On a recent hot day, as I was preparing to go down the hill to teach drawing lessons, the gallery curator texted me to say the A/C wasn’t working. So, I immediately texted (almost) all my students* and cancelled. We had some chitchat, and one of my most motivated students said she had started a […]
Drawing Jeff’s Garden With a Paintbrush
I thought this would be very difficult and take “forever”. Instead, I am thoroughly enjoying the process because now that the sizes and locations and base coat are down, I can simply begin drawing with my paintbrush. Step by Step by Step. . .or Way Leads on to Way Let’s just have a series of […]
This is Fun
I started detailing Jeff’s Garden, the commissioned oil painting, and it is fun! We left it looking like this: Then it began evolving. . . (oops, finger partially over the lens in the first photo)
Planting an Oil Garden
What’s an “oil garden”? Glad you asked! Remember this colored pencil sketch for a commissioned oil painting of someone’s garden? (Let’s call him Jeff, because that is his name.) Jeff approved of the design for his painting and chose 12×24” for the canvas size. Having realized the benefits of starting with a sketch on an […]
Business in the Mountains
The Silver City Store sold two Mineral King oil paintings on opening weekend; a few days later they sold a sequoia tree painted on a wood panel. Luckily for a future customer, I had one more ready to go. So, on the way up the hill last week, we stopped by to deliver it. While […]
Oil Painting Commission to Stretch This Artist
CUSTOM ART | COLLAGES Custom art is an important piece of my art business. There are countless scenes and objects that I’d really enjoy painting or drawing, but in 33 years of earning a living with art, I have come to understand that people want what they want, not necessarily what I want. Therefore, I […]
Answers to the Terminus Dam Questions
Ranger Tim replied to the questions I asked after our dam tour. You can see that blog post here: Terminus Dam and Lake Kaweah. Great Questions! Thank you, Ranger Tim! We love the pencil drawing! That is down at the outlet where the water comes out of the 12’9” pipe and flows into the stilling […]
In the Think Tank and Other Work Thoughts
Sort of Working Having finished the oil painting commission, priced paintings and cards to sell at Silver City, all this while believing that I have finished enough paintings for the entire summer (possibly delusional about that), it was time to consider how to next spend my work time. I pulled weeds at church (not work), […]
Four Little Victories with Unpleasant Tasks
On an overcast and chilly morning with our final fire of the season in the wood stove, I sat with my laptop and tackled some unpleasant tasks. 2. My printer is one of those 4-way deals: print, scan, copy, and fax. (Fax?? Who does that any more besides medical offices, which I do my best […]
Bridge Building (With Paint)
Incremental Improvements Painting #38 of Tulare County’s best bridge (according by your Central California artist) is inching forward into excellence. Can you see the incremental improvements? We can probably consider it all finished now, EXCEPT FOR THE BRIDGE ITSELF! Ahem. Excuse me for shouting. It just surprises me that after I put an enormous amount […]