An Odd Job

As a California artist based in rural Tulare County, I am willing to do odd jobs. Odd art jobs, that is. (Please don’t call me to wash your windows – they will probably turn out odd.) Staying in the business of art in a place like this means saying, “Yes” when  asked to do odd jobs.

I’ve shown you some of the unusual things I’ve been asked to do in the past. Here are a few links if you want to see some of these items (each will open in a separate tab or window): cabin sign (gotta scroll down the post to see it), chair back slat, ornament (you can read the entire story and see all the photos in December 2011), antique window, pet sign, boat sign, quilt square. There are more, but I fear I will test your patience and you will say TLDR*.

My latest job could sort of be considered a mural, sort of a commission: a faded decal on a recreational vehicle at a mobile home park in Hanford, California.

It was a challenging and fun job. (I consider a job fun when the conditions are good and the job turns out well.)

The most fun part was mixing the colors to match the non-faded sides of the RV.

This side wasn’t faded as badly but the owner requested a touch-up here too.

*Too long, didn’t read

Not Much Snow in March in Mineral King

Not much snow on Sawtooth.

 

Not much snow in the valley looking toward Farewell Gap.

No snow on the south-facing slopes; not much snow on the north facing slope on the Sawtooth trail.

Not much snow for March.

Decisions, Decisions

The commissioned pencil drawing presented several challenges. When a place is really beautiful, visually captivating, unusually interesting, my oh my it is difficult to choose the right view!

I didn’t intend to draw this view but thought it made a nice photo.

The door by which one enters a building is considered the “face” and is usually the most welcoming view.

Since it is actually the office of a ranching business, showing the tank with the name was a good commercial idea.

This used to be the front door. It faced the afternoon sun, and with the stone steps and the view beyond, I was a goner. But I knew it wasn’t even worth showing to the customer because this sort of view is not why people commission me to draw their houses and offices and cabins and ranch offices.

This is the view which attracted my attention to this beautiful house way back when. . . with the orange trees recently topped, the house really shows up well. Unfortunately, topped trees look sort of like a weird lumpy lawn.

Come back tomorrow to see which view the customer chose! 

Commissioned Pencil Drawing Coming Up

I’m drawing my brains out, working on The Cabins of Wilsonia. (Okay, I’m not really drawing my brains out – I need them for stuff like posting to my blog. Try not to take me too literally here.) When I get commissions, I take a break from that Giant Project.

There is a house here in Tulare County that I have admired for years. It is on a road I really like – it is curvy, against the foothills, and it meanders through citrus country. A friend was hired to do some work at this house and provided the name and address of the owner.

I had the audacity to write a letter introducing myself and asking if he would like to hire me to draw the house.

He did not respond.

I was embarrassed, but got over it. If I was a really good business person, I probably would have followed up with a phone call. Alas, I don’t want to be sellsy, so I let it go.

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by the man’s wife, via a common friend. (She isn’t really “common” – she is actually quite special. But, what I meant is that she is a friend to me and to the wife. Try not to take me so literally here.) She asked if I could draw the house for her hubby’s upcoming birthday. She mentioned that I had written to her husband awhile back – I was a little embarrassed, but also pleased that my self-promotion hadn’t been too sellsy.

Trail Guy and I went to the house to get some photos. Now that he is retired, he gets involved in the more fun parts of my business. He also does errands for me so I can draw uninterrupted.

These are not the photos I am using for the drawing – because it is a birthday surprise, and because there is a 1 in 1,000,000 chance that the man reads my blog, I’m not showing you those yet.

On the off chance that he does read my blog, he won’t know which view I am drawing. Sneaky of me, yes?

Now that I only have Perkins, I am especially vulnerable to any and all cats. Try not to take advantage of this weakness, please.

If I didn’t love living in Three Rivers, I’d want to live here. Of course, I thought that when I was in Blowing Rock, Washington, and Downers Grove. Stop it.

After the birthday gift has been given, I’ll show you the photos I used, the ones I didn’t use, and the finished drawing. I think it turned out great, but given the subject matter, how could it be anything except beautiful?