Fourth Blogiversary

Today, April 16, I begin year #5 of blogging. There are many reasons that I blog. Since lists float my boat, here is the list for you:

1. It is fun. Remember Show-and-Tell in grammar school? For some kids it was a chore (and a chore for the rest of us to listen). For others, it was the highlight of their day. I tried to only participate if there was something I was really excited about. That is how I feel about blogging. Every day!

2. It keeps me accountable. Ever tried to work alone, day after day, week after week for 19 years? How did that turn out? Unh-hunh. You HAVE to show someone. You HAVE  to tell someone your progress. (Pity my UPS driver and the mailman!) The blog takes out some of the party-of-one-ness and forces me to produce even when the distractions are oh so very inviting.

3. It gives my work credibility. Published, even if it is online and even if it is self-published, is public. If it is worth putting Out There, it is Real. It counts. (Remember Steve Martin getting all excited about seeing his name in the phone book? It is sort of like that.)

4. It provides a record of my work. (No, I don’t want to keep a journal. The more stuff I own, the more stuff I lose.)

5. It allows me to connect with those who like my work. They can tell me what they think, and I can learn from them. “They”? Who is this “they”? It is YOU!

6. It is a bit like an online brochure, continually being updated, always available. That is a business thing, or perhaps a marketing thing.

7. I am building a platform. Doesn’t that sound fun? No hammer and nails required. It has to do with developing followers so that when I have something to share, there are people to participate.

That is why I blog. I’d love to hear why you read it. Not so I can gather compliments, but so I can learn what is interesting to you and what I should skip!

Completed pencil drawing for upcoming book The Cabins of Wilsonia

Product or Process

In knitting, there are regular discussions about whether one is a product knitter or a process knitter. This is in reference to one’s motivation – is it the journey that you enjoy, or is it the destination?

When it comes to drawing, I am both a process and a product artist. The pencil feels like an extension of my hand which is an extension of my eye and my brain.This makes it immensely satisfying to build a drawing.

In addition to enjoying the journey, it is always a thrill to see the finished piece. Getting to my destination never loses its buzz. My latest drawing is usually my favorite.

(Painting is a completely different story, and in the interest of not going into a navel-gazing session here on the blog, we’ll just stick to drawing for now. You’re welcome.)

Seems to me that in order to finish a project, you have to want the product AND enjoy the process. One without the other equals more unfinished stuff, or UFOs, as knitters call them. (Un Finished Objects)

Finished pencil drawing for the upcoming book The Cabins of Wilsonia

 

RETIRING

When do California artists retire? Beats me.

When do the husbands of California artists retire? How about after 37 years with Sequoia National Park. That’s a lot of years of getting up at dark-thirty, putting on green pants, driving miles on mountain roads in his own pick-em-up-truck (called his “rig”), and then driving big yellow machines. Faithfully going to work. Faithfully serving the public. Faithfully supporting his California artist wife. Persevering, persisting, day after day and month after month and storm after storm.

When does Michael The Road Guy retire? TODAY!! (Not officially because he works for the federal government and everything with those people is very complicated but don’t get me started because this blog post is about Michael The Road Guy, not those people.)

Impressive, yes? (thank you John Elliott of the Kaweah Commonwealth for this photo and the next)

I am not kidding about the miles on his rig. This was last year.

Doesn’t he look tired?

Thinking with a marshmallow on your head is really hard work. And working when you’d rather be hiking takes a tremendous amount of discipline.

One with the Stream, oil on wrapped canvas, 24×30″

Congratulations, Michael Botkin! No more dark-thirty, green pants, marshmallow head or big yellow machines!

Committing Commissions

 

This is not a commission. It is a do-over. I painted this when I was new to oil painting, and recently I figured out how to do it better. I painted right over the top, so I didn’t have to figure out any shapes or placement.  (Three Rivers is gorgeous in the spring. I know I keep saying that. But, really, the unemployment is terribly high, the air is nasty in the fall, and we are all fat, so don’t move here, ‘kay?)

This sequoia oil painting has better detail than the previous view. Why am I painting a sequoia in the snow when it is spring? Because CS wants it! And this California artist accepts commissions in oil. Pencil too.

Committing more Commissions

I painted three pomegranates for a nice lady of impeccable taste that came to my studio during Studio Tour Ten. She asked for one, and I painted three so that she would have choices and I would have more to sell at the Redbud Festival.

I also began this sequoia in snow for someone else. This is 2 layers of paint. A third layer is coming with more detail.

