Custom Drawing Almost Finished

These parts are unfinished, pending decisions:
 
1. Pinstripes where the boat goes from horizontal to vertical on the stern requires the customer’s input, because this area looks different in several of the photos he provided
 
2. Reflection of flag in the water – color here? What will the customer decide?
 
3. Chris Craft flag on bow – color? Another decision for the customer to make
 
4. Is ONE MOHR FRY too bright? I can tone it down to be more in line with the light on the stern, or we can keep it bright so it pops. (and now I can see that the second R needs a bit of work too.)
 
This is one of the most fun commissions I’ve done in awhile – perhaps because the subject is new to me. It is challenging to figure out textures I haven’t done in awhile, and the fun comes when they turn out well and the customer is happy.
 

I make art of places and things people love at prices that don’t scare them.

Three Rivers Post Office

When it was time to mail the cabin drawing to the customer, I packaged it. Trail Guy came out to the studio to offer his delivery services, and I was delighted to not have to interrupt my work with a trip to the Post Office. Yes, I know it is only 3-4 miles away, but in the summers, my work days are limited because I keep going to Mineral King instead of keeping my feet planted in front of the easels. So, I value my work time and appreciate not having to do my own errands.

Trail Guy returned from the Post Office with the receipt and an explanation of why it cost $18 to send a piece of paper to San Diego – had to buy a box, pay for insurance, etc. And “piece of paper” isn’t meant to discount the value of an original pencil drawing, but essentially, to the post office, it was a highly insured piece of paper packaged carefully in an overpriced box.

He turned toward the counter in the painting workshop, picked up a taped-together bundle of cardboard and said, “What is this?”

Ahem. That would be the drawing that I thought he had just mailed.

When I got back up off the floor from laughing, I emailed my customer to tell her to expect a box of cardboard, minus her drawing before actually receiving the drawing.

Later that afternoon, I went to the Post Office with the actual drawing. The clerk retrieved the box from the back, we opened it, inserted the drawing, and she taped it back up. No new packaging, no new payments. It was in time to go out with that day’s mail.

I LOVE THE POST OFFICE IN THREE RIVERS!!

This is the Kaweah Post Office, not the Three Rivers Post Office. The unframed original is available for $200. Interested? Give me a pair of minutes to look for it because I can’t find it right now. What else would you expect from someone who mails empty boxes to customers?

 

Pencil Drawing of a Cabin

“Cabin Art” or “Cabinart”* began with pencil drawings of cabins. It it a treat to be able to draw cabins when those jobs come in. 

Someone saw a copy of my book The Cabins of Wilsonia and asked if I could draw her parents’ cabin, working from emailed photographs. 

You betcha!

I showed it to you a bit earlier while in progress. I gave it my best effort to work from the customer’s photos and a sketch, and then sent her a scan of the almost finished drawing to her. She asked if I could add something that didn’t really show in the photos, a procedure that is almost always dicey. Since she communicated clearly throughout the project, I was willing to try. 

Got it!

We talked about possibly having cards made in the future, so she paid the fee to do the digitization. Now you get to see what it looks like before and after getting digitally prepared. Something about scanning a drawing picks up every little anything that appears in and on the paper. Can you see the difference?

*It puzzles me that as a Typo-psycho, I never figured out how the name of my business should be spelled.

Custom Art From Far Away Places

I had* a good customer who used to email me photos of places to draw that he would give as gifts. I don’t know where many of the houses were and just had to do my best with a single snapshot. He kept giving me work, so I guess my best was good enough for him. Some friends have made several trips to Ireland and hired me draw memories for them of their trips. They haven’t yet invited me to go with them – they are regular friends, not Really Really Great Friends.

Some other friends have had several visits to this “cabin” in Colorado. They provided photos, but alas, no invitation to accompany them either.

Another cute house from a provided snapshot of an unidentified place by former* customer.

I am your Central California artist, using pencils to make art that people understand of places and things they love at prices that won’t scare them. (One who won’t turn down an offer to visit a beautiful location to take my own photos).

*He was a good customer, a joy to work with, but the last time we communicated, he said he couldn’t think of anyone else to give drawings to!

Custom Art From Old Blurry Photos

Custom art, also known as commissioned art, is a communication challenge.If someone asks me in advance of taking photos, I instruct him to take many photos of the place from different angles, and then up close for all detail that might be hidden in shade or behind trees.Often there are giant obstacles, such as old blurry photos of places that are no longer in existence, places that are far far away (Montana, South Africa, Cape Cod all come to mind from past experiences), or places that are only accessible in one season or not visible due to weird angles of land or too many trees. .

Times have changed, and most people have lots of photos on their phones, so I get what I get and I don’t get upset. Basically, people do the best they can, so I’ve learned to work with whatever comes. The key is clear communication – someone who is responsive and can explain things that aren’t visible in the photos can make up for weak reference photos.

Today’s  drawings are examples of having worked from blurry or old photos that could not be supplemented with more details. The customer had to fill in with memories, supplied to me in words rather than pictures.

