I learned that the cabin owner was going to be present in Mineral King, so I put the “pedal to the metal” and finished the drawing late one evening in the studio in order to deliver it in person. The customer was very pleased and surprised.
There is a great deal of satisfaction and relief when I have a chance to redraw something from my Primitive Era. (That’s what my dad told me to to call my earlier artwork.)
Are you familiar with those franchise businesses where people combine alcohol consumption with painting? I think the idea is that you get all happied up and can’t tell how horribly you are painting. (It is about the experience rather than the results.) People have shown me their paintings, and they often include a sunset.
I’ve been oil painting since March 8, 2006 and have never painted a single sunset. Now, I can’t say that anymore.
A friend of mine sells real estate in rural Southern California. Hard to imagine there are rural areas in Southern California, but I assure you that there are. He asked if I was willing and able to do custom paintings that he could give as gifts to his clients. This was on the same day, in the very same hour, that I had written him a note suggesting the idea. The note wasn’t yet mailed to him (a real note on real paper) when his email arrived with the very same idea.
That was weird. Exciting too.
His assistant sent me some photos, which I cropped into various shapes to show her some ideas.
His assistant was very responsive, excited to work with me, and full of helpful suggestions. After reading her instructions, Photoshop Junior and I did this.
Then, I began painting my very first sunset. (You may be relieved to know that it was done without “benefit” of alcohol, although it may have been useful to ameliorate the ugliness that is inevitable when I begin a painting.)
Stay tuned. It is bound to improve with time.
This painting will require many layers, and I fully intend to enjoy every minute of the process. It isn’t necessary to talk about turning lemons into lemonade – this painting is more like lemon meringue pie.
It was dry, so I relayered the mountains and hills, then moved into the lemons on the left, then the ground, then finally a bit of cleaning off my brushes by putting more green into the grove.
When this is dry again, I’ll relayer the sky before continuing on the lemons and the grove. I want this baby to be PERFECT.
P.S. I love lemon meringue pie, and that’s saying something, because as a former pie baker (it was just a job, not a career), pies do not excite me. Further, one of my life’s guiding principles is “If it isn’t chocolate, it isn’t worth the calories”.
I first drew this cabin back in the 1980s and might have taken a slide of the finished piece. A slide? Yes, Little Grasshopper, it was the way to get high quality photographs, back in the olden days when telephones were for making phone calls and cameras were for taking photographs. We also knew how to read cursive, paper maps, and face clocks. Sometimes we drank out of hoses in the yard, rode standing up in the back of a pickup, didn’t wear helmets while riding bicycles, and sometimes didn’t wear seatbelts either. It is a wonder you have anyone at all still alive over the age of 60 to help you understand the weirdness of the olden days. But that isn’t why we are talking about drawing today.
It began with 2 sketches. 
Mr. Customer chose the horizontal version. I began in my usual manner of lightly laying out where all the parts will go, and then started shading in the upper left corner.
Day #2 of shading brought me this far. I haven’t kept track of my hours – that is a pointless exercise since I charge by the size of the drawing. (Reminds me of what our guide in Israel used to say every time someone would ask him how long something would take – he’d say, “‘How Long’ sounds like a Chinese name.”)
This is the smallest size I draw now – it is 9×12″ and costs $200. (“How much?” is an easier question to answer.)
In case you are curious about pencils, my current favorite brand is Tombow, a Japanese word for “dragonfly”. They are smooth smooth smooth.
Drawing cabins using pencil is a return to my “happy place”, “comfort zone”, and “wheel house” to use all the current cliches. If I find the slide of the old drawing, I probably won’t show you because translating a slide into something digital is not in my wheel house or comfort zone, and never you mind about a happy place either.
July is a busy month in Mineral King, when cabins are used, trails are full, and normally, campgrounds are full. This year the trails are getting more use than normal, since campgrounds are closed. This makes no sense to me, since camping is a very low risk activity – outdoors, spaced apart. (But no one who makes decisions has consulted me.)
The weekend was a little sad. Some friends have been coming to the neighboring cabin for 38 years, but had to miss the last 3 because one of their number got cancer. This year his friends brought him back to Mineral King in a box.
I didn’t participate in the ceremonies, but did catch up a bit with the Sawtooth Six Minus One. We observed our usual tradition of the photo on the porch before they all headed back down the hill.
