaper!

In Progress!

This drawing took me a while to do all the windows and arches, especially in two point perspective. Also, I discovered that it is really fun to write/draw in Times New Roman. 

These guys (along with many others) line the outer wall of the Printing Annex. Done by Wayne Chabre, these busts depict important people in Spokane's history. They aren't in this order or positioned this close to each other in reality. I just picked four of the busts that I was drawn to to paint (no pun intended!). If you're interested in more, I highly recommend going on down to Monroe to look at it!

We have William H. Cowles, the founder of the Spokesman Review (among other things), Spokane Chief Garry, a remarkable native leader from the turn of the previous century, Mother Joseph, an architect, religious leader, and founder of multiple hospitals, and Aubrey L. White who is known as the father of Spokane's parks. 

How many of you subscribe to the Spokesman? Do you read articles online or on Facebook?