Watching a Master Paint in Mineral King, Part 4

This is the scene we were viewing.
This is the painting at the end of the afternoon.

Watching Martin “Marty” Weekly paint plein air in Mineral King was a huge privilege and a great learning opportunity. It is one thing to take a workshop in Georgia, where everything is unfamiliar. It is another thing to watch someone paint a landscape that I know very well, so I can understand how decisions are made to include some items and simplify or ignore others.

Here are some of the many things that Marty taught me in the 3 hours we stood there together:

  1. If your brush feels comfortable, try the next size up. (Why? I try to do this so that I get the painting finished in a timely manner, but I think Marty does this so he doesn’t get overly detailed.)
  2. Cobalt blue with white mades a very accurate sky color.
  3. All paintings look terrible in the beginning, even if you are as terrific as Marty Weekly!
  4. Adjust the parts of your painting to suit you and make the best composition possible, while retaining the recognizable characteristics of the scene.
  5. No one finishes on location; almost every plein air painter knows there will be finishing required in the studio.
  6. Turpentine from the hardware store is good enough – no need to pay for overpriced art supply turpentine.
  7. There is a brush cleaner available from the hardware store that will salvage any dried-out brush (I can’t wait to try this!)
  8. Try Permanent Rose instead of Alizarin Crimson for one of the mixing reds. (Why? I have this color, so I will find out!)
The sky can be finished in the studio, along with the various vegetation in the foreground. We talked about Goldenrod, Sage, and Asters, which are all present in September; he made visual reminders. We also talked about the stream, getting at least the lay of the land so there is a sense of the stream.

I am looking forward to seeing the finished painting! Since the intended recipients are friends of mine, I will ask to see a photo, and hope I can show you.

Watching a Master Paint in Mineral King, Part 3

Marty and discussed the weirdly shaped juniper. The light on the edge of it was compelling, and he decided to put it in, but not the same size as it is in real life. The trouble with that scene in real life is that there are 4 trees, all in a line, all the same height and evenly spaced. If it were painted that way, it might look like a sad little orchard rather than a natural scene.

When he added the light on the edge, the tree came alive (not literally on the canvas but you know what I mean, yes?)

We discussed the Honeymoon Cabin. Marty didn’t know what it was, and his wife and I convinced him it was important to include, especially because the painting is to be a wedding gift for a couple who knows Mineral King.

He worked his way down into the lower reaches of the painting, which looked like a daunting amount of real estate to me.

We discussed the snow patch on the side of Vandever, which is important enough to have a name – Bearskin. It is often speculated about during the summers as we wonder how long the snow will last. The addition of Bearskin made it necessary to add the remaining snow right below Farewell Gap. He also added in Falcon Peak, which is really just the headwall of White Chief Canyon (to the right of Vandever).

Marty also did some reshaping and tightening up of the accuracy of some of the shapes. Because he paints in a loose and impressionist style, this surprised me. But, his scenes are always recognizable, so of course he wants the shapes to be correct. We talked about the top of Vandever, which wasn’t visible from where we stood, and I was able to tell him that the top is jagged and it is taller than West Florence on the left side of the gap.

We discussed the vegetation, and he made some visual notes so he would know how to finish things later in his studio.

On Monday, I’ll tell you some of the many things I learned from watching Martin Weekly, master plein air oil painter paint in Mineral King.

Watching a Master Paint in Mineral King, Part 2

As Martin Weekly set up his painting, I stood in the shade of the juniper, took photos, and just listened and watched. As a Questioner, I bit back many questions, and waited for him to either talk to himself or to address me directly. He shared a tremendous amount of experience and information, which I wrote down when he was finished for the afternoon.

The second roughed in sketch.
Blocking in begins.

There is great comfort in knowing that even the work of a master begins looking scribbly and worrisome.

See those bright orange dots? That is the way Marty checks his values (the darks and lights) because orange is a strong middle value. He can compare any color to see if it is darker or lighter, because a painting needs all the different darks and lights to be good.

This is the scene we were viewing, but of course our eyes take in so much more when standing on location than can be captured by a camera lens.
Marty sees colors differently than I do.
We joked about how paintings look so dreadful in the beginning stages. I always say, “Best viewed from the back of a fast horse”, and he said, “Might look good at midnight with the lights out while wearing sunglasses”.
To the right side of the scene is a weirdly shaped juniper tree and the Honeymoon Cabin. I wondered if he would include those 2 signature items that tell exactly where we are.
It was time for sky so the top of the peaks could be defined. Marty uses a different color of blue than I do for skies, and I thought it was perfect! Why haven’t all the various instructors I’ve had ever mentioned Cobalt blue for skies?? Everyone else swears by Phthalo or Cerulean blue!
We talked about the weird juniper, and Marty thought about it. He decided to not have any trees shooting up above the line of the peaks. This was a concept I never considered; I thought if you made the trees too short, the perspective would look wrong. Not so when Marty does it!

To be continued tomorrow. . .

Watching a Master Paint in Mineral King

Martin Weekly, AKA Marty, is a master plein air painter and a friend. Recently he painted in Mineral King, and I had the privilege of watching over his shoulder.

He set up in a place that wasn’t highly visible to the public, although we did have a few observers who watched briefly (and one who asked some annoying questions when he was trying to concentrate, which is just part of the job.)

Marty set up his easel at a place and time that he scouted on the previous day.
See? Barely visible.

He set up his supplies and began painting. I was astonished to see that his methods and materials are completely different from that of Laurel Daniel, an equally accomplished painter who taught the workshop that I attended in Georgia in April.

