Author: cabinart

Three Rivers Studio Tour Ten. . .

. . . begins today! You can get tickets at the Three Rivers Historical Museum. The Tour runs today, Saturday, and Sunday from 10-5. My studio is one of 22. (Actually it is probably #13, but since I am not superstitious, this does not upset me.)

The flag is from First Saturday. There will be a different type of marker at the base of my driveway for Studio Tour. The weeds will be taller too.

The blooms got knocked off the tree by the snow. The snow got knocked off the tree by Michael. Hopefully Michael won’t get knocked off by anything or anyone.

If you are lucky, there will be a welcoming committee.

Three Rivers Three Rivers Studio Tour

Sequoia Mural Madness continued

With the doors open, I painted one half at a time. I was surprised to see the overly bright green in the light – it wasn’t nearly that florescent inside the workshop (aka painting studio). As I added the next layer, I toned down the colors to look more normal.

Now there is something to see whether the doors are opened or closed, and Three Rivers has another mural of Sequoias!

Sequoia Mural Madness

Help. I’m infected with mad mural disease. Can’t stop painting them!

Remember this, the largest mural on the right?

Did you know it is actually doors that open?

They’ve been awaiting a mural for several years now. The photo was chosen, but it never seemed urgent. Now that Studio Tour Ten is almost here, the urgency kicked in.

I began working inside the workshop (AKA painting studio) and got all the shapes blocked in. That way when I painted with the doors opened to the outside, the halves would match up again later. And, this scene looks good when it is split in half.

Here are the opened doors with just the bare bones painted on. During Studio Tour, if the weather is nice, the doors are opened and no one can see the Mineral King mural. This way there is something good to see whether the weather is good or rainy (which is also good).

Mineral King mural mural Three Rivers Studio Tour

Peculiar Sight

Happy Birthday, Elder Sister!

This photo was taken in my yard on March 15.

This photo was taken in my yard on March 18. I live in Central California (I am a California artist, remember?) at an elevation of 1000 feet. One thousand, not 10 thousand. Three Rivers, California.

How does this apply to art, California Artist?

So glad you asked that question! When working from photos (and Jack White said all realistic artists either work from photos or they lie about it), it is sometimes a temptation to work from something that is unusual or peculiar. Problem with that approach is that a drawing or painting of something peculiar looks as if the artist doesn’t have a firm grasp on reality.

People are still convinced of the truth of photographs in spite of Photoshop.

Back in the olden days when a camera was a camera and a phone was for receiving calls in one’s home or office, photographs were taken on special occasions. One time some folks wanted me to draw all 4 homes their mother had lived in her entire life. I think two were in Los Angeles, and two were in Exeter. Three of the photos they provided me were of the houses in the snow! WHY? Because when unusual things took place, the camera came out to record the event.

It wasn’t typical back then to take pictures any time you desired. I used to be a bit of a maverick, keeping my camera in my car at all times. And not only did I keep one, but I kept two with me. One had color print film and the other either had black and white or slide film.

Why did you always have cameras with you, California Artist?

Great question, I’m glad you asked that one. It was because I had to be ready to record the beautiful things and moments and light of every day life, not the peculiar sights!

California Artist

Behind the Scenes of the Sequoia Mural

The customer asked for a mural, explained the nature of her business, and I said, “A mural of a trail would be just right!” (Sequoia Outdoor Sports will be renting camping and backpacking gear to visitors to Sequoia National Park.)

I brought several photos and paintings of trail scenes with me to meet the owner (John) and the manager (Carolyn) and see the wall.

John loved this painting.

Mosquito Lake Trail, 16×20″, oil on wrapped canvas, $350

John asked if I could substitute Sequoia trees for the red firs. I said yes, but. Yes, but there are no Sequoia trees at that elevation or in Mineral King. John said it wouldn’t matter to his customers, who will primarily be Europeans who come to see the Big Trees.

John is the customer. He is right!

Today a man stopped by to ask if I was tagging his building. He was joking. He is the leaseholder of the building. Then he said, “Is that the trail to White Chief and Mosquito Lakes?” Ummm, yes, sort of. In spite of the fact that I changed the background to be more congruent with a place that would have Sequoia trees, he knew the trail!

Three Rivers locals will recognize the incongruity but they will be polite. If John is happy and his customers are happy, then I am happy.

Mineral King oil paintings mural Sequoia National park Sequoia painting Three Rivers

Sequoia Mural Completed

(Happy Birthday, Younger Sister!)

Here is Three Rivers’ latest mural on the building that is to soon house Sequoia Outdoor Sports. Right now I am thinking YIPPEE SKIPPEE! I usually really like my murals when I see the photos at the end of the day. If not, I go back and paint some more. If I can’t find anything else to do, then I decide that the mural is finished.

As of 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 15, 2012, this Sequoia mural is completed.

