9 New Things Learned in August

Is it redundant to say “new things learned”? Maybe so, because if they haven’t been known previously, then they are new. To me. To you, also, I hope. And if not new to you, you can revel in the feeling of “I already knew that!”

  1. It cost $41.50 to send a copy of the Cabins of Wilsonia to England. Really! And the man was happy to pay it, because he found one for more than $91.50 online in his country. He also found a paperback copy of The Cabins of Mineral King for 13 pounds (can’t find the symbol for that on my American keyboard).
  2. It would cost $635 to repair a blown speaker on my 4 year old laptop. WHAT?? Not worth it. If I need good sound, I will plug in the Bose speakers. Why did the speaker just go all rattly like a cheap car stereo? My other laptop got wonky at 6 years old. I thought about going to ifixit.com but taking apart the laptop feels very risky.
  3. People can get a fungus in the ear. Gross, eh? It can be treated with a mixture of white vinegar and water. If this doesn’t do the trick, you can buy a microscopic bottle of Athlete’s Foot Treatment for $49.95. I am not making this up (nor am I talking about myself here.) Sorry if that is too much info. I learned it in August, so now you get to learn it too. You’re welcome.
  4. If it feels as if the end of the world is near and if you like to learn about End Times, here is a very helpful sermon, clear and simple information that feels somewhat encouraging. Happening Now. Political warning: it leans right politically, so if that is annoying to you, you know in advance and can make a decision about watching or not.
  5. I learned that my tolerance for too many conversations, too many activities, and too many people is waning. The busy nature of Mineral King in August wore me out, and sometimes, I needed to hide.
  6. Crocs make clogs almost worthy of being called hiking boots. So far, so good, nay, GREAT!
  7. I declined an opportunity to teach a drawing workshop. This is because with a mask requirement, it is too hard to read people, and to understand their muffled voices. It is also harder for them to understand my muffled voice, and even harder to breathe. I knew this already, but didn’t realize how much of an obstacle it is to learning until I found myself dreading something that I usually look forward to.
  8. Swimply is a new way for people to earn money at home by renting their swimming pools. Good thing my neighbors haven’t done this or I would owe them thousands.
  9. My friends have a strong influence over me. One gave us a miniature battery operated blender tool for whipping cream or making a fake latte; another friend told me about putting 1/2 and 1/2 with cocoa powder in her coffee. I have always drunk my coffee black, but I decided to combine these 2 things – whipping 1/2 and 1/2 with cocoa powder into my coffee. Whoa. Better keep that one as a treat and not make it a habit.

Naked Ladies are the only growing thing of beauty in my yard in the crunchy, smoky, brown, dried-up month of August. 

Another Emailed Drawing Lesson

Remember Buck, AKA Mr. Curly? C and I are continuing to work on him via email. She is a remarkably clear communicator, so this is working out well for us. She had specific questions, which always makes it easier to offer instructions.

This is how he looked when we last saw him. I sent her written instructions that corresponded to each colored oval.

This is the most recent iteration of Buck, complete with more colored ovals.

1. The upper neck/mane: You were right about this area. (She had circled it, said it looked wrong and asked about a particular fix.) If you study this area on the drawing versus the photo (I recommend upside down), you will see that the mane sort of curves downward into the neck. Hmmm, words aren’t working. Let me show you.
2. My blue circle: At the intersection of the leg and chest, that slight corner needs to be higher. Look at the photo to see EXACTLY where it lines up with the nostril. Essentially, you will be lengthening the leg by making that intersection a bit higher. Look at it all upside down to re-examine the shape between the face and chest. (A tiny thing that might not matter, but I am scratching around, looking for answers).
 
3. Red circle: study the photo to see where the nostril/cheek indentation and the neck intersect. (Another tiny thing that might not matter but try it just in case. . . )
 
4. Purple circle: All of this area needs to be much darker with the segments less defined because they are in shadow. The exception – keep this little bump light.
 
Does this all sound like gobbledygook to you? Good thing C and I have been working together for a couple of years, because it does make sense to her. 

