A good customer requested 14 paintings of citrus. He specified a certain number of Tangerines (aka Clementines or Mandarins), Lemons and Navel oranges. Among the excitement of replacing paintings burned up in a cabin fire and replenishing the stock at the Silver City Store, I’ve been squeezing out these paintings. Come on! You KNOW that […]
Orange You Glad I Can Paint Citrus?
Tulare County grows, sells and eats a ton of citrus. Probably several million tons. I learned to oil paint by using the subject of oranges over and over and over. When an orange would sell, I’d paint another. The last one was #103, I think. There were also a handful that I didn’t title or […]
What Happened to Those Parents?
Remember the agony, the angst, the moaning and groaning about Put My Parents In The Painting? I decided it was the best I could make it, so I called The Customer, who drives a big rig all over the country. After lots of phone tag, he left me a message asking me to photograph it […]
What Was I Thinking?!
I changed my mind – I don’t like a challenge after all. Nope. Don’t want to do this hard stuff. I’m an idiot for saying I’d try. I want my commissions to be easy, just flow from the brushes, paint themselves while I sing to the radio. This Put-My-Parents-In-The-Painting may cause me to stab myself […]
Whatcha Working on Now, California Artist?
So glad you asked that question! Here is a peek into the current status of Put My Parents In The Painting. (I’m twitching slightly from the effort and the stress, but it’s nothing a few rows of knitting can’t cure.) Mother’s face barely shows on the photo. I tried to see some particulars under a […]
Summer of Animals?
This summer is shaping up to be full of wild animals for this California artist. First, we were hiking in Mineral King and saw this: While on that hike I thought of doing these oil paintings: They are each 4×4″, and from left to right are a mule deer buck, golden mantle squirrel, yellow-bellied marmot, […]
How Many Hours a Day Do You Paint?
An old friend asked me this last week. We only see each other once a year or so, so we aren’t close. I think he thinks that art is my hobby that I sort of fit in around my life. When I told him what all I do, he was very surprised. This means a […]
Extras from Bear on the Roof
While I was painting the bear at the Sierra Lodge in Three Rivers, several things came to mind. 1. There is always more to a job than first meets the eye. In this case, it was the scraping of peeling paint that I didn’t anticipate. 2. Whoa! Who knew that painting on a roof would […]
Bear on the Roof
The repainting job at Sierra Lodge in Three Rivers went very smoothly. What an amazingly helpful and friendly staff! And it wasn’t a hot day – maybe mid 80s at the highest? In addition, it was only 1/2 mile from home, so when I needed a different color of paint, it was easy! Once I […]
In Which We Learn More About the Oil Painting Commission
It’s time for an interview with the California Artist. There are questions out there about the commissioned oil painting, and the interviewer is very curious. Why did you accept the commission to put the parents in the painting? I am not exactly sure – because I wanted the job? Because I like challenges? Because how […]