You May Slow Your Horse Down Now

For awhile, I’ve been advising you to view my Sequoia mural from the back of a fast horse, preferably at a distance. I’m beginning to think that it might be okay to slow your horse down now, but distance is still an advantage for best viewing.

Getting better with each session. This is the result of 15 hours up and down a ladder. You’d think I’d be quite fit by now. Have another think. . .

The ridges aren’t quite as visible in this photo.

I have a few decisions to make about this project. . . add a human? Will she be the right height? Will the ridges and my inexperience painting humans make her look like a freak? What shall I do in the hard to figure out spaces behind the big trees? How will I put light on the ground behind the trees without it looking as if there is snow? How will I be sure that the traces of snow at the bases of the trees do look like snow? Does there even need to be snow?

That’s sort of overwhelming. I think I’ll just turn away from the mural and see the view behind me.

More Sequoia Mural on a Ridgey Garage Door

This is the current level of the mural. More accurately, this is the current version that I have to share with you. Perhaps you live in my neighborhood and have driven by between the writing and the posting of this post. Then you, my neighbor, will know that the progress is even more progressive. That will be our little secret, okay Neighbors? 😎 And, you will know that the ridges show up much more distinctly in these photos than in person. Still best viewed from the back of a fast horse at a distance.

Mineral King in February?

Nope, I’m not there. (Where did the word “nope” come from??)  But, it is Friday, so have a look at some Mineral King art from my pencil archives:

Fret not. Summer will return.

Mineral King is one of the treasures of Tulare County, a place I love.

We break for this commercial message: This pencil drawing of Mineral King has sold. If you would like your own original pencil drawing of this (or of something else), I can do it for you. In fact, it would be a pleasure to draw for you!

9×12″ – $200

11×14″ –  $250

And the Paint(ing) Goes On

The Sequoia mural on a ridgey garage door continues. Here is what my view looks like while I am painting:

The horizontal blue line is so I can tell where I am. It is the center from top to bottom.

I don’t know exactly what I am doing when I am this close to the wall. That is why I am continually climbing up and down the ladder.

This guy doesn’t know what I am doing either:

The Slow Sequoia Mural

Slowly inching along, climbing up and down the ladder, walking to the end of the driveway and back, studying, scrutinizing, evaluating, analyzing. I have to live with this mural, not just drive past it occasionally, so it needs to be really well done. Besides, it will be advertising for murals during the Studio Tour.

One ladder for climbing, the other for use as a platform for paints. The progress is incremental. Can you see it from photo to photo? I’m looking forward to being able to paint while standing on the ground. It is so much easier to back up and see how things look when no climbing is involved.

Wow, those ridges sure do show up. I don’t think they are quite as noticeable in person as they are in the photos.

Pretty neat-o from a distance, but there sure are lots of murals at this place. Looks sort of billboardy, or maybe a bit overdone, perhaps? Nah. Besides, it is MY house, I’m FIFTY-FOUR YEARS OLD, and I’ll have as many murals as I want. I can quit any time, you know. It’s not like I’m covering EVERY space. Besides, I can always paint them out.

There is still the garage door, which consists of mismatched panels. I told the repair guy that I didn’t care whether or not the panels matched because I planned to paint a mural. That was before Trail Guy suggested a Sequoia mural on the other door.

Never trust an artist with a blank wall.

I Love Tulare County

For some reason, it embarrasses me to admit this. So, I put it as the title of this post – practice saying it, feel it, face it. (Say it loud, say it proud?) I am a California Artist and I love Tulare County! (Is it warm in here or is it just me?)

Oranges #121, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $90, available here

My cousins visited from Northern California. She is from the Chicago area and he grew up  near Buffalo. (They are married so I consider him to be my cousin too.)

We spent part of a day in Sequoia. This is where they met while working for The Park’s concessionaire. (Here in Three Rivers we refer to Sequoia National Park as “The Park”.)

Sunny Sequoias XVIII, 8×8″, oil on wrapped canvas, $75, available here

Girl Cousin has inherited a portion of an orange grove where I spend the first 11 years of my life. (Don’t worry – we lived in a house, not under a tree.) So, we visited the grove. City folks say “ranch” and Citrus folks say “orchard” or “grove”.

Oranges #121, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $90, available here

 

Several thoughts:

  1. I expected that the day in The Park would be the most fun part of the time together, but
  2. The time in the citrus grove was the most fun.
  3. Perhaps this is because it was cold and wet and foggy in the Park and intermittently sunny in the grove.
  4. Or maybe it is because I had my eyes opened to how special it is to have grown up as the daughter, granddaughter and niece of citrus growers.
  5. Being a “tour guide” to Girl Cousin and Mr. Girl Cousin (sorry Bob – but you gotta laugh at that!) caused me to realize that I do know quite a bit about my county and about citrus. I was amazed by how much I had to say about it all. (I’m sure The Cousins were too.)
  6. In the course of these days together, it occurred to me that I do love Tulare County. We are poor, uneducated, fat and have very bad air* BUT we have Sequoia and we have citrus. So there.

