A Welcome Bear

We have bears in our neighborhood, and they are a nuisance. However, there was a welcome bear in my workshop recently. Literally a welcome bear.

This odd job came from the same man who had me repaint Little Bucky.

I started with the letters.

Next, I rotated him to experiment with brown fur colors. He’s not a “brown bear”, which is another name for a grizzly. Our bears are called “black bears”, without regard to their colors.

I added some yellow ochre to the brown to give him highlights.
It photographed way too light, too golden, wrong.

I mixed in some dark purple with the brown to give it variety; it makes the brown much darker. The whole idea was to have variation in the fur coloring.

The sign is super washed out i this photo, making the letters illegible.

The ears got a touch of pink—but less than appears in this photo.

Finally, I sent these two photos to Mr. Customer, and he was pleased, so I am too.

Bears around here tend to have lighter colored muzzles, so now this guy does too, regardless of whatever color it was when he was new. I also put a few splinters into his sign. The lettering is actually bright white, not light blue. The funniest part to me was that when he was wet, I turned his entire being by grabbing his nose. Don’t be trying that on a live one!

Odd Job Accident

Little Bucky was patiently waiting his next coat of paint in the painting workshop.

When he was dry enough, I flipped him upside down so I could paint the underneath parts. However, I forgot that one of his antlers was not attached to his head. It fell out.

I photographed it, texted Ignacio, and confessed.

Little Bucky was a little dismayed, but he appeared to be used to only having one antler.

Phooey. Why did I say yes to this job??

Ignacio suggested superglue, so that’s what I did. I also asked him if he still had the other piece from when it broke previously so I could glue it for him. He didn’t, and asked if I could make him a new one!

When I said, “From what?”, he replied, “Wood”. I reminded him that I am not a carver, but work in pencil, oil paint, and murals. 

Maybe I should have added superglue to the list.

 

Two Odd Jobs

By “odd jobs”, I mean unusual requests from people simply because I might be the only artist they know. I am also an artist who tells the truth (“Nope, can’t do that!”), doesn’t overcharge (“I’ll aim for 3 hours at $30/hour and if the job isn’t finished, I’ll call you for Plan B” —Reply: “Only $30 an hour??” — me in my head: “Phooey, the last time I quoted a job at that price, the person said I was too expensive!”), and returns phone calls (“Send me photos and I’ll let you know if I can do this”).

Odd Job #1

This was a request to paint a sign for the Baptist church on the backside of a church member’s own sign, a traveling sign to be used if the church sets up a booth or an exhibit at a community event, such as the upcoming bridge lighting. 

The job required a great deal of measuring, sketching on paper, taping, guessing, writing with blue chalk, then erasing and rewriting, all before painting. I am not a sign painter, so this will best be viewed from the back of a fast horse when completed. I didn’t set up the final version to photograph for you because I did NOT want the paint to run. (Besides, I didn’t want anyone else to ask me to paint a sign.)

Odd Job #2

Ignacio brought me his small resin deer to paint. It was really hard to guess an accurate price, so we decided that I’d paint the front, and if I hadn’t used up his budget, then I’d paint the back. If the budget was used up, then the back would simply be a solid brown color.

I scooted the deer to the edge of the workshop, opened the doors for better light on a cold and overcast day (we went from summer to winter in about a 2 day time period this year), and started messing with colors. He isn’t pinkish in real life; thank you for your concern for Little Bucky’s masculinity.

I wasn’t sure of the colors – where it is light, where is it dark, etc., so I turned around to see.

Yo. Could you please rotate for me so I can see your tail?

After tossing a few acorns to get this doe to rotate, I was able to see the colors on the backside.

Thanks. You can go now.

Then I worked on Little Bucky until my hands got too cold, my nose ran, and I couldn’t rotate him without smearing paint. The face will have to wait, as will the odd pieces of resin at his feet, along with his ears, tail tip and antlers.

Do artists in other places get asked to do these odd jobs? It might just be the privilege of being an artist in the small rural foothill town of Three Rivers in Tulare County.

Odd Job, Chapter 3

If you subscribe to the blog and read the email on your phone, the photos might not show up. (Some people get them, some do not; it isn’t a problem I know how to solve.) You can see them by going to the blog on the internet. It is called cabinart.net/blog, and the latest post is always on top.

