Day Three on Indoor Murals

The goal for Day Three was to finish the wisteria and begin trumpet vine over the doorway.

The right side needs to be finished.

Then I moved back to the beginning because it takes awhile to learn how to paint a new subject, and by the time I get to the end, I have more knowledge and then have to revisit the earlier portions to make some additions and corrections.

It was a dark day, so the wisteria was too hard to photograph in full.

Next, the doorway into the room will have trumpet vine. I didn’t have the right colors, so I used whatever was on the palette to begin drawing.

This gave the Customers and I a chance to see if I am on the right track in meeting their vision. Mr. Customer has a good eye (well, I think both of his eyes are fine, but you know what I mean) and explained how far around the left edge he wants the trunk to go and how thick he would like it. Mrs. Customer would like the flowers to be life-sized, so now I know what to do when I return for Day Four.

Day Two on Indoor Murals

Why does the title say “murals” instead of “mural”? Because there will be more in this location.

I started with the hardest one of the four because there will be new flooring installed in this room next week. So far I haven’t spilled, dripped, or dropped a brush. I am making a conscious effort to be very neat, and so far I haven’t wiped my brushes on my pants once! I decided that an old pair of jeans could become my painting pants, and while I am okay with getting paint on them, I am trying to break the habit of using them as a paint rag.

Here is the progression on Day Two. 

I began on the left side, filling in behind the blossoms from Day One because it didn’t have enough depth. Then I painted in a few “strings” toward the middle. If I put in a vertical line as a stem, I can build the blossoms around it.

You can see more blossoms happening toward the middle of the vine here. I had high hopes of finishing it in two days, but hadn’t taken into account the filling in of Day One’s work.

It seemed like a good plan to put background blossoms in first – a bit lighter, a bit bluer in color, and somewhat blurry.

The closer blossoms have darker and lighter colors with more parts, including a bit of greenery. (Yes, I know it is hard to tell in these little dark photos.)

About 6 hours of painting straight is my limit. Much longer and my work starts getting sloppy. (Might even accidentally clean my brush on my pants.) So, I got off the ladder and put dirt and grass at the base of the vine. This way, if the Customers decide to move the bed, the vine won’t just drift off into Quitsville.

I wonder if I will be able to finish this on Day Three. As I move out to the right side, there will be fewer blossoms, with the heaviest concentration in the middle. More will be revealed in the fullness of time. You will probably learn about this some time next week. 

Day One on a New Set of Indoor Murals

Yesterday I messed up and accidentally hit “Publish” on Day Two of this mural project. If you subscribe, you saw it ahead of this post. Oops. I am sorry. Hope you didn’t get too confused.

I asked the Customers if there was anything they would like done differently. Mr. Customer said he’d like about 10% more blossoms. I can do this. 

I hope to finish in one more day of painting. About 1/5 of Day One was spent in set up, staring at the reference photos, staring at the wall, mixing the colors and thinking.  However, maybe I will find lots to refine and redo and it will require a Day Three.

After this, there are 3 more parts of indoor painting for these fine customers, which we will call the Customers. (They are friends too, and it is my practice to protect people’s identities on the World Wide Web.)

No Supply Chain Troubles Here

This will be my only post to remind you that I have things for sale. This is because we are deep in the Christmas season. (I am addressing the fun segment best classified as Excessmas, not to be confused with the solemn segment I think of as Nativity.)

There is a new coloring book, Heart of the County.

Mineral King Wildflowers is still available.

The Cabins of Wilsonia is now $40 instead of $50.

Notecards in several designs are available. (Is it rude to give someone Thank You notes as a gift? Prolly. Might want to get the version without “THANK YOU”  on it as a gift and get the Thank You cards for yourself.)

There are many more designs of cards available on this page.

There are ZERO 2022 calendars remaining. 

I don’t have any paintings or pencil drawings at my studio. They are at 3 different locations: Kaweah Arts in Three Rivers has cards, all the books, and paintings; the Courthouse Gallery in Exeter (limited hours – see them here) has everything except pencil reproductions (those are only available online or through me in person); the Mural Gallery in Exeter has paintings, cards, and the books. (The Mural Gallery’s website is looking wonky so here is the address: 119 South E Street, phone 559-592-3160)

I can mail merchandise to you but doubt it will be there by December 25. You are welcome to call, email, or just flag me down if you see me around Three Rivers*, and I will do my best to help you get some gifts for your Excessmas celebrations.

Now if you will excuse me, I have to go find a pair of pants to ruin while painting a mural.

*Driving my faithful and somewhat still sporty ’96 Honda Accord Coupe, “Fernando”.