His palette contains colors I’ve never seen used before instead of the primaries, as I learned from several sources.
His canvas is HUGE compared to what Laurel uses in the field, and he referred to it as “small”!
He began by toning the entire canvas with burnt sienna mixed with turpentine; Laurel uses linseed oil and doesn’t “tone” the canvas.
He began drawing the scene with the same color; Laurel blocks it in with a mixture of burnt sienna and french ultramarine.

I was greatly reassured when he had to do the outline several times and completely erased it once. This guy is truly a master, and to know he also doesn’t always get it right the first time gave me hope.

Come back in two days for more of my session with Marty.

Walking to Soda Springs

Soda Springs is about 1-1/2 mile from the bridge in Mineral King. This was a walk, and I wore my Crocs to prove it. (We took nothing but photos, left nothing but footprints. Aren’t we groovy?)

We had this view of Timber Gap at our backs.
Bigelow Sneezeweed remains my favorite yellow flower.
Arnica? Meh.
Things are beginning to dry out. If you look beyond these asters, you can see the wall that leads down to Soda Springs in the distance.
There were still lots of hidden gems among the grasses.
I didn’t think of putting my feet in the water. This is because they didn’t hurt, wearing my trusty and well-loved Crocs.
Soda Springs flows down into the creek, which is the East Fork of the Kaweah River. Yeppers, it is that rusty puddle that continues to bubble to the surface.
Sulphur Flower is so named because of the color. I didn’t stick my nose in it, but doubt if it smells like sulphur.
It turns a beautiful rust color as it is finishing its season. (I think this is Sulphur Flower but I couldn’t swear. Trying not to, anyway.)
Wire Lettuce has the weirdest name and is a basic shade of pink that is uncommon among Mineral King wildflowers.
There were 2 sizes of Sierra Gentian, but my favorite, Explorer’s Gentian, wasn’t yet in bloom unless you really poked around carefully in the tall grasses.
The Baby’s Breath was very thick on the northwest side of the Crystal Creek crossing.
100 page paperback, flowers in photos, common names only, lots of chatty commentary, $20 including tax.
Available here
Also available at the Three Rivers Historical Museum, Silver City Store, from me if I put them in my car, or Amazon.

Still Chasing Wildflowers

The season is quickly moving toward fall, but I am still chasing wildflowers in and around Mineral King.

On the way up the hill for Labor Day weekend, we stopped at the water trough at Redwood Canyon, where I was thrilled to see Scarlet Monkeyflowers!! Red flowers are rare in nature, and I’ve seldom seen these. Now I know they are end-of-the-summer flowers, and I’ve spotted them in another place along the Mineral King Road (above Trauger’s at a seeping spring, in case you are wondering.)

This is just so you can see where they are/were located.
This was there too, without any flowers, but the hint of color in its leaves tells me it must be Something Cool.
There are Coneflowers at my neighbors’ cabin. They are native and wild, but I’ve mostly seen them at cabins in Mineral King. Sometimes you can find them around the Tar Gap parking lot too.
The neighbor has a very good section of Bigelow Sneezeweed too.
Speaking of neighbors, this little genius said, “Mommy knows a lot, Daddy knows a lot, but Mr. Botkin knows everything!”
Goldenrod is very profuse this year, a normal sight for late summer.
Asters are also a common late summer sight.
Glacial Daisy, I think, unless it is a washed out Aster.

All of the flowers were found in the vicinity of the bridge, from where this classic photo was taken.

One day soon I will return to posting about art. The flowers won’t last forever!

100 page paperback, flowers in photos, common names only, lots of chatty commentary, $20 including tax.
Available here
Also available at the Three Rivers Historical Museum, Silver City Store, from me if I put them in my car, or Amazon.

Chihuahua Bowl, P.S.

Here is a postscript to the post about Chihuahua Bowl, consisting of photos from Trail Guy’s camera.

“Grandpa, tell me ’bout the good old days.”
These people are kind of tired.
But they are glad to be here.
Trail Guy likes wildflowers as much as I do, especially if he can catch a butterfly on one.

Someone Else Hiked to Groundhog Meadow. . .

. . . and shared her photos. Thank you, Sharon Devol! Since unlike some of us, she wasn’t racing around trying to get to Chihuahua Bowl, Sharon took the time to enjoy Groundhog Meadow.

(And I still want to know why Chihuahua Bowl wasn’t full of M&Ms, preferably dark chocolate. Do they make dark chocolate M&Ms with almonds?? Why even have a bowl if it isn’t full of something like M&Ms?)

THANK YOU, SHARON!!

Drawing Lessons Begin

Drawing lessons are suspended during the hot months of July and August, but they resume the day after Labor Day in the hot month of September. Therefore, today, let the lessons begin again!

I’ve been helping people learn to draw since 1994, and in the process I’ve learned to draw better myself. Even more important, I’ve gotten to know fabulous people, many of whom I consider friends and are still in touch with.

On paper, my classes are almost full. There is a spot or two from 3:30-4:30; all the regulars in that hour are high school students, so their schedules and their desires change pretty regularly.

If you would like drawing lessons, let me know via the contact thing on my site, or in the comments, or by email, or even a phone message to 559-561-7606.

Lessons are $55/month.

Clearly this girl has an interest in marine life! We are both a bit stumped on how to portray the water, but we’ll figure it out.

Everyone works from her own photo (guys are allowed too, but for some reason I don’t have any photos of them) at her own pace.

“Pick something you love, because you’ll be staring at it for a loooonnnngggg time.” – Jana Botkin