A Little Bit Too Hard

A dear friend asked me to do something almost impossible. He wanted me to draw something for which he had no photo: the Mineral King Pack Station as it appeared in the 1980s. This was before everyone and his brother carried a camera around, documenting lives as if getting paid for it. (Or is it that people now document their lives because if it isn’t recorded, they aren’t sure it happened??)

I put out the word for help. It took 6 months, but I finally located a photo that I could almost see to draw from. If I knew horses and mules, this might be adequate. Barely. However, there is a lot of detail buried in shadow and the general mushy deterioration of a photo printed on a rough surface about 30 years ago.  

I soldiered on. Gotta start somewhere, so I started with what I know – the mountains in the background. Printing the photo larger after converting to black and white helped somewhat.

Inching along – good thing there is no hard deadline.

Notice the collection of erasers. This is too hard, and a friend who knows horses offered this most welcome advice: “I think the mule may need a bit longer ears still and the dark horse in the front needs a bit of work. His face seems a bit too long and narrow to me and the front hoof seems a bit too big and clubby (that’s what we call hooves shaped like that in the horse world)”. See why I need all these erasers? Very non-forgiving subjects from a very non-visible photo by a very non-horsey artist.

Mineral King Pack station in the 1980s.

I almost finished it but forgot part of a saddle. Forgot? More likely procrastinated, because it was a blob of dark shapes. Regardless of the missing saddle, I scanned it and sent it to another very horsey friend.

I await her counsel as to whether or not these horses can be ridden or if they need a veterinarian or perhaps a bullet.

Wise artists know better than to draw or paint things they don’t know; someone who does know will know that I don’t know. Wise artists know better than to accept commissions for which there are no or poor reference materials.

Kind artists tell their dear friends they will try.

Wise or kind? This is a little bit too hard for me. And,I may not be charging enough. . .

My Favorite Bridge in Oil Paint, Chapter 7

After doing the 10×10″ oil painting Oak Grove Bridge XXIV, I felt ready to return to the commissioned oil painting that combines the Oak Grove Bridge with Homer’s Nose (AKA Snozz Rock).

It was engrossing work. There were more design changes to be made, and I was eager to see if they made it more appealing, both in the execution and in the viewing. 

At 11:45 a.m. I added some leaves in the upper sky region and began repainting Homer’s Nose in more carefully mixed colors. I also changed the line of the foliage in the center section because it was too straight across the top and needed to blend more gradually in the the distant rocky area. (Wow, this is so hard to put into words – you’d understand it better if you could see me waving my hands around and pointing.)
At 1:13 I remembered to stop for another photo. Homer’s Nose is looking more detailed and more correct in its colorations.
In the 2:11 photo you can see tighter detail in the rocky places to the right of Snozz Rock.
At 2:48, I grabbed my camera again. Why?
At 4:46 I took the final photo of the day because the background greenery was looking good, the bridge got new detail, the beginning of a truck, more colors and tighter shapes, and now the water is taking shape.

There is still much work ahead, but now I feel capable, thanks to my little guide buddy, Oak Grove Bridge XXIV.

P.S. Tonight is a public information meeting about the bridge’s future at the Three Rivers Veterans Memorial Building at 6 p.m. The plan is to “rehabilitate the bridge” to “correct seismic and structural deficiencies”. Maybe They will explain how, or more importantly, when and how long.

My Favorite Bridge in Oil Paint, Chapter 6

I thought about calling this “Final Chapter”, but I hope I live on to keep painting the bridge and improving with each one.

We made it through about 23 oil paintings of the Oak Grove Bridge. There were repeated views, color adjustments and exaggerations, brighter versions, muted versions, paintings with sharp clean edges, paintings that looked sort of blurry, and the last one from a completely different angle.

Then, I began working on the commissioned oil painting that combines the bridge with Homer’s Nose, a prominent landmark granite rock outcropping. The bridge felt too hard in this one, so I decided to do a smaller version of the exact same view in order to work out some difficulties.

“Difficulties”? I might be a slow learner, or perhaps a bit simple. I’ve painted the thing 23 times and still have difficulties?

Just try to be polite here, ‘kay?

Here is Oak Grove Bridge XXIV in a few steps (although it took many more than a few steps to do this).

As you last saw it. . .
Beginning to tighten things up, like the tree/shrub on the far left that overlaps the bridge, ditto on the right, and adding light and detail to the bridge posts.
A few minor adjustments remain, but it is SOLD!