There were more visits with other friends, a drawing lesson happened at our kitchen table, some serious knitting took place, but none of these events were photographed. Often it is better to be fully in the moment rather than behind a lens while documenting events. 
The bridge is well lit in the late afternoon sun, but it would need some artistic license to become a good painting. (I felt compelled to mention that in case you think all I do is hang around in Mineral King and ignore my art business.)
Have I told you lately that I love to draw in pencil?
Last week I had the opportunity to give a drawing lesson to a girl that I only see once a year while in Mineral King. Instead of taking her through all the usual steps, I took a shortcut to a finished drawing. This is because she will be drawing on her own, far away without me hovering and coaching.
After looking through my photos, she chose this photo: 
We went through the beginning steps, and suddenly, 2 hours had passed. Now what?? How can I help her continue?
By drawing the picture for her and letting her copy the drawing, that’s how! It is easiest to learn to draw from other people’s drawings, because you can see what they made the pencil do.
To keep my head from getting fat, have a look at these two sketches from 1985 and 1986. WHY do my friends keep these things? And WHY do they send them to me?? To keep my head from getting fat, of course.
That “artist” could have used a few drawing lessons.
P.S. What a blessing to still be friends and in touch with people after 35 years!
Here are the scanned versions of the most recently finished oil painting commissions. Scanning produces better results than photographing, but first the paintings have to be dry. This is why there is a time lapse between you seeing them on the easel and seeing the finished product. But don’t be confused by the bridge – I didn’t get around to showing it to you on the easel until it was actually finished and dry in real life.
If you are like me, you are curious to see the difference between the last 6×18″ Oak Grove Bridge and the current one. It is interesting that I can paint from the same photo twice and get different results. Some of this is because I have to just make up the “growies”, since there is no way to copy them exactly. Besides, real life is messy. And speaking of real life, there probably isn’t as much difference in the colors between the 2 paintings if we saw them in person. So much has to do with how it photographs or scans.
If you ever think you might like a painting from a photo you see on my blog (or one you’ve taken), or if you’d like a painting that has already sold, I can do that for you.
Reminder: “commission” is Art Speak for a custom piece of art. Here are two in progress:
No matter how often I paint the Oak Grove Bridge, it challenges my ability to draw with a paintbrush. Drawing with a paintbrush is something that is sneered at in the Art World, but I am hard-pressed to imagine how one of those loosey-goosey painters would handle this subject.
I sent this photo to my customer, and he declared me to be finished. He was actually nicer than that – he said, “As I said before, you are the best!” Aw shucks, thank you, DB. You are a dream customer.
The giant circle continues to develop. The surface of smooth plywood with several base coats of paint is different than canvas and will take multiple layers to cover. That’s fine, because I can get tighter and better with each layer. This is my preferred method of painting, fix, fix, fix some more, and fix again, called “glazing” in Art Speak. That is how I painted the bridge commission.
My customer the citrus grower asked if the trees would be darker, because I sent a photo taken earlier than this one. Then I took this photo, and because the paint is wet here, it is reflective so it still looks pale. I kept painting, and then sent this photo:
I love this subject matter just as much as the Oak Grove Bridge and am quite happy about getting to spend many hours making it look as good as possible.
Anyone know where that little phrase originated?
Today’s post isn’t about a ranch, just about life around my home outside of my work. Sometimes I have things to show and tell you, things that are mildly interesting (or maybe boring) to you, but it is part of the complete picture of this Central California artist’s life.
Last weekend we finally hiked to White Chief together, Trail Guy and I. He has been multiple times this summer but was willing to return.
Mariposa Lilies were abundant, almost the only wildflower making a good showing this summer. We did see a few of my almost favorite penstemon, the one whose real name I don’t know.
White Chief was beautiful, as always.
The trail was steep as always. It was kind of hot out, my feet felt clumsy in real shoes instead of Tevas, and my face got all red, according to Trail Guy. I actually felt sort of light-headed, so we went to the creek and got cooled off.
There were quite a few of these usually overlooked flowers, but since it was almost all that was in bloom, I searched the name out when I got home. It is probably Oval-Leaved Buckwheat.
(Off) Trail Guy also found a flower that we haven’t seen for about 15 years, one that we dubbed “Mop Heads”. I looked it up when we got home, and learned it is Western Anemone.
And no, I didn’t pick it, just stabilized it for the photo and also included my aged hand so you can see the scale. It’s against the law to pick wildflowers in National Parks – did you know that?