AMak Color

"325 North LaSalle" commissioned painting

This 30x36 commissioned painting of 325 North LaSalle (a.k.a. the Reid Murdoch Building) was completed in September, and created to be hung in a conference room of one of the companies headquartered there. It is an Acrylic on Canvas piece.

I've always admired this gorgeous red brick building, which adds co much character to the scape of Chicago River. Some fun facts: the Reid Murdoch Center, which is now designated a Chicago Landmark, was constructed in 1914 and listed on the National Registry of Historic places in 1975. It used to house Chicago's traffic court (and I wish it still did, because you would at least be rewarded with a beautiful view when going to argue your traffic ticket). Needless to say, I loved working on this piece and hoping to paint 325 N LaSalle again soon, maybe from a different angle!

Completed painting:

Painting progress, starting with one of the "concept" sketches:

"Mondello" commissioned painting

This 16x16 Acrylic on Canvas commissioned painting is of Mondello, Italy (located in Sicily), and was created in September. My customer had ordered it as a birthday surprise for her Italian husband who loves Mondello.

As a special request, I added an old Fiat 500 into the painting (for which I had to improvise a foreground hill with a road). I am told that the piece was a successful birthday surprise!

Completed painting:

Painting's progress photos:

"Wine Girl" and "James-A-Roma" commissioned paintings

This duo of commissioned paintings was inspired by my two older pieces, Solo Venice and Wine Tasting.

These pieces are each 11x14 acrylic on canvas, and were done to resemble the wimsy and likeness of the other two.  The concept of "Solo Venice" was translated into "James-a-Roma" where the customer wanted a wimsical figure to resemble himself in Rome (hence the Colosseum in the background). On a table James wanted an espresso cup with a bowl of sugar cubes, and in his hand a Cohiba cigar (with a pack nearby). Looks like a lovely day in Rome to me!
"Wine Girl" painting resembles the lady from Wine Tasting, only this time she has a neck, and wearing a bright red lipstick which left an imprint on her wine glass! I used images of wine labels that the customer provided (Malbec.... yum). Its been fun to revisit the subject matter of the wimsical figures for this project!

Below is each painting with a couple of progress shots leading up to the finished piece.

"James-A-Roma":

"Wine Girl":