There were some shenanigans by some hooligans while I was trying to concentrate.

This photo tells me that perhaps when I have finished all the commissioned paintings and drawings, I might do a bit of shelf straightening.

Sort of Working

In July and August, I don’t teach regular drawing lessons. My students often say “enjoy your vacation” or “have a nice summer” as they are leaving (and several cannot resist the urge to sing “See You In September”).

Although I do spend much more time in Mineral King in those 2 months, I am still working. Sort of. There was the show Art: Inspired by Mineral King  on June 30. I deliver paintings to the Silver City Resort (AKA “The Store”), work on commissions (both pencil and oil), blog, keep track of what is selling, work on my new website design, work on the upcoming calendar, plan for any upcoming shows. That’s sort of working, isn’t it?

Sometimes the kittens become a tad bit distracting.
This subject matter is getting easier in its architectural parts, but I still struggle with the rocks beneath the bridge. This is because they are hidden.
This commissioned oil painting got a few licks on the canvas, but those rocks beneath the bridge really hang me up.
The smaller bridge is drying and awaits more layers. Sawtooth and the river are also both drying, and are now for sale.

Sawtooth #33, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $65 includes sales tax (welcome to California)

Productive Procrastination

The oil painting commission of Homer’s Nose With the Oak Grove Bridge felt too hard. Was I low on sleep? (That was both my parents’ question and/or conclusion any time there was a problem both growing up and as an adult.) Distraction was present in the form of some cats, a friend or two stopping by, the heat, lots of unfinished projects. . . but the main problem might have been fear.

So, I listened to the song “Fear is a Liar” by Zach Williams on repeat for an hour or so, and then I started a new painting of the same bridge from the same angle.

When I don’t know how to do the next step on a project, I often begin a new project. This may be the first time I’ve started a second painting of the same subject, the very one that has me handcuffed.

This 10×0″ painting of the Oak Grove Bridge is serving as a warm-up for the larger version in the commissioned oil painting of Homer’s Nose with the Oak Grove Bridge.

During this time of unfocused indecision, all my Mineral King paintings were crated up, ready to go to Silver City for the Art: Inspired by Mineral King  show. This gave me a sense (albeit a false one) of not having enough paintings to sell. On top of that ridiculousness, I began the magical thinking of “What If Everything Sells and Then I Have Nothing of Mineral King?”

My response to that was to begin another 6×6″ painting of Sawtooth. Here they are on the drying wall in their sloppy scribble stage, along with the completed river painting.

 

Yep. Good decision. When you can’t get your work finished, just begin more work.

Aren’t you glad you stopped by for this uplifting, realistic, encouraging piece of artistic wisdom?

 

Leaving the Scary Scribble Stage

I worked for awhile on the oil painting commission of Homer’s Nose With The Oak Grove Bridge (WHAT shall this one be titled?? Snozz Rock? Sue’s View? The Nose And The Bridge? The Bridge and the Nose? Don’t Blow Your Nose On My Bridge?)

Second layer finished!

And thus, we have successfully covered the great desert of a scary semi-empty canvas with another layer of oil paint.

 

What Else Did I Decide?

Remember that long list of things to do a few days ago?

I began with the oil painting commission of Homer’s Nose/The Oak Grove Bridge because it wasn’t too hot yet in the painting workshop with the swamp cooler running, there will be a check when I am finished, the heat is coming and will dry my beginning layers, and it had been a long time since I had done any painting.

When the day heated up and the decisions on the painting felt overwhelming, I switched to the studio where I draw.

In spite of having an October deadline on the calendar, I chose to work on it. Drawing calms me down, reminds me that I am a capable artist, and it feels better to inch toward a large distant goal than to just procrastinate.

The tree smack-dab in the center of the photo is not good placement. I am growing another tree (also a sycamore) in a better location.

 

This gave me confidence to tackle a pencil drawing commission that is definitely too hard for me. The customer requested a pencil drawing of the Mineral King Pack Station. After learning why he wants the drawing, we determined that the pack station as it looked in the 1980s would be most appropriate. He had no photos. I asked around for about 6 months and finally found someone with photos from that era. Alas, they are almost illegible.

After showing the customer and discussing it further, we determined that only one of these has enough information to be of any value.

Whoa. This is going to be crazy hard. I did a little cropping, a little measuring, a little pre-sketching, and finally decided to begin shading the things I know how to do.

Today’s painting for sale is not a painting for sale – it is an advertisement.

