Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Dominion Bldg. Post Card from 1916


I found this post card of the original building from 1916.  I know there was a face lift on the building and some parts of the roof were changed,  but I don't know if the colors were changed in the past as well.  If those colors were right, I personally think a disservice was done by changing it to the monotony  of the current version.
I had thought about changing my version to the colors in the post card, but I think that it will call to much attention to it.  Believe it or not I actually want this building to blend in with the other buildings.  I want it to be part of a scene, or make the scene, not some loud drunk causing the others to be uncomfortable and feel out of place.  
Let me know your thoughts of the colors, should I change it to the post card or stay with my own color pallet? 
Chris

Post card

How it stands today

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just left a long comment here with all sort of info on color, but it gave me an error and killed the message. I'll try again later -- but the short answer is -- I'd go with the postcard.

Anonymous said...

OK, I couldn't resist writting more.

I think what you need are "muddier" versions of the postcard colors. Meaning... keep it in the same hue but dull them down so they fit in with the surrounding structures.

Looking at your photos, it looks like the red of the Steven's Hotel might be pretty close to what you should use on the Dominion. Even the top of the hotel might be a fairly close match to the yellow -- obviously need to change it to get a closer match, but looks about the same range of color I'd go with.

Your current roof on Dominion looks like it's pretty close to what the postcard artist intended, just needs to be aged and weathered.

Keep in mind too that often times reds on vintage postcards are more saturated than real life and greens are duller than their should be.

Christopher said...

What you typed on you second post scares me, you literally quoted my thoughts. I was hesitant because I didn't know if I wanted the Steven's and the Dominion matching too much. But I really like the post card colors and I wont be too difficult to alter the building. The color pallet that I was going for the model is off of the Book Building in Detroit, it is a amazing building.

The Daisy Chain Adventures said...

I like the post card. You shouldn't be afraid of a little color. it will also blend into your layout just fine. But it will be really impressive to the Judges too.