Reporting on Sundry Items in Smoky Mineral King

I went to Mineral King with the weight of the world on my shoulders and heart. Terrible things in the world, the country, the state of California, and among several dear friends made me want to run away. It was a relief, but it wasn’t very pretty. My knee hurt, so I didn’t hike. Instead, I did a few chores, lots of knitting, sitting, and reading.

Here is one strange chore: Trail Guy and I noticed a tremendous number of nails near the old dance floor, so I took up a big magnet on a pole and together, we cleaned them up.

We stopped by the Honeymoon Cabin/Mineral King Preservation Society Museum to see a new item – a stamp from the stamp mill below the mines on Empire peak (and a couple of other unidentified metal objects). This is a surprisingly heavy piece of metal that smashed the ore to separate out the precious metals. I didn’t even try to lift it (my knee hurts).

In other news, I got some new “hiking boots”. Heh heh, this is what passes for hiking boots in my world of peculiar feet. Did you know Crocs makes a type of clogs with “Vibram” soles? They even have adjustable straps, fastened with Velcro. I hope my knee stops hurting soon so I can try them.

I spied some going-ons near the cabin. It was the wedding of a neighbor we don’t really know (because we are closer to her grandparents and there are way too many grandchildren to keep up with on their one weekend/year visits). They set up some sort of an archway, and I snooped through the trees.

Finally, I delivered another painting to the Silver City Store. It had to dry in the trunk of my car for a few days before I could leave it at the the store. Still striking while the iron is hot, in hopes that the great sales continue at least through Labor Day weekend. 

Most Favorite Art Subject

For awhile now I have told you that my favorite subject to paint is citrus against the foothills and the mountains. It is almost my favorite subject to draw in pencil too. It is right up there with cabins, (published an entire book about them here), old homes (recently drew this one) and the Oak Grove Bridge. (One post about it here).,

Now I am working on a logo design, and it calls for a drawing. (I gave you a little teaser about it here.)

Here it is in progress. I used every source I could find – photos on my computer, previous drawings, physical snapshots – and then proceeded to make up the leaves and oranges and grove. 

This took much longer than a painting or a drawing of a cabin. I forgot how slow it is to place and delineate every leaf and orange. 

Here it is almost finished.

And here is it after photoshopping out all the grayish background.

If/when the customers approve, I will add colored pencil: orange in the oranges on the left, yellow in the lemons on the right, and a little bit of green to the leaves.

A Little Bit Too Hard

Portraiture is the most difficult type of art. The only thing more difficult would be multiple portraits in the same piece. Sometimes when people ask me to draw or paint a portrait, I just say no. I have painted a few people, always with no faces visible.(one more here) I have done many pencil portraits, and each one feels as if it will NEVER look right. 

I drew a pair of Basset Hounds for someone. She showed it to a friend, who sent me a photo of a little girl holding a baby and asked me to draw it. After studying it, thinking about the oblique angle of the girl’s face plus the fact that squinchy-eyed sleeping babies all look alike, realizing that I have many tools with which to “cheat”, I agreed.

Here is the progression of the drawing, which I expected to be a little bit too hard but turned out to be a pleasure to draw. Seeing the photo on the laptop allows me to convert it to black and white or back to color, enhance the contrast, and enlarge anything that I am not quite sure about.

Faces first, because if that part doesn’t turn out, I can quit without too many hours wasted. There were many shapes and textures in the background, and I chose to eliminate them in order to put the focus solely on the little humans. The customer was very pleased and said, “That picture brought tears to my eyes! It’s wonderful!”

That sentiment could have brought tears to my eyes, tears of relief. But I soldiered on to the next project, taking comfort in the fact that it was mountains and citrus groves. (I told a fellow artist that if I was a smoker, I would have lit one up at the completion of this commission.)

Here is a link to the last portrait I drew, hoping it would be the last portrait I drew. Reluctant Portrait

 

 

Just Another Day at the Easels. . .

. . .in a barely cool painting workshop in early August, but thankful for the swamp cooler. The day before, I stood the entire time while painting. This day I sat the entire time. 

Thank you to Reader Anne for the suggestion of using an egg carton for the ornaments. It sort of worked, but I ended up holding each one in my hand. They are looking better, but still have many layers ahead. These photos are just more teasers about how they are moving ahead without revealing much except that Hume Lake will be on one side.