I know, close the car door. Better yet, move the car! (Is it immature to like your car even when it is a ’96 Accord with many miles, scratches and a few rattles?)

On Monday, I will show you the oil painting from which this Sequoia mural was painted. Sort of. It inspired this mural. I will study the photos of it over the (hopefully rainy) weekend and decide if anything can be improved. It isn’t as if I can get into my Accord and leave the scene – Nope, I live in this town. and I want this to be the best possible. (Don’t worry, I felt the same about the Exeter murals even though I’ve never lived there.)

Exeter murals mural Sequoia painting Three Rivers

Sequoia Mural

(I wanted to call this Big Trees, Little Mural, but the word Sequoia is more likely to be found by Mr. Google. Is Mr. Google the new version of “the Man”??)

This white panel is about 6 feet wide and 7 feet high and it is READY to be painted!

This is the entire gonna-be-a-business, called Sequoia Outdoor Sports in Three Rivers. (Not my car – I drive Honda Accords. Now on #4 (since 1981) Love ’em!)

Here is the whole building, including the Yoga studio on the right side. (I know, shut the car door!)

Here it is with the Chevron station so you really know where it is in Three Rivers! And look at that fabulous tree – it dropped lots of nice little twigs that were just perfect for stirring paint.

First I taped the edges so it will have a nice white frame. Then I drew it. Pretty sketchy drawing!

Back to front coincides with top to bottom. What am I painting? It is based on an oil painting that the owner of Sequoia Outdoor Sports really liked. He asked that I substitute Sequoia trees for the red firs. That threw me into a mess of confusion because there are no redwoods in Mineral King. But, I’m not painting Mineral King, I’m painting an illusion, a summary, a feeling, a sense of being on a trail in Sequoia National Park.

End of the day – staring to look okay, but still best viewed from the back of a fast horse. I will refrain from showing you the closer view. Tomorrow the detail will take place and THEN I will show it to you, along with the oil painting that inspired it.

mural Sequoia National park Sequoia painting Three Rivers

Painting the Primary Books Alla Prima

I added “alla prima” to the title today because yesterday we learned what it meant. A little review is good for the memory.

This style of painting has never appealed to me unless it is just WHAMO briliant.

Want to know why I don’t like this style of painting? Good question – glad you asked. It is because I’ve spent my entire life with myopic vision. That means if it isn’t a few inches from my face, it is blurry. Alla prima painting is BLURRY! The detail is fuzzed out, the edges tend to be indefinite, and personally, I’m sick of seeing the world that way.

Anyway, I digress.

After getting the yellow book painted, I thought it looked plain. Boring. Lacking in detail. Fuzzy edged. Well, duh, it is alla prima’d up – that’s the way it is.

Nope, not in my studio, it ain’t! I put down the short square stiff brush (called a “bright” in Artspeak) and picked up a smaller brush that could be used for better edges. Not my best brush, because I was trying to stick to the program of being an alla prima painter. My best brushes squish to a nice point so I can try to draw with them as with a pencil. (Drawing with a paintbrush is considered a crime in ArtWorld. As I said yesterday, I am trying to be a law-abiding citizen of that place.)

What do you expect from a pencil artist of 30+ years? (time spent drawing, not my age, which does exceed 30 but by more than a single plus sign)

Sorry. Still digressing. Have a look at the finished painting. All the edges were wet so I had to hang it up and then the shadow from the bars of the window crossed it. (What do you expect when I am so darn rushed with this alla prima method??)

Then I went outside for a cigarette.

Just kidding! But if I was a smoker, that would have been a good time to smoke. I wasn’t able to do any therapeutic knitting because there was oil paint on my hands and I didn’t want to get it on my sweater in progress. So, I took it out on the blog.

Are you still wondering what the titles are? Any guesses?

oil paintings

Painting the Primary Books

After that last post I decided to paint the books. I carried them out to the workshop, photographed them in 29 different arrangements (yes, I counted), then decided to just see if I could slam out a small painting in one sitting (standing, actually).

Could I apply the paint thick enough? Could I make it look accurate in just one pass over the canvas? “Everybody else is doing it” – many of my painting friends, many of the artists whose work is selling on daily painting sites, many many artists paint “alla prima”, which means all in one session, wet-on-wet, single application with bold brush strokes. (that is not a literal translation – I don’t know Italian or Latin or whatever that is)

Here is the painting, step by step.

First, I mixed the colors (but didn’t photograph that step).

Then I drew it on the canvas.

I painted the background with the mixed color that passes for black. It is against the law in ArtWorld to use black. I try to be law-abiding. (But I want to know why it is manufactured if you aren’t supposed to use it??)

The common wisdom in painting is to go from back to front. That is why the background came first. The blue book is second because it is underneath (behind?) the other 2 books.

The red book sat upon the blue book.

And then it was the yellow book’s turn to get painted.

Nope, not finished yet. To be continued tomorrow. . .

Anyone wondering what the books’ titles are?

oil paintings