Yesterday’s post about refreshing 2 signs left you hanging. I hope the anticipation of today’s continuation didn’t disrupt your sleep last night.

After applying 2 coats of the rim color, some confidence began developing. Time to tackle the narrow yellow line. You can see the old color in the middle; I put a bit of white on the left, and some brighter lightfast yellow on the right.

The yellow needed some red, along with a touch of white.

You might be able to tell that the upper yellow is now better, but since the lightfast yellow is transparent, it needed a primer coat beneath. No need to color fuss here because the goal is to make it look good.

As I painted the narrow line with white, I realized that the wood is quite splintery. This means that getting a smooth edge isn’t going to happen the entire distance on any of the sign. But, it is a sign, not a piece of fine art to be viewed closely.

With the warm weather, swamp cooler blowing, and big doors open, the paint dried quickly. I could paint one sign, turn and do the other, go back to sign #1 for the second coat, and then turn and second coat sign #2.

The white letters seemed like a good next step. These also soaked up the paint and required 2 coats. The rough edges bothered me at first. Then I remembered that this will be viewed from inside people’s cars, until they stop noticing at all. After 5 hours, I felt an unavoidable slide into Idiotland, where Sloppy, Stupid, and Careless all reside. Besides, my cheater-readers kept falling off when I leaned over the sign, and then I painted a blue streak on my face by accident.

So, that’s all on this Three Rivers custom art project for today. The quail and the narrow gray line surrounding the letters will require a strong focus (and a better fitting pair of cheater-reader glasses).

You’re an Artist, So Could You. . .? (Odd Job)

I recently bid on an odd job, one of those that comes to me like this: “You’re an artist, so could you. . .?”

This was a request to repaint 2 large redwood signs, originally sandblasted and painted in 1990.

The neighborhood’s budget didn’t match my bid, so I suggested that they do the scraping and sanding. They did, and then brought me the signs (there are 2 and this one gets the most sun so looks the worst).

Ready to work

Trail Guy set up 2 work tables using sawhorses in our painting workshop. (He doesn’t paint, but the workshop is also his place, so I can’t say “my painting workshop”.)

I set aside the unfinished Mineral King oil paintings that have no deadline in order to get this job done quickly for this Three Rivers neighborhood.

The subdivision asked me to seal the sign for sun damage protection. I know nothing about this. Mixing colors, refreshing tired paint, that’s what I know.

When you don’t know something, ask someone who does. Preferring someone with experience over someone with an opinion, I began thinking of people who might have knowledge to share.

My first contact was an old friend in Massachusetts with a sign business who referred me to someone in Mendocino who was kind enough to email me. I also found a sign company online in Charleston, South Carolina, filled out their contact form, expected and got nothing back. I called the man who sanded the signs to see if he knew who originally made them; he gave me the name and number of someone I worked for briefly back in 1986 (and have encountered several times since because that is the nature of Tulare County). That man gave me the name of a sign company that he thought might have made the signs, but they are going out of business. Their answering machine says to text with any questions, and so far, silence.

Next, I will show you my painting progress and process while I wait to see if Mendosign replies to my specific question about a sealant.

 

Odd Job

I’ve painted several Christmas ornaments in the past but continue to consider them to be odd jobs. 

These ornaments were sold specifically to be decorated. First they have to be primed. I use gesso, which might just be the same as flat white house paint but sold in art supply stores as if it is special. When I was experimenting with these new ornaments last year, I tried oil paint without the primer and it still scratches off the surface of the plastic.

By sticking them on the end of a paintbrush, I was able to paint all the way around in one session. It isn’t good for paintbrushes to rest on their bristles, so I was glad that the gesso dried quickly.

Next, I waited for the printed photos to arrive so I could start. This is a little bit too hard for me. Painting on a small sphere might be too hard for anyone with normal to large sized hands in addition to figuring out how to make things look normal on a sphere.

So, I started with the easiest parts – sky and water. This will need several coats of oil paint to get the color and the shapes right.

It was tricky to get them to rest with the wet paint side up. Next time I will need to rig up some sort of a hanging system.

This is going to take awhile. Good thing I started in June.

Odd Job Completed

As a working artist, I seem to attract odd art-related jobs. Each one is a challenge, usually quite fun to figure out. This odd job of painted stepping stones was completed for a vacation rental where I occasionally help with the yardening.