I touched up the 8×16″ of Farewell Gap in Mineral King, but you might have to see it in person to catch the improvements.

Since Kelly’s Sunset (also in Mineral King) has sold, I painted another one. I have altered the placement of trees from Kelly’s original photo, and altered them again in version #2. In these photos, I can see that the angle of the left flank of Vandever (peak on the right) is too steep. Will anyone else notice? Will the piece not sell? More will be revealed in the fullness of time.

P.S. UPDATE: the smaller sunset painting with the wrong angle on Vandever and a single tree sold immediately.

Mineral King August Tradition

The Mineral King Preservation Society has been hosting a concert for several (five? ten? I can’t remember) years. It happens on a platform that was initially built for dancing back in the days of the Mineral King resort. The musicians are a married couple who call themselves Mankin Creek. They are bluesy, folksy, terrific!

You can see the edge of the platform. On it, and around the edges too – might have had 100 people.

Dinner is provided – sandwiches from Sierra Subs, grapes from The Farmer (our hiking partner).

Farewell Gap had nice light.

I messed around with settings on my camera, found “super vivid”,  and decided it would look better painted this way.

But, this is how it looked with real alpenglow, not enhanced by the camera’s fancy settings. It is the best!

Some of the staff from the Silver City Resort were uninhibited about dancing and really added life to the evening. Afterward I talked to them (they sell my paintings for me!) and learned they are from: New Hampshire, New York, Nebraska, Michigan, San Diego, and Orange County. Uninhibited about dancing and undaunted by travel.

These events make me tired. I need to spend time just sitting and knitting to prepare and to recover. The color in real life is pretty close to “super vivid” light on Farewell Gap.

Taking a walk with a friend is also a good recovery activity from too much time in a crowd.

And look who we saw on the way down the hill after the weekend. Didn’t get his face – Trail Guy was driving and not too keen on sitting in the middle of the road while waiting for a good bear pose. My inability to get good animal photos is one of the reasons I stick to landscapes.

Large Important Commission, Chapter 7

This large important oil painting commission is getting to be fun. With some custom art, the customer directs many parts of the process. With others, they cut me loose to just do my best and make it look good. This project is the latter. (so far)

The color on the top photo is early morning light in the painting workshop. I started with the close orange tree on the left, worked across the front row of the orchard, moved into the shadows beneath the orchard, and then began laying stones on the wall. The final photo shows the beginnings of rose bushes in the foreground.

I will continue correcting the colors, tightening the details, fixing wonky stone walls, and studying this until I know it by heart. It is large (for me), important, and deserves as much attention and care as I can possibly give, because there is no deadline!

P.S. Yes, that is a little stack of books. It will be improved on as the project progresses. Remember, this is for the Tulare County Library, to be displayed in their Woodlake branch.

Large Important Commission, Chapter 6

It was time to get back to the Large Important Commission. I repainted the sky, mountains and foothills, this time adding detail. I wanted to copy the rocks EXACTLY, which is ridiculous, because the hills are sort of made up. So I made up the rocks, and when I stepped back, they looked believable. That is the goal, rather than becoming a human Xerox machine.

I stopped for a minute to sit down and mix some colors, and immediately Tucker jumped onto my lap. He was lucky to not get any paint on his tail, which was sticking straight up toward my palette.

The last time, the barn roof got a little bit pink. You know how I love to draw with my paintbrushes – this was a very satisfying fix. Because the paint is wet, it is shiny. And isn’t this the strangest roof?  

Next session I will keep adding detail to the orange trees, maybe add fruit, put the dirt and shadows in, start the wall, maybe even indicate where the roses will go. 

In other painterly news, since Kelly’s Mineral King Sunset sold, I am painting another one to sell at Silver City, continuing to strike while the iron is hot. And since I am on a roll with Farewell Gap on very horizontal canvases, might as well start a second one, this time 8×16″ instead of 6×12″. This is the base coat on each one, just covering the canvas, getting the pieces in place, using colors that are close enough. Some people start with just browns or grays, but I think color is more fun.