This is how it looked the last time we discussed the back country cabin in Kings Canyon National Park. “We discussed”? Who is this we? Um, well, me. I thought it looked sort of fakey with just 2 thunderheads. No worries. The sky dried enough that I could add more. And notice the added detail […]
Building a Cabin in Oil Paint
The sky isn’t dry yet, so I went to work on the trees and began on the cabin. Couldn’t wait – I am “cabinart”, after all! These details are going to be FUN!
Why is this Oil Painting Commission So Hard??
As a studio painter, I work from photos. There is a ton of pressure out there in ArtWorld to paint plein air, which might be French for “on location”. There is a ton of embarrassment out there in ArtWorld about painting from photos, because it usually garners a lot of derision and sneering and condescension. […]
Turning Away Work
Really? Turn away work? Who would do that? Me, that’s who. Why? Because I know my limitations. The story: An acquaintance called me to take a look at an old photo of a pilot posing on the wing of his aircraft in the 1940s. It was an 8×10 black and white photo, the man was […]
Commissioned Oil Paintings With Far Away Customers
Commissions are an important component of earning a living with art. Some artists love them, some do them while figuratively holding their noses, and some artists flat out refuse. I fall somewhere between the first 2 types of artists, because it depends on both the idea and the customer. While I worked with Lisa on […]
Seeing Triple
Two of these have been shipped and one has been retrieved in person. PHEW!! We did it, Lisa!!
Lisa’s Lake House, 10
Lisa’s Lake House is completed – signed, varnished, photographed and titled correctly as “Hjartebo”. Now it sits in the painting workshop so I can follow it while working on the duplicate paintings for Lisa’s sisters. You’d think I’d have this completely memorized, but my visual memory is not quite that developed. I could work from […]
Painting Multiplication
Yesterday I said I’d tell you what is happening with all the duplication and triplication and multiplication of Lisa’s Lake House (which has now been titled “Hjartebo”, but there are 2 dots over the a and I can’t find the key for that on the computer. It means “place of love” in Swedish. Remember, this […]
Lisa’s Lake House 9
Am I finished?? I am not finished until I sign, and I don’t sign until the customer is happy. Is Lisa happy? More will be revealed. . . I am happy. I am really happy! The hollyhocks and day lilies took out the Big Red Square feel of the painting, softened the edges, and livened […]
Lisa’s Lake House 8
And finally, it is beginning to look detailed! There will be an extended drying session, because the shadows on the house are all wet. The next step is hollyhocks, lilies and geraniums, and they will go over the house, so it cannot be wet when I add those. In addition to seeing Lisa’s Lake House, […]