Yesterday’s blog post was so fun that today’s will be the same, except this time it is using the Kaweah Post Office.
Growth in Drawing
Yesterday’s post about some trouble drawing made me think about the way my skills have changed for the better through the years. One of the best ways to see this is in my drawings of Farewell Gap with the Crowley cabin in Mineral King. Long time readers of this blog will recognize this sequence.
Nothing really needs to be said because if “a picture is worth a thousand words”, then this blog post is 4000 words.
A Little Cat Trouble
First, nothing is wrong with Tucker, Jackson, or Pippin.
Second, the cat isn’t little; the trouble was little. It involved the cat named Chaos, or more accurately, the drawing of Chaos.
You last saw it looking like this, with a question about whether or not to include the man’s hand.
The customer and I decided to skip the hand in the drawing. She sent me extra photos of Chaos at younger ages, but of course none of them were at the same angle. Since I have drawn many cats, helped drawing students draw cats, and have had too many cats to even count, I figured I could do this drawing without further photos.
I finished it.
My customer is an excellent communicator and sent me some instructions for correcting things that kept this drawing from looking like Chaos. I followed those instructions:
She sent me further instructions, this time with visual aids:
I followed those instructions:
She sent me further instructions with more visual aids.
I followed those instructions:
This time, she asked if she should send a check or use a credit card.
The only time I have had trouble with commissioned drawings is when I don’t have adequate photos. When the customer can help me through the unknowns, we come out fine on the other side.
P.S. Did you notice that Chaos has color in his eyes? He is a ginger/marmalade/orange cat, with coloring like Pippin. Who is Pippin? My stubby tailed Orange Bob Square Pants!
P.S. Many of you are wondering about the fires. We are still in unhealthy to hazardous air; the fire has crossed the Mineral King Road and working its way down to the East Fork of the Kaweah; we don’t feel in danger in Three Rivers; rain is forecast for Thursday. (Nope, we are not having any fun.) You can follow the updates on inciweb (KNP Complex) or the Sequoia Kings Canyon Facebook page.
More This, That, and The Other Thing
This:
Another new notecard, Farewell Gap/Mineral King, made with a drawing from a few years ago. 
That:
In designing a new coloring book, mostly by gathering up finished designs from the previous 5 coloring books, I needed another few designs. A friend suggested old farm equipment, and I remembered a drawing I did for a credit union back in the last century. They would tell me what they wanted, I would drive around looking for something to photograph to draw, and then they would print it to use in various ways. I think this drawing would translate into an ink drawing for a coloring book called Rural Tulare County.
The Other Thing:
Wait! I think this might make a better cover for the Rural Tulare County coloring book than the produce wreath. (What?? You think I want to put wildfire on the cover? You can just have yourself another think ’bout dat! There will be zero glorifying of the horrifying in my coloring book!)
This, That, and The Other Thing
This:
The new Thank You card is here.
That:
I am working on a new coloring book: Rural Tulare County. This design might become the cover for it and of course it will have lots of color. It has a little space for the title of the book in the center – that’s how I choose the cover design.
The Other Thing:
What do you want?? You have already eaten almost everything I care about in the yard. Now you want to check out the fridge too??
A Cat Called Chaos
A Chat Called Chaos? A Cat Called Caos? Never mind. Here is the story.
In 2004 I drew a cat for some folks who actually brought him to my studio. This was in the days of film cameras (Nope, not an Early Adopter of anything), so I didn’t save a photo of the drawing. Snowcat’s people recently asked me to draw their current cat, Chaos, and although I remembered Snowcat, I couldn’t remember the drawing. They sent me a photo.
That was one alert cat!! When I was taking his photos, I reached out to touch him. He pulled away in a very subtle but arrogant manner. Made me laugh.
That was one alert cat!! When I was taking his photos, I reached out to touch him. He pulled away in a very subtle but arrogant manner. Made me laugh.Their current cat spent the first 2 years of his life in a dog grooming shop and used to create chaos there. He is getting up in age, so they asked me to draw him, sending a handful of digital photos.
Chaos looks more alert in the lower photo, but the man appears to be strangling the cat. I asked for a few more photos with a different hand position.
This is less worrisome for the cat’s survivability, but the hand appears larger than the cat’s head. That won’t do.
I decided to just start drawing and figure it out as I go.
The weird orangish tint is due to the smoky light coming through the window over my drawing table.
This time to photograph it, I carried it outside for better light.
To be continued. . .
Still Smoky, Still Drawing
This sort of smoky light means it is hard to see to paint, but if I open the doors for better light, then it is hard to breathe. So, I get to spend another day in the studio with my pencils. (I love to draw – did you know that?)
