Favorite buildings, home and abroad

Recently, a friend asked me to make him a painting of his favorite building, the Eduskuntatalo aka the Parliament House in Helsinki, Finland. I thought it was a little weird to even have a favorite building and it made me think of Michael Scott and Pam in the episode of The Office in which Michael buys Pam's watercolor of their office building and hangs it in his office:

I had never tried to paint architecture before and wasn't really sure I could pull it off. During a little bit of downtime on my recent cruise through Portugal and Spain I sat on the outdoor deck with my watercolors and pulled up the photo of the building on my phone:

The Eduskuntatalo, Helsinki, Finland

The Eduskuntatalo, watercolor & pencil, 8"x6"

I am happy to report that the new owner is very happy with his little painting and I am very pleased with it too! The experience has given me the idea to paint more architectural gems. In Barcelona the Gaudi buildings were so fantastic to see in person. When I got home I started sketching a view of La Pedrera which I was lucky enough to tour.

I haven't had the time to begin painting, but hopefully soon...

Meanwhile, back home, we recently took a road trip to another architectural wonder, Olana, Frederick Church's home in Hudson, New York.

Perhaps a subject for a future painting...

Perhaps having a favorite building isn't so weird after all! I love both La Pedrera and Olana. Such different genius minds at work in both of these landmarks. Just for fun, I am including here a photo of Gaudi's desk/work area located in the little schoolhouse next to La Sagrada Familia and Frederick Church's paint box at Olana. It's always interesting to see how other people work, isn't it?