Trail Guy’s favorite place to hike is White Chief. Mine too. I wasn’t there for this hike, but he graciously and eagerly shared his photos with me to share with you.
Today’s painting is for sale:
Early Season in White Chief Canyon
Slow Middle
Happy Birthday, Lauren!!
After a quick start on the redwood and dogwood painting (redwoods are Sequoia Giganteas, Sequoia being the source of the name for Sequoia National Park), it was time to do my usual slow, careful, meticulous, thoughtful detailing. (Is this painting better or painting the same as I always do??)
Want to buy this painting?? You may. It is 12×16″, $300 plus California sales tax of 8%, one of the highest tax rates in the nation.
Getting Started
The commissioned oil painting combining two Tulare County scenes feels like a mini-mural. 18×24″ is HUGE when I am accustomed to 8×10″ or 6×18″.
Often I have pondered why it is that a mural feels sort of easy because of its large size when a large oil painting feels daunting. Is it the number of layers? the level of detail? An oil painting certainly takes longer.
My customer approved of sketch #2.
She is gracious and told me there is no rush. However, I am a bit of a “precrastinator”, a made-up word that is the opposite of “procrastinator”. It is much better to begin, to act as if there is a deadline, to be ready for contingencies, interruption, opportunities, and other emergencies than to just lollygag along, figuring it will get done when I FEEL like it. And losing momentum is a real risk – a customer can change his mind, or it could get too hot to paint. Besides, the sooner I finish a commissioned job, the sooner I get paid.
(There was a sign in a print shop where I used to work that said, “I work for money, not for fun; I want my money when my work is done.” I work for both.)
First, a little fun with Scout. She is sitting on Samson’s shelf. (He doesn’t need it any more. Sigh.)
Now it is time to get to work.
Such a basic beginning. I just draw the general stuff with my paintbrush.
To be sure of the shapes, sizes, proportions, and angles, it is easier to be objective when everything is upside down. The goal is to get a first layer on the canvas, something that I can correct with each successive layer.
That’s enough for the first second third fourth step of this commissioned oil painting. (The first was a conversation, the second was an exchange of photos and a sketch, the third was the second sketch with the approval to begin painting).
Further Figuring Out
This is Chapter Two in the story of figuring out how to design one commissioned oil painting of two different Tulare County landmarks. As a Tulare County artist, I am pleased to have been chosen for the task.
The customer requested a different view of Homer’s Nose, and I have 5 photos from that point of view. This is the one we selected:
She also requested a view of the Oak Grove bridge with more visible rocks (i.e. less water). If you have followed this blog or my art for very long, you know that the Oak Grove bridge is my favorite thing to draw and paint, even when it is a little bit too hard. So, I have plenty of photos to choose from for this very specific request:
I know Spice Bush, but never heard of Mock Orange. Good thing I have friends with great photos who know far more than I do about many things.
And a photo I have of Spice Bush, but will probably take more because it is in bloom right now and is beautiful.
With all these visual aids, I drew this:
What will my customer say in response to this second sketch? More will be revealed in the fullness of time. . . Tune in tomorrow, same Bat Time, same Bat Channel.
And here are today’s paintings, both commissioned pieces of Homer’s Nose, painted in 2014, each one 6×6″.
Figuring Things Out
Isn’t “figuring things out” a strange grouping of words? But we all know what that means. . . puzzling over something, trial and error, plan A and plan B, lots of conversation. . .
A long time friend asked me to do an oil painting of two significant Tulare County landmarks in her life. This is not two oil paintings; it is one painting with 2 separate scenes, a true piece of Tulare County art. I am a Tulare County artist, so why not?
I’ve been doing collage type pencil drawings for many years, but have never thought about this for oil paintings. This friend has challenged me before with other unusual ideas, and I’ve learned from her. So, here we go.
This is what she sent me first:
This is what I drew for her, using colored pencils so she could get an idea of how the two subjects would blend together into one painting.
Her response was that she likes the view of Homer’s Nose from another place, likes to see lots of rocks under the bridge, and would like to see some wildflowers, preferably Mock Orange or Spice Bush.
Good thing I know what she is referring to on all these subjects and have 29,000 photos on my laptop that include most of what she is wanting.
To be continued. . . meanwhile, here is today’s painting. It no longer exists, but is the first oil painting I ever did of Homer’s Nose from that other place.
Mineral King 2018
Opening weekend in Mineral King in 2018 was cold, drizzly, foggy and not conducive to any photos. Besides, my camera battery was dead.
The skies cleared briefly on Sunday evening. I borrowed Trail Guy’s camera for this:
Monday was glorious, sunny, bright, and warm(ish). I took this from our friend’s porch
Finally, here is the classic photograph.
And thus we begin another summer season in Mineral King.
Painting Drawing of the day:
Quick Start
After a recent trip to Sequoia National Park to see the dogwood in bloom, I had a desire to paint them with a redwood tree in the background. The printed photos hadn’t yet arrived, so why not paint while looking at the computer screen? Then I began thinking about my “Paint Better” and “Sell More Paintings” goals, squishy at best, definitely not “SMART”. The idea of “Paint Better” is so vague; maybe it could mean to paint looser, just get the idea of colors, shapes, darks and lights. Maybe this would work with dogwood and redwood.
Maybe this will work. The redwood has to dry before the dogwood can go on the top. Otherwise, it might look like mudwood.
Painting of the day:
Sit On It
Have you heard that thing “Sitting is the new smoking”?
Hogwash.
Been thinking about chairs recently. My cabin neighbors are replacing some living room furniture, and it would be awful if their old pieces went to the dump. My couch needs recovering, so why not cover theirs from the ’40s and dump mine from the ’80s? And if I move a chair from the living room to the studio, I can put theirs in the living room. . .
This blue chair from the living room could replace this red one in the studio. The red one is very hard for people to get out of, so this makes sense.
The red chair is outdoor furniture. (What kind of dork puts outdoor furniture inside? This kind of dork, that’s who.) Sorry, the wooden chair isn’t for sale. I could draw it for you. . .
Today’s art is of chairs, all pencil or colored pencil drawings:
I could keep on going, but this is just getting embarrassing. What is the deal? Am I a closet sitter??
Too Twee
Last year about this time I lost my long time friend Jennifer, or “Jennifah” as she said her name, being English. She taught me so much throughout our friendship, including fun words. Among those words, “twee”–cutesy, sweet, precious– was one of the most useful.
When S sent me the photos of the barn where we got the kittens, she told me it was particularly cute when there were kittens in the planters by the barn. A few days later, she sent me these photos. Look closely!
After a bit of thought, I finally decided that kittens are just a bit too twee for my calendar. Here is the finished drawing.
Painting of the day (nothing twee here):
Pick Something You Love
When Trail Guy and I went to our friend’s barn to choose our kittens, I was struck by how appealing the outer wall of the barn looked. Alas, I didn’t have my camera with me. (Just hush up about smart phones, will ya?)
2 weeks later, another friend, the amazing S, emailed me a photo of the very barn wall because she happened to be there and thought I would like a photo. She knows me well and is a very thoughtful friend.
I set aside another drawing that has been putting me to sleep and started on this.
One of the things I continually tell my drawing students is, “Pick something you love because you will be staring at it for a long time.”
This will be an excellent addition to my 2019 calendar.
THANK YOU, S!
Today’s painting:
