Gotta See it in Person

The old Kaweah Colony blacksmith shop went away in a flood in 1997. I remember that flood because we were house hunting in Three Rivers during that time. It was interesting to drive around and see washouts and high water marks, but I wasn’t aware of the Kaweah Colony blacksmith shop. 

I’ve been painting from this old photo.

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The background is invisible in the photo, but that’s no excuse for leaving part of a painting blank. This necessitated a field trip.

These photos look like a mess but show me how to fill in the missing parts. Sort of. Real life is so messy. Scenery often involves tangled gray, green and brown matter.

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These photos weren’t enough. For one thing, I was in the wrong location. When I went back to the right place, my camera battery was dead, so I did a sketch. It wasn’t complete enough, because the tree to the right of the building remained a mystery. I can see the trunk and main branches, but what are the leaves doing??

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It was raining the afternoon I needed to know. I went anyway. This time I took 2 cameras and an extra battery and a parka.

Here is the tree, missing a few branches. Can’t see the leaves because there aren’t any, but I can tell it is an oak, and I get an idea of the tangled gray, green and brown shapes behind it.
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These are the 2 sycamores to the left of the shop. These photos helped immensely with detail. All the photos taken in the rain helped. 

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Finally, I think I may be finished with this commissioned oil painting. I sent this photo to the commissioner (doesn’t that sound official? The man actually owns a tire shop or 2. . . I wonder if he’d like being referred to as “Commissioner”.) 

Kaweah Colony Blacksmith Shop

I hope The Commissioner thinks I am finished. If not, I’ll make the adjustments that he requests. That’s how commissioned oil painting works. But, maybe he’s gotta see it in person too. (I KNOW “gotta” isn’t a word, just like “prolly” isn’t, but sometimes a writer’s gotta say what she’s gotta say.)

Simple

Painting the Oak Grove Bridge is anything but simple. After two more hours on the current oil painting of my favorite bridge, it looks like this:

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I spend a ton of time sorting out the shapes under the bridge. No one really knows or cares if they are exactly right, so I’m not sure why I spend so much time on them. I think it is so everything will fit. What if I leave out an important rock?

The colors and textures don’t matter at this stage. I just concentrate on getting the proportions and angles right, and try to get close in values (the darks and lights).

Seeing those rocks and parts of water is tricky. The shrubs keep growing and obstructing the views. The water is reflective, so it appears as simply white in places on the photo. 

I’ve stood on the bridge and stared at the rocks and water, and it seems completely different from what is in the photo. I might be a bit simple.

This doesn’t have to be perfect, just believable. I’ve drawn and painted the Oak Grove Bridge so many times that it seems I ought to be able to stop using photos. I can’t. It is possible that I am a bit simple.

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Since I find this destructive creature perpetually amusing, I must be a bit simple.

Two Oil Painting Commissions

When there is work to be done, I’d rather get it done than postpone it. Someone has described people like me as “precrastinators” rather than procrastinators.

Commission #1 – Kaweah Colony blacksmith shop

This mess on canvas is becoming the Kaweah Colony’s blacksmith shop. The background doesn’t show in the photo, so I went to the site where it used to be until the flood of 1997 took it out.  The camera battery was dead, so I drew the shape of the background hill on tissue paper laid over the photo.

img_4979The customer requested autumn coloring. I’ll figure it out. . . layer by layer.
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Commission #2 – Oak Grove Bridge

Some folks bought this painting of the Oak Grove Bridge as a gift. #1576 Oak Grove Bridge XVI

They decided they want one for themselves, so I am painting another one. This is the painting on the cover of the sold out 2017 calendar. I saved one for myself, something I haven’t always done in the past. Good thing, because it is helping me, along with the photo, of course.

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Forgive Us Our Trespasses

Sometimes when I need to get photos or see stuff, I trespass. Been doing it my whole life, I confess. Forgive me my trespasses. . .

Are these the same two sycamores as in the sepia photo from 1996?
Are these the same two sycamores as in the sepia photo from 1996?
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These 2 sycamores have more space between them, but is was 20 years ago when this was taken.

Recently I went trespassing up the North Fork of the Kaweah, looking for the site where the Kaweah blacksmith shop sat. I have a photo from 1996, but the flood of 1997 probably changed the scene. Besides removing the blacksmith shop, it probably changed the route of the river there.

Why does it matter if I have a photo? Because I can’t tell if there are hills behind or if the river should show a bit or what to fill in with between the sycamore trees. If I can’t see it, I can’t paint it. Very well, that is.

Empty canvas, upside down photo.
Empty canvas, upside down photo.
No thanks, Samson, I don't need any help. Doesn't he look sweet? He isn't.
No thanks, Samson, I don’t need any help. Doesn’t he look sweet? He isn’t.
Building a painting probably isn't as scary as making sausage, but it certainly is daunting.
Building a painting probably isn’t as scary as making sausage, but it certainly is daunting. Hard to believe that things begin this rough, but yeppers, that’s the way I paint.

