Just kidding. I’m not raising a barn, just drawing it. Well, maybe I am raising it out of the vast whiteness of the paper. I received these 2 photos along with many instructions. The top photo is how the barn looks now; the lower one is how it looked when the customer was a child […]
Do Over
A customer brought me a pencil drawing from 1995 with the request that I turn it into notecards. In order to turn an original drawing into a printed piece, there are some tasks to be done on a computer. First, I scan it, then open it in Photoshop, convert it to grayscale, erase anything that […]
Merchandise and Marketing Sense
Christmas is coming, and if I had any marketing sense, I would have been telling you about merchandise that is available all through the month. I do have sense, and I sense that it would be irritating for me to keep pounding the sales drum. However, if you need a reminder or an easy idea […]
List of Activity
What a boring title – “List of Activity” – I’m sure that got people tripping over the Google to find this post. Not. But it has been active around my studio and art business lately with sales of oil paintings and pencil drawing commissions. Finished and sent to happy customer: Sold: Sketch approved and drawing […]
Further Pencilization
What is this “pencilization” that you’ve been saying lately? Just another made up word by your Central California artist, who specializes in pencil art, turning photos and ideas into pencil drawings. The print arrived from Shutterfly, so I was able to continue with the commissioned pencil drawing. An email arrived also, giving me the freedom […]
Pencilization
A friend sent me a photograph and asked if I thought it would make a better oil painting or a pencil drawing. Nothing to see here, folks; just move on. . . What I mean is that there is very little color to see, so I recommended a pencil drawing. I ordered a good print […]
Fixer-upper
There is a colored pencil drawing I have liked well enough to put in my kitchen instead of taking to shows or making any efforts to sell. Last week I looked at it carefully and realized it was time to fix it up a bit. First, it wasn’t scanned well. Second, the paper on the […]
Walnuts in My Art
Do you like walnuts? When I was a kid, I thought gleaning was punishment, in spite of being paid a king’s ransom of 25¢ a bucket. There were always stinging nettles on the ground, and it was boring. Then, I would say to my poor mama, “WHY do you have to put walnuts in EVERYTHING??” […]
Six Things I Learned in October
And a few of these things may be hold-overs from September or perhaps even August (slow learner?) Propane: a. If a tank is full when it is hot out, the propane expands and blows off the pressure relief valve; b. Propane’s bad smell attracts flies The sharper your knife, the less you cry (when slicing […]
Pencil Drawing Finished?
The pencil drawing commission might be finished. I often run things by my drawing students, telling them to be as “mean” to me as I am to them. It gives them an opportunity to practice the skills of looking very critically, and articulating clearly if they see any weak areas of a drawing. Here it is […]