P.S. Three Rivers might still be the best place to live in Tulare County, but my second choice is in an orange grove at the edge of the foothills.

*I have to point these things out so you all won’t move here.

Paint Slowly

Two of my neighbors have requested that I paint slowly.  They want to enjoy the process of seeing a mural develop.

With this mural of Sequoia trees on a ridgey door, I don’t have a choice. In my head the thing should be going quickly, but reality is much different.

I climb down the ladder and squint and study. It needs more light here, more detail there. I climb the ladder and then can’t figure out where the light and detail were supposed to go. I climb back down and look again. Hmmm, three ridges down, more light. More detail on the top ridge and on the 4th ridge, crossing down onto the 6th ridge. Climb back up the ladder. Add the light, and forget where the detail was needed. Climb back down, oh yeah, that’s right, climb back up, and now my brushes are all dried out. Climb back down and get them cleaned up a bit in water. Climb back up and wonder what I was supposed to do. Realize the color I need is dried on the palette, Climb down the ladder and pour more on. Squint up at the mural and see another area needs attention. Move the ladder, climb up and try to GET SOMETHING PAINTED!!

Please excuse me for shouting. This should not be so hard.

Okay Bob and Katie, I’m a slow painter for sure.  And Katie, thank you for the blog post idea!

Sequoia Mural on a Ridgey Garage Door

First, I mixed my main paint colors, using the primaries.

That weirdo greenish yellow (or yellowish green) is not a primary, but is an example of a color that is easily mixed using red, blue, yellow and white. Isn’t that UH-MAY-ZING?? Still thrills me. I actually use 2 different reds and 2 different blues.

First, the barest hint of where things will go. This is probably meaningless to you, but I wanted you to see how the process works.

Because I paint from back to front, the sky color goes on first. Very little sky will appear in this mural, but it provided edges for the Sequoia trees. Then I climbed off the ladder and stepped back to see if the beginning marks were the right size and in the right place. (Notice I did things in the proper order – first climbed off the ladder and second, stepped back.)

Now are you getting the idea?

The photo that I’m using partially shows in the bottom of this photo.

These ridges are making it REALLY REALLY hard to paint.

Not having a scaffolding or a platform is also a hindrance to progress. Not complaining; just explaining in advance why this one may take a long time to finish. It will provide some fun for my neighbor Bob when he checks his mail every day. He told me that he hopes I don’t finish it too quickly!

Because moving the ladder is interruptive, my plan is to finish the upper parts first. As a right-hander, I find it easiest to work from left to right. In spite of working from the top down, I found it helpful to locate the bottoms of the trees and lay in the shadows.

The colors I mixed (or remixed or added to from a previous mural) were:

  1. Dark redwood
  2. Medium redwood
  3. Light redwood
  4. Dirt in sun
  5. Dirt in shade
  6. dark green
  7. olive green
  8. sunlit green

To quote Trail Guy, “Boy, those lines sure show up.”

Thanks, Captain Obvious.

No Longer At Loose Ends

Now that the drawings for The Cabins of Wilsonia are finished and the book is in its first review session, I’ve been sort of wandering aimlessly. Organize a little, paint a little, work on the blog a little, procrastinate a little, wonder what to do.

Suddenly I have a big list:

  1. Finish painting the outbuildings
  2. Begin the new mural
  3. Oil paint for a 2015 calendar
  4. Oil paint for Colors, a local gallery
  5. Oil paint to have things to sell during Studio Tour

What’s an artist to do??

Clearly, there is plenty of work to be done yet.

Perhaps I should move these paintings into the house near the stove so they will dry.

Nah. I think I’ll start the mural.

Come back tomorrow to see the progress!

Upcoming and Not Upcoming Murals

Last fall I got a call to visit a place in Visalia and discuss a mural. I was very eager to do this mural because I know and like the business and because the subject was citrus. The ideas were flowing, so I did a couple of sketches and gave them several bids.

(FYI, I generally bid a mural based on size, the same way I price my drawings and paintings. The reason for multiple bids is so they could have me paint it all at once or do it in three sessions, whatever fit best into their budget.)

In December there was a hard freeze. It did big fat damage to the citrus crop and the trees and the farmers and the industry and the business who planned to hire me.

Bummer. No citrus mural for this artist this year.

What’s a California artist to do?

Paint Sequoia trees, that’s what.

I think this will look pretty fantastic on my garages.

Too many areas here for you to know just which one I mean. This door:

Yes, it is all ridgey metal, but I can do this. No sign that says “Parker Group” and sorry, no Brianna either. I’m fairly comfortable with citrus, Mineral King scenery and redwood trees, but little people are beyond my skill at this time.

No time frame, but it would be good to have it finished before the Studio Tour, March 21-23. Of course, if we get lots and lots of rain I won’t be able to paint the mural. That would actually be a better outcome than continued drought with a mural.

But why did I spend all that time and paint turning it dark brown if I planned to paint a mural there?

I didn’t plan it. I planned to have dark brown doors so they wouldn’t show up. Trail Guy suggested the mural, suggested the subject and chose the photo.

Can’t say no to Trail Guy!