New Oil Painting With Help

One of the benefits of participating in bazaars, boutiques and festivals is that I meet new people. Sometimes this results in commissions or new drawing students. The Senior League Holiday Bazaar brought me this new oil painting commission.

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Photo from customer’s phone

Oh boy, there’s a challenge! When the customer explained that he had taken this photo in the Three Rivers History Museum, I knew I’d receive some good help.

I emailed Museum Man, who promptly removed the photo from the frame, scanned it at a high resolution and emailed it to me!

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The customer told me about this little building. It was the blacksmith shop for the Kaweah Colony, and it was on property that he now owns. In 1997, a flood took it away.

We discussed colors, and he and his wife decided it would suit them better in full color rather than sepia tones. They chose the fall season, which seems right based on all the sycamore leaves on the ground.

To be continued. . .

More About Fruit and Nuts

I paint a lot of fruit. I don’t paint very many nuts.

I drew walnuts a few years ago (feels like 5 years, probably is 10).

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Wow. That’s pretty good, if I do say so myself! And I do. I LOVE to draw. However, drawings need frames, and oil paintings sell better than pencil. Sometimes I ask my boss if I can draw, and she says I can after I finish all my work. Sigh.

A couple of years ago (feels like 2, must be 4), a friend commissioned me to do some 2×2″ paintings of all the best selling produce in California. Maybe it wasn’t the best selling – maybe it was the crops that California produces the most of.

nutsThose are the only paintings I’ve ever done of nuts – a walnut on the upper left and almonds on the upper right.

Pretty cool idea, eh?

Painting on a Bungee Cord

 

No, my painting isn’t suspended from a bridge. It just returned to me for a minor detail.

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Mrs. Customer asked if I would put the tiny white lines in the windows because her husband wanted them there. I sighed, and said, “I was hoping you wouldn’t notice!” Then I told her to smack her husband with the back of her hand for me. After that, I added the little lines.

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I like happy customers, and didn’t mind at all once it stopped being 108 degrees out. The swamp cooler in the painting workshop can’t cope with that sort of temperature.

Neither can I.

P.S. I may have added a few more details, brightened up a rock or two, straightened an edge, added a blade of grass. . . 

 

 

Commissioned Pencil Drawing Ready for Color

The commissioned pencil drawing will have a touch of color, but first I have to spray fix it so that the graphite doesn’t smear into the colors.

Here’s a thought-provoking question for you: Why do I say I work in pencil instead of saying I work in graphite? I don’t say that I paint in “brush” – I say I paint in “oil”. A pencil is a tool as is a brush; graphite is the medium as is oil paint.

Clarity is probably the answer. I’m talking to regular people who say “picher” for “picture”, “prolly” for “probably”, “hite” for “height”, and “gotta” for “got to”. Regular people most likely won’t understand “graphite” as the medium in a pencil. They prolly think it is something to unstick a lock.

Here is the commissioned pencil drawing in graphite, minus the color.

There is a bit of graphite where I’ll put color because it will serve to deepen and darken the color.

Clarity: what’s the difference between “deepen” and “darken” when discussing color? I dunno. I’m a regular person who prolly doesn’t always get stuff. Gotta go, see ya!LB#3

Coloring books will be available again on July 1, 2016. You may order, but it will involve a wait.

Commissioned Pencil Drawing Gets Fun

Of course a commissioned pencil drawing is fun for me. I LOVE to draw in pencil.

When I draw, there are several steps. First, I choose the size and location on the paper. Second, I lay out all the shapes in a light outline. Third, oh boy, this is the party, I shade.

Shading is how things go from a 2 dimensional piece of paper with height and width (in case you were wondering, the word “height” is pronounced “hite”, not “hithe” ) to an apparent 3 dimensional scene. Shading adds distance, texture and depth.

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I don’t expect you to be all chills and thrills about this, but you’ve got to admit it is starting to “look just like a picher” as people often say to me when I do art events. Those folks probably say “hite”  and “gotta” too. Prolly.

Coloring books will be available again on July 1, 2016. You may order, but it will involve a wait.

Commissioned Pencil Drawing Begun

I began the commissioned pencil drawing for Found Friend of a view out of the window of a chapel at St. Anthony Retreat Center in Three Rivers. It was pure pleasure to draw in pencil after months of book designing, coloring book drawing in ink and oil painting.

I LOVE to draw in pencil, particularly to draw architectural subjects. A friend and customer once told me that he thinks I am an art-chitect. 😎

This is the beginnings of the drawing for Found Friend.LB #1

It was fairly simply to lay out and begin the shading.

To be continued. . .

Coloring books will be available again on July 1, 2016. You may order, but it will involve a wait.