Sometimes poppies are in bloom in February, one of my favorite months. March is more common, but we are enjoying an extended season this year. This is one of those years, at least in Three Rivers and the surrounding foothills. Instead of showing you the real thing, I’ll show you the poppies blooming in my […]
Wilsonia Cabin Confusion Drawing
This Wilsonia cabin kept me confused for a long time. The cabin sits on a corner of 2 roads. On one road, it looks very rustic. On the other, it looks like this. You can see this drawing and one of the other side in The Cabins of Wilsonia, available for sale here. The book […]
Another Bridge Oil Painting in Progress
That is another Oak Grove Bridge oil painting in progress, but there is a character limit on the title. This is the 24×30″ painting, also without a deadline. It has the same goal as the 11×14″ painting: make it the best possible no matter how long it takes. Instead of figuring out the exact size […]
Mural #2, Day Four and a Half
This was a day of tiny little branches, painted while sitting, kneeling and standing on the scaffolding. The most difficult part was not falling into the branching pattern of a Valley Oak. (Did you think I was going to say “not falling off the scaffolding”?) I had to draw these branches with my brush, which […]
Mural #2, Day Three
I may have mentioned that February is my favorite month a couple of times. It still is, in spite of the fact that on this date, 16 years ago, my dad died. Weird. I didn’t think I could make it a week without him around, and now it has been 16 years. Every morning as I […]
Mural #2, Day Two
A guy showed up this a.m. to move the scaffolding out of the way. I drew the base of the tree. Then I redrew it further to the left. Are you wondering, “What tree??” Just hold on. . . Then I began painting the distant trees. A little ground work, more greenery in the distance, […]
Mural #2, Day One
It isn’t often that I get to paint 2 murals in the same location. This is one of those rare times. Customer chose his scene, using photographs he took in Tanzania. That’s a herd of cape buffalo. Later he requested a crocodile between the water and the buff. The logistics are tricky with that bed […]
Mineral King in Winter
While I was painting a mural, Trail Guy (AKA RETIRED Road Guy!) went to Mineral King for a day. Every time he does that, he says, “This is weird. You’re going to work and I’m going to play.” I say, “It isn’t weird. It has been normal since you retired.” Do not feel sorry for […]
Mural, Finished!?!
From the last painting session photos, I made a list of things that the mural needed in order to be finished. It seemed like another day of painting should do the trick, but I never know. Sometimes the detail and fixing just goes on and on and on. . . The ivy needed to be […]
Mural, Day Three
Since the sky is finished, I pulled the blue masking tape from the top. Then I reshaped the small window, widened the building a skosh on the right, filled in the posts with a first layer and then Customer came to say “Good Morning”. He had a smart aleck remark about the bluebird, so I […]