That Was Quick

On Friday I delivered some notecard packages to the Mural Gallery in Exeter. Manager Cindy told me of good sales of paintings there and said someone bought an 8×8″ oil painting of a poppy. That someone also requested the same size of an orange and another of a pomegranate. I asked a few questions, then went off to the Courthouse Gallery for a day of gallery-sitting and painting.

A little later, I heard from Cindy that the customer is from Barcelona, Spain, and will be returning there shortly after Christmas. That’s cutting things a little close, especially since I may not be going back down the hill before then.

When I looked in my crate of supplies, I saw an 8×8″ canvas with a photo of an orange lying on top of it. Hmmm, I wonder. . .

So, I started a new painting of an orange.

Because I have painted more oranges than I can remember, I was able to veer away from the photo but keep it believable. Of course, I had my painting friend with me to point out any areas of weakness.

I bypassed a few steps here: no wire on the back, no layering, no drying, no scan, no varnishing. But it will dry, Cindy will deliver, and our customer from Spain will go home with 2 paintings in her luggage!

IMAGES OF HOME

125 South B Street

Exeter, CA 93221

This blog post is just a reminder that my show is still up. Now it has an end date – January 2, 2022.

These are the dates and times left to see the show:

  • Friday, December 17, 11-3
  • Saturday, December 18, 12-4
  • Sunday, December 19, 12-4
  • Sunday, December 26, 12-4
  • Sunday, January 2, 12-4

That’s it, that’s all!

This, That, et cetera*

This: 

This week is cold. It isn’t even winter yet, but we got snow in Three Rivers, along with rain. I have been working on a little project in the painting workshop, but kept the doors closed because it is cold. This means it is too dark to take photos.

That:

I bid an indoor mural job for some people who had me paint this for them more years ago than I can remember. (More photos here)

This time they want small areas painted in 4 different areas with very specific detailed things: wisteria, trumpet vines with hummingbirds, boulders with lichen, grass and wildflowers, and a manzanita shrub. This might take longer than the redwoods, due to the fiddly nature of the subjects. Painting indoors is easier than painting outdoors; the only worries are dropping brushes and dripping paint. Drop cloths, along with knowing I can always add another leaf or two help with those very real concerns.

Etc.

  1. I finished a 6×6″ poinsettia commissioned oil painting (too wet to scan)
  2. I began the sixth commissioned Sawtooth Near Sunnypoint oil painting.
  3. My painting pants, a recycled part of Trail Guy’s uniform from his days working for Sequoia, which I’ve been wearing since 2009, RIPPED! The fabric was quite thin – too much sitting on asphalt and rough boards of scaffolding and the bed of a truck. I should have been cleaning my paintbrush on the backside of my pants instead of on the legs so that the paint would glue the fabric together. I don’t know when they ripped, but it was while wearing them at home that Trail Guy noticed. (This was much better than when my skirt ripped while I was in town – see item #1 here.)
  4. The last day for my show at Exeter’s Courthouse Gallery will be January 2, 2022. Here’s a weird thought: that was supposed to be the beginning of my show at Arts Visalia, the one that actually took place in April.
  5. The 2022 Calendar, Places and Things We Love, is almost sold out. (5 or 6 left? only at the Courthouse Gallery – speedy quick like lightning, LET ME KNOW TODAY IF YOU WANT TO ORDER ONE AND I WILL RESCUE IT ON FRIDAY FOR YOU! – Order here.)

    *Have you heard people say “eck settera”? It is spelled “et cetera”, abbreviated “etc.”, properly pronounced “et settera” and it means “and the rest” in Latin. You’re welcome!

     

You Just Won’t Believe This One

After I finished 3 more Sawtooth Near Sunnypoint paintings, I thought it might be prudent to do one more. This would go quickly (both the painting of it and the selling) at a smaller size, 6×12″. I chose that size for the Mural Gallery, who had just sold a 6×12″ painting of Farewell Gap. I thought this might be a good companion to that one, if they were willing to call the customer.


I delivered the new one wet to the Mural Gallery, then headed to the Courthouse Gallery for the day. Within an hour, someone came in who had just been at the Mural Gallery. She loved the painting but didn’t buy it because it was wet!

She walked around the show, and came back to the new 11×14″ painting of Sawtooth that I had just hung on the wall, replacing the first 11×14″ that had sold. I hadn’t yet put up a “SOLD” sticker, and the customer said, “That’s the one – I’ll take that!” 

Oh-oh.

Me: “Umm, I’m sorry, that one is sold!”

Customer: “Can you paint it again for me?”

Fall down laughing!

Me (after getting hold of myself): “Of course!”

Me (after customer leaves): “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? WHAT IS GOING ON?”

Me (next day): “I wonder if I could paint this scene now without looking at any photographs or previous versions.”

Trail Guy: “Better not try that if you want to sell it!”