Tomorrow I’ll show you drawings from places that are far away. Maybe we can discuss why it is that customers won’t fly me to Montana to take my own photos. . .

 

Drawing a Cabin I’ve Never Seen

With much of the custom art that I do, I don’t get to actually see the places in person. This is less tricky than in the olden days of film cameras and waiting for pictures to get developed and then put in the mail.

Someone I’ve never met saw a copy of my book The Cabins of Wilsonia, went to my website, and used the contact button to ask me if I could draw her parents’ cabin in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

(Obviously I needed my website redesigned to emphasize the fact that I make art people can understand of places and things they love at prices that won’t scare them – i.e. CUSTOM ART!)

As usual, I said I’d need to see the photos first. She sent me several.

This is the main view of the cabin, but I can’t see what is on the left or on the right.
I looked at multiple photos, asked some questions, and did this sketch to see if I was understanding the missing parts correctly.

The customer sent me more information.

This sketch was helpful in understanding the chimney placement on the right.
This photo helps me understand what is covering the chimney in case it needs to show.
This still doesn’t explain what is happening on the left.

I began the drawing, even though I didn’t have all the answers yet.

The customer explained the trees surrounding the cabin, and there are 2 large sycamores very close, but not appearing in any photos that she sent. They sounded important, so I dug through my enormous stacks of photos and found some sycamore branches and leaves. These are drawn in the upper left corner because I want the cabin to look nestled and surrounded.
I got a little nervous about putting in those sycamore leaves without first asking. For awhile, I procrastinated, just counting boards, measuring window panes, and growing ferns.

Finally, I took these photos and sent them to her. She was thrilled and I was relieved. 

I asked again about the left end gable because it shows in the drawing, and I want it to be right. She responded immediately with this immensely helpful photo.

So that’s what’s over there!

Doing custom art of places I’ve never been to requires many photos, conversations, and sketches. It is a mystery and a puzzle, and when I am on the right track, it is enormously satisfying to grant the customer’s wishes and exceed her expectations.

Meanwhile, may I interest you in a copy of The Cabins of Wilsonia?

Completed Cabin Drawing

I learned that the cabin owner was going to be present in Mineral King, so I put the “pedal to the metal” and finished the drawing late one evening in the studio in order to deliver it in person. The customer was very pleased and surprised.

There is a great deal of satisfaction and relief when I have a chance to redraw something from my Primitive Era. (That’s what my dad told me to to call my earlier artwork.)

Redrawing an Old Cabin

I first drew this cabin back in the 1980s and might have taken a slide of the finished piece. A slide? Yes, Little Grasshopper, it was the way to get high quality photographs, back in the olden days when telephones were for making phone calls and cameras were for taking photographs. We also knew how to read cursive, paper maps, and face clocks. Sometimes we drank out of hoses in the yard, rode standing up in the back of a pickup, didn’t wear helmets while riding bicycles, and sometimes didn’t wear seatbelts either. It is a wonder you have anyone at all still alive over the age of 60 to help you understand the weirdness of the olden days. But that isn’t why we are talking about drawing today.

It began with 2 sketches. Mr. Customer chose the horizontal version. I began in my usual manner of lightly laying out where all the parts will go, and then started shading in the upper left corner.

Day #2 of shading brought me this far. I haven’t kept track of my hours – that is a pointless exercise since I charge by the size of the drawing. (Reminds me of what our guide in Israel used to say every time someone would ask him how long something would take – he’d say, “‘How Long’ sounds like a Chinese name.”)

This is the smallest size I draw now – it is 9×12″ and costs $200. (“How much?” is an easier question to answer.)

In case you are curious about pencils, my current favorite brand is Tombow, a Japanese word for “dragonfly”. They are smooth smooth smooth. 

Drawing cabins using pencil is a return to my “happy place”, “comfort zone”, and “wheel house” to use all the current cliches. If I find the slide of the old drawing, I probably won’t show you because translating a slide into something digital is not in my wheel house or comfort zone, and never you mind about a happy place either.

Drawings, Old & New

Have I told you lately that I love to draw in pencil?

Last week I had the opportunity to give a drawing lesson to a girl that I only see once a year while in Mineral King. Instead of taking her through all the usual steps, I took a shortcut to a finished drawing. This is because she will be drawing on her own, far away without me hovering and coaching.  

After looking through my photos, she chose this photo:

We went through the beginning steps, and suddenly, 2 hours had passed. Now what?? How can I help her continue? 

By drawing the picture for her and letting her copy the drawing, that’s how! It is easiest to learn to draw from other people’s drawings, because you can see what they made the pencil do.

To keep my head from getting fat, have a look at these two sketches from 1985 and 1986. WHY do my friends keep these things? And WHY do they send them to me?? To keep my head from getting fat, of course.

That “artist” could have used a few drawing lessons.

P.S. What a blessing to still be friends and in touch with people after 35 years!