This is a large collage drawing, a commissioned piece 14×18″, that will incorporate 3 different scenes. In designing, I tried something new – I used photoshop instead of doing sketches. I sent the customer 2 versions and she chose this one.
Here you can see the faint outline where things will go. I started at the top on the left, because as a right-hander, this helps to cut down on excessive smearing.
Setting it up took as long as getting it to this stage.
I had enough time to begin the next segment.
Next, I heard from the customers on the lengthy logo design project. Calling it “lengthy” is not an insult; this is a very challenging job, because the customers have been without a logo since 1980, logo design isn’t my strongest skill so I am slow, and together we are carefully working out the best design possible. This is the next piece in the puzzle.
I used an old (1997) drawing as a place holder, drew a new picture for them, and then we discovered that the old drawing was a better match. Alas, it wasn’t very well done. Well, it was fine for back then, but I was barely out of my Primitive Era in the last century. So I drew it again, and this time I added lemons, along with other improvements that probably only my drawing students will be able to appreciate. But I want this to be The Very Best Possible for my customers and not an embarrassment to my artistic reputation.
Hey look! It is clearing up! I could tell that something was taking place outside because there were some helicopters overhead, and they made the drawing table vibrate.
See? Clear as a bell!
Not. But clear enough for air support as the fires continue to rage through Sequoia National Park and fill Three Rivers with worry, smoke, ash, fire equipment, and fire personnel.
If you are someone who talks to God, please keep praying for good slow soaking rain without any lightning.
When It Is Too Smoky To Paint…
… then I draw. (Unless I spend time on the computer designing a calendar, a new coloring book, a custom collage drawing, or some cards). But yesterday, I drew.
In 2022, the Gateway Bridge, AKA Pumpkin Hollow Bridge, will be 100 years old. This means there will be some attention on the bridge, which will probably bring about some opportunities to sell images of the bridge. Remember, I am a business person whose product is art, although I often act like an artist trying to figure out the business end of things.
People often confuse my favorite bridge, Oak Grove, with the Gateway Bridge. Let me help you with this:
Oak Grove: single arch, deep canyon of the East Fork of the Kaweah River, 6.5 miles up the Mineral King Road
Gateway Bridge: three arches, shallower canyon of the convergence of the East Fork and Middle Forks of the Kaweah River, just below the entrance to Sequoia National Park on Highway 198
This new pencil drawing is 9×12″, unframed, and I haven’t decided what to do with it yet. That will be a business decision, and yesterday I was focused on being an artist.
P.S. The top view is supposed to look like this:
Working Anyway (Cough cough)
If you think your cabin and cabin community might burn up along with your home and your town, you can spin in circles, nervously jabber on the phone, send endless emails and texts, putter, make a dog’s breakfast of your knitting, compulsively refresh websites with fire maps, randomly go through cupboards, seek oral gratification, pace, try to take deep breaths and then experiment with your new wheezy smoker’s cough.
You can also put on your big girl pants and do some work.
Cough cough, hack, wheeze.
It was actually sort of not too smoky yesterday so we took a walk.
See what I mean about helicopters and the little marbles they carry?
Looking downstream – not too bad.
Looking upstream – yeppers, big wildfire, but smoke not as bad as it has been.
At one time, it looked this way. It could again. We could get rain. There is no reason to think that winter will never happen again. The peaks upstream don’t show in this drawing because it was winter and they were hidden by clouds, not smoke. Remember those days?
Oops. See what I mean about nervously jabbering?
Drawing While Paradise Burns
That’s Paradise Ridge, not Paradise the town, which we know burned a couple of years ago (or was it last year? It’s all a smoky blur).
Trail Guy and I spent a good chunk of a morning talking about what to take, making piles, filling boxes. All the while, we had no intention of evacuating unless the fire gave us no choice.
What are these relics? Is that ash? Are there any treats? Tucker wants to know.
After getting our piles somewhat in order (oh dear, I have way too many sweaters – how am I supposed to decide which ones to leave behind, possibly to never see again??), I went out to the studio to get some work done. Having an emergency doesn’t give me license to create emergencies for my customers.
This drawing might be a little bit too hard for me. Many details are hidden in shadow, and there is a horse. (At least his tongue is inside his mouth). It is good to tackle the hardest part first.
There might be a problem with his feet, so I moved onto the things that I can do with one hand tied behind my back and half my brain occupied with wildfires (and sweaters).
Working from the laptop screen definitely has its advantages. I can embiggen the photos and even lighten the shadows to understand what the various black blobs are.
I drew most of the afternoon while listening to helicopters overhead, a welcome sound after they were silent throughout the smoky and worrisome morning.
And this is how it looked at the end of the day.
This is a commissioned pencil drawing of a cabin in Montana for a repeat customer who is a joy to work with and for.
In case you were wondering about the reference to the horse’s tongue, here you go. 