Odd Job, Day 5

Back to the coat of arms painting, an odd job of an oil painting commission.

I mixed and applied the correct green, along with a strong purple for the bottom ribbon. (It will need some detailing).

Then I mixed and applied a more golden yellow and a stronger blue.

The edges are a little weak, but the entire piece will get black outlines. This is a simple painting, but there is very little forgiveness with strong colors each abutting other strong clean colors. It requires a lot of drying time in between layers.

Another Odd Job, Day 3

First, this isn’t my third day of painting – it is the third day of posting on this topic. I don’t know how many days or how many hours, but it is entirely possible that I underbid the job. It became so fun that I just kept layering, tightening, detailing, and correcting.

Trail Guy helped me flip the sign right side up. Then I realized that the left leg of the N was too short. We ditched the oval that was part of the original design, but I neglected to reshape the words. Always learning as I go. . .
Pippin was thrilled to have company in the morning.
HEY – is that an osteospermum?
A camelia, perhaps? And the longer left leg of the N needs more layers.
Finished!

Well, not exactly finished. The back needs painting, but that is boring, so the next time you see this, I hope it is hanging above the new nursery at the Three Rivers Mercantile.

Another Odd Job, Day 2

Oh-oh, the yellow paint is picking up the blue chalk. Guess this will take many coats.
The green will also take at least 2 coats.

It was too hard to paint the bottom of the sign, so I flipped it over. But it got stuck, so I continued painting while outside. That was actually easier. (Never mind how I will get it unstuck.)

I finished the first coat of green on the bottom, leaving the “growies” for later, because I don’t know what colors I’ll use there. And I am still picking up blue chalk with the yellow paint.

I learn by doing. White paint mostly hides the yellow+blue chalk problem. Now it needs yet another coat of yellow, maybe even two.

To be continued. . .

P.S. I have guest posted again on the Mineral King Preservation Society blog.

Another Odd Job

I love these jobs! They each pose a new set of challenges, preventing me from coasting, forcing me to dig deep into my resources on the premise that everything is figure-out-able. 

What’s back there?? A Very Large Project.

First, we worked out a design with Photoshop Junior.

Mrs. Customer wasn’t pleased with Mr. Customer’s choice of colors. (I remain entirely neutral on these things, because I am there simply to serve the customers’ wishes.)
Better. The rubber stamp look of the vines will be a freer, more natural look on the real project.
Remember overhead projectors? A friend found this in a dumpster and brought it to me. I’ve used it several times and lent it to a few friends too. (No need for everyone to have to dumpster dive.)
The laptop had images to help me draw the “growies”.

Next, paint.

Odd Job, Day 4

Yesterday I showed you the not-so-good green on the background of the odd job, a Coat of Arms for my customer/friend. (Remember, “odd” means “unusual” – I am NOT insulting my friend or her job here!)

Since beginning to oil paint, I have met up with two new yellows and one new blue. It is time to get a grasp on how they all interact to make greens.

My friend said, and I agree, “More Kelly than lime”. Photoshop Junior used Kelly green, but I wasn’t very careful with mixing in the first pass over the canvas.

Clearly we need the second green down in the middle row.

Better, but too wet to continue. 

Tomorrow is the end of the month listicle. 

This coat of arms will have to wait. Another odd job awaits! (How’s that for an exciting cliff-hanger?)

Odd Job, Day 2

After my customer sent me a chart of colors to include, it was time to try it with Photoshop Junior to see how it would look. Looking at her list of colors within the Coat of Arms, I saw that green was missing, so that became the background. 

This is actually the 2nd or 3rd iteration from many conversations and adjustments as we worked out the design together.

The pointy-pokey waving arms didn’t please her, so she sent many other design to consider. I developed a more ribbon-like look on the left side.

The symbolic Farewell Gap needed simplification too.

We had a few more discussions about black outlines, smoothing out some of the bends in the purple ribbon.

 

Everything is now ironed out, so it time to move to canvas. 

Tomorrow. . . 

P.S. I am guest posting once a week on the Mineral King Preservation Society website, under the topic of “An Artist’s Inspiration”. The first post went live yesterday. www.mineralking.org

New Odd Job

“Odd” means “unusual”, as in I’ve never done this before.

I’ll give you a break from Mineral King wildflower oil paintings and show you my new project. This is a commission, which is a fancy word for custom art work.

A customer/friend sent me this and asked if I could do an oil painting of her family’s coat of arms.

I said something like, “Sure, but first we’ll have to decide on some color.” She then sent me this.

So I looked up meanings to the parts of Coats of Arms. We learned even the colors have meanings.

Next she sent me this.

Time for some Photoshopping (I use Photoshop Elements, which is really just Photoshop Junior).

Come back tomorrow to see how this developed.

Completed Commission

When I told you the story of painting a commissioned piece of Lost Canyon, I may have accidentally misled you into thinking that all the changes and decisions were a nuisance. 

Drying in the painting workshop (the studio shows through the window – that’s the little building where I draw, a much less messy activity.)

Not so!

The customer and I had a great working partnership. He was discerning and decisive and helpful, not a pain in the least. My goal was to paint exactly what he wanted, but also to help him explore the idea even further than his initial request. We both enjoyed the process and ended up happy with the result. (The color is way better in person!)

Lots of Work Right Now

“Busy” is a loaded word. People like to say they are “crazy busy”, maybe because it gives them a sense of importance or indispensability. I bet people aren’t using that word too often right now.

I am busy during this weird time. Some of it is commissions, some of it is bidding on jobs, some of it is taking advantage of more time to catch up on things like keeping my website current and reading business books.

Maybe instead I could say, “I have lots of work right now”. For that I am grateful, and I am grateful to have the time to take care of customers and my business responsibilities.

Enough chatter, Central Calif. artist. Show us some things!

11×14′ commissioned oil painting
Oak Grove Bridge XXX, 10×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $175
8×10″ commissioned oil painting
Slowly progressing on these small Mineral King wildflower paintings.

There is more, but there is also tomorrow to show and tell you.

Thanks for tuning in today!

 

Decision on the Morphing Commission

While I was working on the backpacks in the commissioned oil painting of Lost Canyon, wondering if I’d be able to move the stream and trail, the answer came back as a definite “no”. They wanted the trail to remain across the bottom of the canvas.

When someone hires me to paint something specific, that someone is my boss.

I kept working my way down the scenery toward the backpacks, figuring out what to put in those large areas where I didn’t have any photos to guide me, figuring out how to make the stream flow in a believable manner, adding rocks, shrubs, trees, and textures.

The color isn’t accurate here because it was photographed in low light at the end of a painting day. But I wanted you to see how this is coming along, particularly the backpacks! This is my favorite way of painting – drawing with my paintbrush.

What remains to be painted: the hiking poles, the lower grasses, and of course wildflowers in the grasses.