Bridget Bryan

“Traveling” on local errands and pausing to capture some particular spots of beauty can make you look at your home in a whole new light.

While running an errand in Downtown Topeka, I made time to go walking around and to paint my favorite piece of architecture there: The Capitol. In this post I’ll share the photos of that adventure, as well as a few other photos from the other urban adventures.

Something about architecture calls to me and makes my mouth water. The beautiful building really stood out against the blue midwest spring sky.

I sat on the curb by my car and sketched out the rotunda. I’ll be honest and say that I was pretending here and there that I was back sketching St. Peter’s in Rome.

Just like in Europe, it was nice to visit with the passers-by. One of the ol’ chaps doing his laps around the grounds was even from Ireland!

After half an hour of playing with washes and spray bottles, and feeling absolutely delightful, this is what came out:

I couldn’t stand to leave right away, so I tried my hand at a pillar. The finished product reminded me of Massimiliano Iocco’s, an Italian watercolor artist, work.

After probably over-working the paintings, and trying to swap out the feelings of failure and frustrations at imperfections with acts of immense gratitude to be able to sit and soak up such beauty, I put away my paints and did my own lap around the beautiful Capitol Building.

Over the last two weeks, I’ve captured other excursions too, but still need to put some finishing touches on them.

A local boat ramp in Wamego was a great place to rest after a hike with a good beer and a chat with my dad.

Gage Park in Topeka has a beautiful entry arch: one day when not feeling well, I stayed in my car and did what you’ll see above in the slideshow, all without spreading germs.

Finally, my grandma and I went and had dinner at Wheelbarrel in NOTO, Topeka, and I snuck in quick painting while we were casually sipping wine and vermouth.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this!

If you enjoyed this and are interested in some tools to help you with your adventures and capturing beauty via watercolor, check out these products below. (Note: if you click the link below, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.)

A book from my brother inspired me to look close at home for some great adventures:

The paint tin that I use (and fill empty trays with Windsor Newton Paints):

The color I used for the sky: Cobalt blue, Windsor Newton paint:

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