Watercolor Painting of Senator Theater in Chico, California

Have you ever noticed that ray of sunlight as it catches the side of a building in the late afternoon?  I tried to capture that phenomenon in this watercolor painting I just finished….that all-too-fleeting moment when the sun is low in the sky, and shines in such a way that it showcases the subtle sculptural elements of a building’s facade….This is the Senator Theater in downtown Chico, California….a building that I have admired from an architectural standpoint for years….it turns out that the structure was designed by Timothy Pfleuger, a prominent San Francisco architect of his time….the Roaring 20’s for the most part….the design is Art Deco which was very popular in that era, combined with some more romantic Spanish California tendencies….red clay tile roof, white stucco, ornate corbels, fluted columns, and bas-relief sculptural decoration at the tower….I think the segmented arches are a unique touch which links the Romantic with the Deco….Getting back to my painting of this landmark, I chose to focus on the tower corner element….Large trees frame the view which provide that focus, and block out the rest of the building’s facade in the distance….and having limited the viewpoint to just the tower, I can accentuate the tower even further by treating all the foreground elements so that they are largely obscured by shade….as an artist, I just want the viewer to enjoy the play of sunlight and feel the warmth of a summer day….take in the magnificence of the Art Deco tower that graces the downtown–supported by the human elements like the bicyclists and the Civic Center Park seat wall in the foreground, and the massive Sycamore trees, which are such a part of the Chico experience….Big trees, bikes, and lots of summer sunshine are the essence of downtown Chico….This artwork is hand-drawn and painted in the watercolor technique by Jeffrey Michael George, Architectural Illustration.  Jeffrey lives in Chico, and creates many architectural illustrations for projects located in northern California and the San Francisco bay area.