I had a morning available to paint but it took awhile to get to it. First, I had to admire Pippin in the window. Next I varnished three paintings, and then had to figure out where to put them. So I went into the studio to see if there were any available hooks. While contemplating […]
The Other Day. . .
. . .I walked into the painting workshop, looked at all the paintings in their various stages, and just wanted to walk back out. Why? Because it was so beautiful outside and because I couldn’t figure out where to start. The simplest solution was to start where I stopped the day before. So, I did. […]
Almost Finished, Finished and Begun
I mentioned a few days ago that there were just a few details remaining to finish three oil paintings of Tulare County’s prettiest places. The painting factory at my address is up and running at a steady speed.
A Day of Many Moving Parts
One day I had a bunch of things to juggle, beginning with a “telehealth” appointment. I stared at the landline off and on for 2 hours before giving up.* Rural clinics run by large corporations are bastions of bureaucratic inefficiency and incompetence. I called a friend who knows people and how to get stuff done. […]
Silos and the Sierra
A few weeks ago, I went to Tulare. As usual, I chose back roads. There were orchards in bloom, greenery everywhere, and snow on the Sierra Nevada. There is often snow there but it isn’t always so visible from the flatlands. (Smog comes down the Altamont Pass from the Bay Area and collects in the […]
Drawing With My Paintbrush
We left off with this painting of a fabulous view from a special place in Tulare County at this stage. Everything remaining to finish falls under the category of Drawing With My Paintbrush. Whether drawing or painting, I often turn things upside down in order to see the shapes accurately. If things are right side […]
Sharon’s Suggestion
When I showed my two orchard paintings, Sharon, a real life friend and most active blog commenter, suggested I paint a stonefruit orchard in full spring color. I told her that those orchards just aren’t in my normal routes. Then, I went to Fresno for a day. The plums (white blossoms) were finished blooming, but […]
While the Deer Were Grazing. . .
. . . I was actually painting. The canvas was finally covered, with good detail in the rock faces. (Not real faces—it is just the way to clarify that I am talking about vertical rocks rather than basic boulders.) I didn’t try to match the scene line for line or space for space. It already […]
Painting Spring in Spring
We had a beautiful spring day before spring arrived. Instead of being out enjoying spring, I was inside painting a picture of spring. First, I varnished four newly dried paintings. It was definitely an open-door sort of day. The view was distracting, but I needed to be focused on the scene on the easel. This […]
Compiling and Amalgamating
Sometimes I see a beautiful scene that just can’t be captured with a single photograph. The light is wrong so the colors come out weird, or there are branches obstructing important views. So, I take as many photos as possible and then put them together in a rough manner using Photoshop Junior. (Photoshop Elements is […]