More Mineral King Painting Factory 4

Week One of Operation Mineral King Painting Factory felt successful. 7 of the 11 paintings are completed (except for drying, scanning and varnishing), and it seems possible to complete the remaining 4 (3 are large-ish) and maybe even make tracks on the other 2 on stand-by, all next week. (Prolly not. . . that is overly ambitious, given the way life often intrudes on my work plans.)

This painting really wanted to be detailed, so I began on the left side.
The right side is really looking sorry by contrast.
This detailing took FOUR HOURS!! Good thing I like it. I like to draw, because I definitely “drew” with my paintbrushes, something frowned upon by The Big Boys and Girls of Art. 

This painting was a challenge. It is a scene I haven’t painted before,  the view at the upper end of the Nature Trail as you enter the cabin area. 

This might be the best I can do with this one. Squishing a vertical scene into a square sort of works.
This one is also new to me in terms of painting. It is the view from Timber Gap.
This feels easy after working on the 6×18″ piece of a similar view.

I like this!
This one needed a sky do-over. I think I last worked on it in low light. It is better, but this was photographed in low light, so hard to say.
This one is finished, and is so fun to photograph in front of its larger brother.
Why not photograph the new Sawtooth in front of the muralized one?
And I think this one can be considered finished.

That was a productive 4 days of painting. 

More Mineral King Painting Factory 3

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MELINDA!! (now entering the S-words)

This is the third day of Mineral King Oil Painting Factory. 

This one was drying, taking up valuable easel space.
These three needed attention.
Here they are with the photos on top that I’ll use, hoping that somehow seeing them there will make me a better painter.
WHO IS THIS???
Piper, how did you convince your brother to come out of hiding??
Tuxedo sat there briefly, tiptoed around a bit, heard a noise and returned to the hole. I’ve been thinking that Ansel would be a good name for a black and white cat.
Back to work, feeling happy because perhaps I will have 2 cats after all.
Feeling happy makes for good painting, maybe. When this is finished and dry, I’ll compare it to the earlier ones (unless they have all sold).
Sawtooth. I thought I could set it aside, and then I realized that the telephone pole could use some foliage.
Here is the popular 6×18″ size.
Same, but better
Just kept adding detail, layer after layer, until it seemed as if I was just lifting off what just got laid on.
At the end of the day, I feel tired of standing, staring, squinting and painting. That makes it a good time to do some loose base coats, since my ability to focus has diminished after about 6 hours of painting.

This whole idea of being a painting factory has its good points and its not so good ones. Have you noticed that applies to almost every single thing in life?

The good: Getting things finished well in advance of a deadline is a good way to do business, and focusing on the same subjects and colors over and over should be honing my skills.

The not so good: Focusing to this degree is tiring, I might be boring my readers, and OH NO WHAT IF THEY DON’T SELL BECAUSE I HAVE SATURATED THE MARKET??

Besides these 11 paintings in progress, there are 2 more that have been on stand-by for months – my favorite bridge and Eagle Lake. 

I’ll think about all that another day.

P.S. Tony was thrilled with his goose, the black and white cat is definitely gone, and the 6×18 painting has sold.

More Mineral King Painting Factory

Are you just bowled over by the clever titles to my blog posts? Some days I just about put myself to sleep with the repetition in titles, but there is always something new to post for you to see and read.

This one only had a tiny mark on it during the last painting session. It will need aspen branches and leaves in the foreground to make it more identifiable as the upper end of The Nature Trail in Mineral King.
These 2 blank canvases were waiting for me; I forgot to start them on the day when I began the other 9 paintings. Forgot! Right there on the table and I FORGOT??
Surprahz, surprahz, surprahz, as Gomer Pyle used to say. This is Farewell Gap with the Crowley cabin.
Now here’s a real surprise – Piper is becoming comfortable. The tuxedoed brother was still in hiding at the time I wrote this post. (Update on tuxedoed brother cat: he ran away.)
He looks both scrawny and confident.
This is an entirely new format for a Honeymoon Cabin painting.
I add the next layer with better attention to color and detail, working from back to front and left to right.
At the end of the painting day (and decent light), Piper was still hanging out with me. And you can see that the color of light is distinctly different at this time than when I began.

Mineral King, Literally

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LAURA!

I went to Mineral King. Literally, this time. It was interesting to see in person what I have been painting, the winter version instead of the summer scenes.

First view of Sawtooth
methods of transportation – the Botmobile and the Trackster/snow buggy
Not enough snow on the road for snowmobiles, but the Trackster had no trouble.
Wow, clear view down to the valley 
Closer view of Sawtooth
The Honeymoon Cabin
Classic view from the bridge
SAY WHAT?? Someone worked hard to share this bizarre little joke with those who make it to MK in the winter!
Trail Guy skiing past the 10′ snow stake by the pack station
Trail Guy skiing through the cottonwoods; these are the ones that are so brilliantly yellow in the fall.
Farewell, Farewell (Gap).
View from the Trackster heading downhill.
What was snow in the morning was bare pavement in the afternoon.

Back to the easels. . . thanks for stopping by this week!

P.S. Last year at this time I was repainting the Mineral King mural and it was HOT out after a very wet winter; this year winter didn’t arrive until March. Weird.

Three California Poppy Oil Paintings

It has been ten years since we had that spectacular poppy season in Three Rivers. I still find them when I walk and in in my yard, but never since have we had them in such abundance.

While I was conducting the private oil painting workshop, I painted two poppy paintings. It is good to be available to the students, but no good to just hover.

I was pleased with them until I saw them in better light in the workshop. Then I saw that they needed another layer or two, and the shapes weren’t quite right. Since I had the colors mixed and another canvas ready to go, I decided to throw in a third poppy.

When they were finished, I realized they still needed reshaping. 

When that was finished and dry, I scanned them and realized they still needed another layer on the reshaped edges.

Easy little paintings, no trouble at all, just slam them out, piece of cake, no problem.

Fall down laughing. 

FINALLY, they are finished. I think.

Poppy #51, oil on wrapped canvas, 8×8″, $100 plus tax
Poppy #52, oil on wrapped canvas, 8×8″, $100 plus tax
Poppy #53, oil on wrapped canvas, 8×8″, $100 plus tax

Long Way There

Long Way There III, 12×16″, $290 with California sales tax

The More I Paint. . .

 . . . the more paintings sell.

One Sawtooth, one Honeymoon Cabin, one White Chief, three of the most popular scene of Farewell Gap with the Crowley cabin, and one of just Farewell Gap minus the Crowley cabin. 6×6″ is the most popular size.  

Keep painting, Central California Artist Who Specializes in Mineral King.

The Barn Drawing

Remember the pencil commission of the Michigan barn, drawn from some barely adequate photos? I think the grass and sky took as long as the barn itself. When I finally finished, I scanned it to email to the customer for approval.

He saw right away that the 2 tall doors were lighter than the others. Why didn’t I notice that? Because I was in the weeds! I mean the grass! (. . . don’t get weird on me; I’ve never tried an illegal substance in my entire life and that is the shocking truth)

Doors too light

Here it is with the large doors darkened a tad. 

The next step is to do the prep in Photoshop Elements so it can be reproduced. Can you tell the difference?