Drawing Lessons Are Fun

Drawing lessons are one of the best parts of my art business. See? Happy people having fun!

Once a week, I spend an afternoon helping people draw at the Courthouse Gallery in Exeter. Some folks just need a regular place and time to draw, some need help with difficult projects, and some need instruction every step of the way. It is a pleasure and privilege to help every one of my students in whatever way they need.

This happens 4 people at a time, 1 hour per week. Each person works on his or her own piece, at his or her own pace. They pay by the month, a month in advance. Sixth grade is the minimum age. You don’t have to have “talent” or experience, just the desire to learn to draw.

My classes are full, but there are four alternatives.

  1. Private lessons at my studio in Three Rivers, scheduled when and however it suits both of us.
  2. A beginning drawing workshop at Arts Visalia, scheduled for Saturday, August 26th, 9-3.
  3. IF YOU HAVE ALREADY TAKEN THE WORKSHOP OR HAD LESSONS WITH ME, continuing lessons in a group format at Arts Visalia, the 3rd Tuesday of the month, beginning in September.
  4. Get on my waiting list for the Tuesday afternoon lessons in Exeter.

Drawing lessons are fun for everyone who participates. The only ones who don’t learn how to draw are those who quit too soon.

Claire drew the barn and we were quite pleased with the results. Her Mom requested leaves on the oak trees. It was very hard, but we figured out a way. The drawing looks faded because I photographed it under a cellophane sleeve while my camera battery was dying, Claire’s dad was waiting for her, and I was in a big hurry. My fault, not Claire’s!

Weird Signs in Mineral King

Remember in the post about the Mineral King trail drawing that there was a short sign?

Have a look at the signage, but first, this is Austin, so you have an idea of relative sign sizes. He’s the little person in the large hat, crossing on the plank.

Now, here is short guy, short sign.

Here is short guy, tall sign.

No wonder people take their dogs and their bicycles where it is forbidden; who notices little signs that are 7-1/2 feet up in the air??

California Artist’s 1st Mineral King Hike This Season

The Central California Artist, ahem, that would be me, finally had a bit of time in Mineral King and hiked to White Chief with Trail Guy and a new friend named Jessica.

The artist is sore, and she isn’t happy about it.

The artist is happy to have gone to White Chief, and happy to have spent time with Trail Guy and their new friend.

The artist will now shut up and show you the photos. There will be many.

No bridge across Spring Creek, too scary to cross where the bridge belongs.

We cross below the normal place, where the creek spreads out into 3 manageable sections.
Great flowers along the trail, including these larkspur.
First view of White Chief canyon of the season – no flowers, since it hasn’t been snow-free very long.
Surround Sound in water!
Trail Guy is inspecting one of the sink holes.
Here it is from higher up. Two other people are curious. 
We were snow free until the end of the middle section of the trail. This is where we turned back.
There were fingers of running water where green has begun.
I was reluctant to leave the surround sound of the water.
There were several obstacles in addition to the missing bridge.

These brave and strong Park employees went for it at the bridge crossing.

Beach Business Trip

If I go to the beach and take photos from which to paint, that makes it a business trip. 

I have a friend with a nice gift shop in a beach town; she took several of these paintings on consignment. The only one that sold was to someone from Three Rivers who saw it and got all excited because she knew me.

That didn’t disqualify me from having business trips to the beach.

All of these were painted on 6×6″ canvases; all are now gone. (I didn’t have to go to the beach to sell them.)

More Beach

There is more to the beach than just the beach.

Poppies at the Beach, pencil and colored pencil, private collection
Silver Beach (on the shores of Lake Michigan), pencil and colored pencil, private collection

Wave Action, pencil, 8×10″, unframed, $100

Oh Say. . .

. . .Can you see that we live in a fabulous country?

Oh Say, oil painting on canvas, 6×6″, sold

Let’s Go To The Beach

 

Up through the summer of my tenth year of life, my grandmother had a house at the beach. This house may explain my predisposition toward shingle siding. 

Family Beach House, pencil drawing, private collection

When I lived near the beach, I missed the mountains. Now that mountains are a regular part of my life, I miss the beach. So, let’s go to the beach, figuratively speaking, through pencil drawings. (I’ll probably be in the mountains when these posts appear. . . )

Wood, Wind, Waves; pencil drawing, approximately 12×16″, matted and framed, $400
Beach Birds, pencil on paper, sold
Central Coast Pier, pencil on paper, sold

Trail Guy’s Second Mineral King Hike of 2017

Once June is past, I hope that the Mineral King posts will be of my experiences instead of just hitchhiking on Trail Guy’s.

The baby marmots are out, and as always, have moved underneath our cabin. Since there is nothing that we can do about it, we take photos. (They make noise and messes that smell bad, in case you were wondering why we’d be anything except enchanted.)  

Trail Guy went to White Chief. It is a short but very steep hike, and it involved fording Spring Creek. (As of this writing, the bridge hasn’t been put up for the season yet.)

I wasn’t there so I have nothing to say. Just enjoy the photos and the fact that you aren’t gasping for breath, due to altitude and exertion.

Because this blog is supposed to be promoting my art, here is a recent (and the only) painting I’ve done of White Chief. (This view is closest to the first White Chief photo in this post.)

6×6″ oil painting, White Chief, $65 (inc. tax)

Random Thoughts

Today’s post is a list of random thoughts, unrelated to art, things that one of my tens of readers might be interested in.

  1. Crocs shrink if you leave them in the sun. Mine are too short to wear now. Isn’t that weird? Rubber shoes shrink in the sun! (maybe it is related to #2. . .))
  2. After it has been 107º for a week, 97º feels balmy.
  3. I’m editing a previously published book about the Visalia Electric Railroad. It was first published in a hurry, the Tulare Co. Historical Society is ready to re-order, and author Louise Jackson and I know we can do a better job of both the text and the photos. So, we are working on it and hope the TCHS will agree to publish it in a real book format instead of 8-1/2×11″ with dark photos, “Foreword” misspelled, the stock market crash happening in 1939, and someone joining Pancho Villa’s cantina band, as if he were a guitar player. Intrigued? I’ll let you know if this turns into a book.  
  4. What I’m reading (or recently finished): 41:A Portrait of My Father by George W. Bush, Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman, Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough, Alone Together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other by Sherry Turkle (If you click or tap on any of the book titles, you’ll get to the Amazon page that sells the book. If you buy, I might earn 15¢ or something. . .)
  5. Samson still bites.
  6. What I’m listening to: The Smartest Person in the Room, Brian Buffini, Gretchen Rubin, The Road Back to You, What Should I Read Next
  7. No memorial services this week for me. 2 in 2 weeks is 2 too many.
  8. I think white flowers are boring. Did you think this post was boring? (Go ahead–tell me the truth; I can take it!)
Ranger Buttons, a white wildflower

Mineral King Trail Art

Being on a roll with pencil drawings of Mineral King makes me think very carefully about what I should draw next. 

This is a view I recently painted, and it sold right away. 

Allllrighty, then. Looks and sounds like a logical next pencil drawing. However, all the other drawings are vertical, so this scene will need some cropping, stretching and improvising, all while maintaining its believability.

How’s this? Is it believable?

To contribute to the authenticity, I’ve included the trail sign. In real life, the thing is about 1-1/2 feet off the ground. Weird. Can you spot its goofy little self in this drawing?

Here it is in all its midgetry. (My blog, my word. . . any questions?)