Another day

In the continuing saga of what an artist does, here is what happened today. First, I photographed 2 good-looking teenage siblings for a portrait in graphite. We had to spend a little time walking around the yard, finding good locations, and then wasting a bunch of shots until they felt somewhat comfortable with a camera in their faces.

Next, I spent time messing around with the photos to decide which were the best possibilties for drawing. Digital cameras are very convenient, but do you remember the days when you just turned in some film and waited? Wow, take the photos and be finished! Now, in the name of convenience, there is an inordinate amount of messing around before photos are useful.

After that, a girl came to the studio for a lesson on portraiture. She was a quick learner, soaked up all I had for her and then drew a great looking eye!

Meanwhile, Maggie came to retrieve her lemons and another friend/business associate came by for a sketch. We are working on a possible mural together. . . as usual, more will be revealed! (we hope, anyway!)

Then, it was time to return missed phone calls. The best one was from an old friend who has been asked to paint an ornament for the White House Christmas Tree and had some questions! Since I am able to talk and draw at the same time, we visited while I worked on the big fat commission collage.

Next, a very thoughtful young man came by to get a wedding present for his sister. (He was referred by mutual friends and made an appointment.) He chose a most appropriate piece: The Honeymoon Cabin!

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Thus concludes another busy day in the life of an artist!

What an artist does

Each day is different from the others because the variety prevents a set routine. Yesterday was full of variety – preparing the entry form for the Ag Art show, talking to someone who wants a portrait drawn, visiting with someone else who is looking for “authentic California art” as a wedding gift for his sister, doing some banking along with other errands, finishing up little oddments from drawing lessons, preparing for a private lesson on portraiture, and actually drawing.

Have a look at what got finished yesterday:

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In the photo provided by the customer, the garage was quite prominent, as was a sunlit picket fence across the entire front. In fact, those were the dominant features. The customer gave me the liberty to adjust things to emphasize the house.

One year ago

Last year at this time I was in China. I spent the month of July there, teaching conversational English at a University to a classroom comprised mostly of university teachers. They were quite literate, but were not very conversant at first, because they hadn’t spent anytime practicing with native English speakers. (My only qualification for such an undertaking was that I am a native speaker, plus my experience teaching people how to draw!) It was the greatest adventure of my life, and it still amazes me that I got to go. I made some wonderful friends, and every day was interesting, truly interesting!

Across the way from my apartment in Weihai, there was a dorm painted in a weird combination of pink and yellow. My first thought was “Yuck!” or something equally ungracious. After being there a few days, the mimosa trees in front of the building burst into bloom and suddenly what had been Yucky became Ohhhhh! Hmmm, another little life lesson. . .

So while painting at S’s, I was looking out the window at her mimosa trees in bloom and it made me a little nostalgic for last year’s remarkable experience.

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