Art: Inspired by Mineral King

A showing of work by 4 artists on the deck of the Silver City Store, 4 miles below Mineral King

Saturday, June 30, 10 – 3

What Did I Decide?

Not talking audibly to myself anymore, decisions made, work begun on the oil painting commission of Homer’s Nose with the Oak Grove Bridge.

Scary Scribble State mitigated by nice sky

Madame Customer stopped by my studio to retrieve her photos and saw the scary version. She made another change to our plan, and I was eager to try it. Her suggestion was to forget about the green hills below Homer’s Nose and extend the greenery above the bridge up closer to Snozz Rock.

Nice sky with some mountain color
Some mountain color and rock shape
Some rock shape with some lower foliage, extended upward toward the snozz.
This painting might turn out well – Madame Customer, once again I salute you for your good ideas and suggestions! (and good thing I’m not a contractor who charges for those dreaded things called “change orders”)

Today’s oil painting for sale:

This is a sweet little 4×6″ oil painting of Sawtooth, on a board, sitting on an easel, $45.

 

What Are You Doing??

Happy Birthday, Deanne!!

What is Scout doing??

“What are you doing?” is a question directed to me, not to you. Some days I don’t know what to do. It results in talking to myself, occasionally in an audible voice. This isn’t because there isn’t anything pressing; it is because I can’t figure out how to prioritize. 

What would you do first? What am I doing??

  1. Begin painting the oil commission of Homer’s Nose with the Oak Grove Bridge
  2. Work on the oil painting of the South Fork of the Kaweah
  3. Begin a pencil commission that is too hard for me
  4. Work on the 2019 calendar drawings
  5. Package up note cards and reproduction prints for the upcoming show at Silver City (just below Mineral King) on June 30 called Art: Inspired by Mineral King
  6. Work on my bookkeeping to be ready to pay quarterly sales tax
  7. Work on “populating” my web site renovation
  8. Scan a drawing for a student and do the photoshop prep
  9. Photograph a completed painting and do all the computery things necessary to make it good for the website

Sometimes the business of art is just a quagmire of decision making. There is some study somewhere out there in some book that explains “decision fatigue”, how the more decisions we have to make in a day causes us to be less able to make good decisions. 

When I am figuring out what to work on next, I factor in weather (is it too hot in the painting workshop room?), deadlines (what is coming up next?) and finances (what activity will generate income when it is finished?).

#1 will generate income; #2 is just a speculation painting; #3 will generate income; #4 has an October deadline; #5 has a June 30 deadline; #6 has a deadline that I have forgotten about and ignore until an email reminder comes; #7 has been dragging along since January, my blog subscription button is gone, there are paintings listed for sale that have already sold and new paintings and cards that aren’t listed. Finally, #8 and #9 are just meh.

What did I decide to do?

Come back tomorrow and I’ll tell you.

Today’s painting for sale:

Never mind. Can’t decide. Decision fatigue, you know. . .?

Getting Started

The commissioned oil painting combining two Tulare County scenes feels like a mini-mural. 18×24″ is HUGE when I am accustomed to 8×10″ or 6×18″.

Often I have pondered why it is that a mural feels sort of easy because of its large size when a large oil painting feels daunting. Is it the number of layers? the level of detail? An oil painting certainly takes longer.

My customer approved of sketch #2.

Sketch #2

She is gracious and told me there is no rush. However, I am a bit of a “precrastinator”, a made-up word that is the opposite of “procrastinator”. It is much better to begin, to act as if there is a deadline, to be ready for contingencies, interruption, opportunities, and other emergencies than to just lollygag along, figuring it will get done when I FEEL like it. And losing momentum is a real risk – a customer can change his mind, or it could get too hot to paint. Besides, the sooner I finish a commissioned job, the sooner I get paid.

(There was a sign in a print shop where I used to work that said, “I work for money, not for fun; I want my money when my work is done.” I work for both.)

First, a little fun with Scout. She is sitting on Samson’s shelf. (He doesn’t need it any more. Sigh.)

Now it is time to get to work.

Such a basic beginning. I just draw the general stuff with my paintbrush.

To be sure of the shapes, sizes, proportions, and angles, it is easier to be objective when everything is upside down. The goal is to get a first layer on the canvas, something that I can correct with each successive layer. 

That’s enough for the first second third fourth step of this commissioned oil painting. (The first was a conversation, the second was an exchange of photos and a sketch, the third was the second sketch with the approval to begin painting).