And this is the beginning of a new experience for me – painting in oil from a pencil drawing! I am purposely not looking for the reference photos, because I want to stay true to the drawing. That is what the customers requested, so that is what I will deliver!

Notice the California poppies in the background. They now have another layer of brilliant color on their little butterfly-like petals.

Isn’t this California artist-like? Sequoias, pomegranates, poppies. I like it here. 😎 (But you’d probably hate it because  there is no Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. Maybe that’s why we’re all fat.)

It’s Pretty Here

Three Rivers, Tulare County, central California, is GORGEOUS in the spring. Here are 4000 words worth of photos:

Looks as if Michael is leading horses to water.

He didn’t have to make them drink.

This is just an average morning, out on an average walk, on an average spring day.

My yard only looks like this for about 12 seconds a year. Good thing I had my camera!

(Don’t move here – the unemployment is awful, the air is nasty in the fall, and we are all fat.)

Drawing Tools

Hmmm, that could mean “creating a picture of tools using a pencil”. It doesn’t. It means this blog post is going to explain to you some tools used in drawing. I probably used all the techniques (except the last one)  in this drawing called “Release”.

An eraser shouldn’t need explaining. It erases; you get that! But, did you know an eraser can do these things too:

  • It can draw. (yup, it can draw light things onto dark spaces)
  • It can soften hard edges. (especially helpful if you need to add on to something)
  • It can smear things that were too specific.
  • It can create hard edges.

An erasing shield looks like a 2×3″ metal template. It is used by architects and engineers to isolate small parts in order to erase only them and not their neighbors. (so called “friendly fire”). But it can be used for these things too:

  • It can serve as a block to shade right up to a straight edge.
  • It can act as a template.
  • It can provide a shield so that you can create a hard edge with your eraser.

Now that I give it thought, a pencil can do more than just draw or write.

  • It can shade (duh!)
  • It can smooth out previous shading
  • It can make an impressed line (meaning scratched into the paper so it doesn’t take any more color)
  • It can scratch an itch in your ear (not recommended)

And thus we conclude another free drawing lesson.

Can you think of any other uses for these tools?

 

Peeking into the painting studio and eavesdropping on conversations

Um, would you paint something  just for me?

You betcha! I’d be happy to paint something for you! What did you have in mind?

How about a pomegranate?

How about 3 of them? Then you can decide which one you like best.

Would you ever be willing to paint a sequoia in the snow, say, 8×10″?

Would you be willing to buy it when it was finished? If yes, then yes.

What about doing an 18×24″ oil painting from your pencil drawing of  “Redwood & Dogwood“?

I’d love to do that for you! What a great idea, you brilliant patron of the arts!

If you finish that 6×18″ painting of poppies, I’ll buy it.

Really? I knew that one was a great idea. (Thanks to my mailman for bringing me the photo!)

 

If you were to commission me to paint something for you, what would you request?

Phinished, but not Photo’d (or Finished but not Foto’d?)

Move that scaffolding, I’m finished!

The scaffolding was in the way of photographing the completed Oak Tree mural, so until I can stop back by for photos, this is the best I can show you. We kept adding things, and found out that the cover-up paint didn’t exactly match the wall color. That seriously curtailed my sense of “Sure, let’s just try it!”. I’m hoping they will locate the proper paint bucket so I can do a bit of patching.

Miss Oak 2 and Miss Oak 3 are posing here so you get a feel for the size. Baby Pug consented to join them in this helpful exercise.

What is Baby Pug’s name??

Oak Tree Mural, Day 2-1/2

My old house is down there! (not discernible, but still. . .!)

This is the view from where the mural is located. I try not to go outside very often because it makes me miss Lemon Cove, and it makes me forget what I am supposed to be doing!

Could hardly sleep the night before knowing the barn was too small. Mrs. Oak brought that up when I got to her house, confirming my suspicions that she is brilliant. Due to my cautious nature,  I kept increasing the size in small increments, until Mrs. Oak and I were both pleased.

The men had added another railing to the top of the scaffolding, but only on one end because the ceiling was in the way. I was a little apprehensive about climbing up there, but Son #3 demonstrated the route of ascension for me to follow. On the way to the job this a.m. I heard a line in a song “You hear me when I’m calling and you catch me when I’m falling”. . . Whoa. Stop. No thanks. No falling, please!

I was able to stand where the ceiling was tall but had to kneel on the left. It was fun! Now there are 4 main parts remaining: spread the tree to the right over the balcony; add another large branch to fill the hole over the barn; extend the branches over the window to the left (not visible in this photo); add some fence in the middle ground.

Have you ever worked on a scaffolding?