The colored stepping stones lead through the front yard around to the playset, absent in the photo above, present in the photo below.(Not magical – just unbuilt, and then built.)  And in case you are wondering, the purple blooming shrub is Germander. Looks fabulous now, looks scrappy in the summer. The shrubs in this front yard take turns looking good.

Odd Job

Sometimes I help my friend with her vacation rentals, specifically in the yards and gardens. (What is the difference? “Garden” sounds nicer, but when I do the yardwork, I think of it as “yardening”.) 

Recently we laid some fake grass (“artificial turf” is the real name) for a place to put up a children’s play set. We are figuring out how to conceal the edges, putting down weed barrier and planting all sorts of things around the “grass”. 

Next, we will add stepping stones to lead from the front of the house to the side area with the playset (remember when there were monkey-bars, swings, slides, and merry-go-rounds, all separate pieces of equipment, with asphalt beneath? How did we survive such barbarism??)

Because we want it to be enticing to kids, we want stepping stones that are inviting. After kicking around all sorts of ideas, we chose painted cement circles. This was a frugal decision, because we are careful with the home owner’s money.

Trail Guy set up a temporary table for painting the stepping stones in the sunshine.

I have many gallons of paint for a primer coat.

The paint dried fast, so I was able to put two coats on within an hour and a half.

My friend and I bought small cans of blue, red, and yellow so I can mix many colors. We learned that with small cans, the strongest brightest colors aren’t possible. All the tint needed to make the colors bright would cause a little can to overflow. So, we got the brightest primary colors that the hardware store could mix for us.

As a professed color junkie, I just dove into the colors. Our ideas were many, but thinking about the time involved, we settled on one solid step per color, and the rest could be decorated a little more elaborately.

I began with the first design, an obvious idea for February 14, the day I painted.

Then I just kept going. I painted the 6 very solidly, and messed around with blending colors on top of the other 6. It wasn’t particularly successful, but it was a fun way to experiment and get a base coat on the white primer.

This is really fun. When we figure out how to decorate the non-solids, I hope I remember to photograph them and blog about it. And if they look good leading through the “garden” to the “grass”, I might show you that too.

It might be a bit of an odd job, but I continue to. . .

make art people can understand of places and things they love for prices that won’t scare them.

P.S. Is this art??

Sanctioned Graffiti

A friend in Three Rivers has a rock in her front yard (well duh, most people in Three Rivers have rocks in their front yards) and for a few years, she has wanted some words painted on the rock. She mentioned it to me and I said, “I can do that!” 

After she explained her idea, I spent time messing around with typestyles, looking for something I could imitate. After experimenting awhile, I realized the only choice was Papyrus, the type that graphic designers love to hate. I love it. What do you expect from an unsophisticated, marginally educated, DBO* from Tulare County?? It was the best choice because it has ragged looking edges, and I was painting on a ragged rough surface.

I forgot to bring my chalk to mark the borders, but was able to scratch in the lines with a rock, then put a first layer down to see if I could control the paint and a brush. 

Yeppers. I can do this. A new brush helped.

Layer layer layer. Watch out for drips.

 Remember to step back and see if it is readable.

My friend wanted it subtle, and liked the light color. I asked if I could add shadows, she was good with that, and we both liked the results.

Voila! Sanctioned graffiti (or sanctified graffiti?) My friend said, “Tell your people that I am thrilled, filled with happiness and joy over this!” I said, “We are ending this year proclaiming the truth.” She said, “Amen”, and we were both quite satisfied.

*Ditch-bank-Okie is supposed to be a pejorative term, but I view it as a compliment.

Odd Sort of Job

My two favorite ways to spend time with friends are either taking a walk or working on a project. While in Mineral King, my friend had a project and allowed me to help. If it had been a job, I would have called it an “odd job” to be sure.

We used every tool at our disposal. She brought some up the hill, and we both had other supplies to dig into.

What in the world??

We spent about 3-4 hours working on a project that I would have NEVER chosen to do, but was happy to help. She had the ideas and did the prep; I had the skills. We worked together like a well-oiled machine, and these were our results.

I hope the attendees at the bridal shower are impressed. These are Pinterest and Instagram worthy, eh?

P.S. I almost NEVER go to bridal showers, never go to baby showers, and the idea of decorations and tabletop centerpieces does not enter my mind under 99% of my circumstances. Ever ever ever. But working with a friend is always rewarding, and no attendance at a shower was required.