Category: drawing

Art Nine One One

Ever notice that the initials of Nine One One are NOO? That is the first thing that comes to mind when I hear the words, “I know this is short notice but. . .” Saying “NOO!” would be bad for business. People come to me because I have something they need, and it would cut down on many business opportunities and mess up my hard-won reputation for being a non-flakey artist if I just automatically said “NOO” to these requests. So, I listen to the request, ask for the exact time the piece is required, think about my existing obligations and commitments, ask for specific expectations about the job, and say yes or no based on reality, rather than first instinct. An Art Emergency came to me last week – 2 illustrations for a book on the people of the Sierra. The author was notified by the publisher that the deadline for going to press was moved, and she couldn’t find decent photos of Miwok and Yokuts shelters. She had blurry photos and a diagram, and neither was adequate. She asked me to create drawings – “I know you are busy and this is short notice, but. . .” Since she is a very dear friend who has helped me in more ways than I can ever count, I truly wanted to help her. Besides, have I mentioned how much I love to draw? So, I did the drawings, and this is the first time I have ever confidently made up something without adequate photos and LIKED the results!

These are Miwok shelters made of bark.

Art Emergencies

You’ve learned about odd art jobs such as quilt patches and umbrellas (and NO, I DON’T WANT TO PAINT ON AN OLD SAW!) Now, I bring you Art Emergencies. This is where someone comes to you and says “I know this is short notice but. . .” Generally speaking, 30% of the work that comes to me is an emergency. Granted, there are no true emergencies outside of birth and death, and “poor planning on your part does not create an emergency on mine”. However, poor planning on the part of a customer often creates nice jobs for me. And, to be fair, sometimes Art Emergencies are not a result of poor planning but the result of a surprise as in “Joe Bag-of-Doughnuts just announced his retirement and we need a nice personalized gift for him right away!” Here is one from a couple of years ago:

If you are wondering about it, it was for a retiring Visalia City Council member and all the elements of this collage mean something to him. And no, he isn’t Joe Bag-of-Doughnuts; he is more akin to Joe Box-of-Oranges!

commission pencil work custom art pencil drawing

Getting there

Remember this? On overcast days, I draw in the studio rather than paint in the workshop. Have I mentioned how much I love to draw? 😎 Now that my seasonal shows are behind me, I can finish this so the customer will have it in hand before Christmas.

In progress

When it is overcast, the light is too low for painting. So, I draw instead! Here is the chosen sketch for this comissioned collage piece:

Looks like a scribbly mess unless you know the photos. I showed the customers 4 options and they chose A with a few minor changes. Here is the beginning of the drawing:

Growth, part five (Facing Faces)

After about 9 years and on the fourth address for cabinart, it became apparent that notecards were fading fast, and the local market for house and cabin commissioned drawings was getting saturated. The next step? Portraits! I had skirted around this subject for years, refusing commissions, terrified of not being able to capture a likeness. This was and is a reasonable fear. If someone pays you to draw Steve, they expect you to draw Steve, not his cousin! Faces are so subtly different; we all have the same components, and yet we most definitely do not look like one another. (However, I do tend to get all the cookie-cutter blondies on The O’Reilly Factor mixed up. . . )

What to do? This was a brick wall on which I had been bashing my head for years. A wise friend said, “Why don’t you pray about it?” Duh. So, I did. Within the year, the CPSA offered 2 separate workshops on colored pencil portraiture, and the principles definitely crossed over to graphite. I was on my way in portraits! However, this will always be a difficult subject for me; unless I pray through each and every portrait, I do tend to draw the guy’s cousin. The subtle differences can just divert a face from the intended person to a stranger or a distance relative with a slight mis-stroke of the pencil.

cabinart drawing pencil portraits

Growth, part four (Venturing into color)

Just Picked – colored pencil – 18 x 21″ – $550

Just when I thought I “had it made” and was settling in to The One Way To Do An Art Business, several of my students wanted to learn colored pencil. In high school, my friend Lisa thought watercolors were for babies, and I had the same opinion of colored pencils. First, I had to find a new attitude toward colored pencils; second I had to learn to use them correctly. This happened through books and the Colored Pencil Society of America. They offer seminars and workshops that are phenomenal in their variety and scope – this is a wonderful organization. http://www.cpsa.org/

Orange Juice – colored pencil – 11 x 14″ – $200

citrus art colored pencil oranges

Growth, part three (Learning to teach)

The next step in the saga of growing an art business was teaching people how to draw. It has always been a very rewarding challenge to help people learn to see, to break down the process into manageable steps and to spend time with wonderful people that I might never have gotten the chance to know. That grew, and eventually I had to move somewhere that gave me the flexibility to teach more classes. Over time, the list of people wanting to take lessons expanded to 85 people! I had as many as 50 students at one time in classes of 4-5 per hour.

Pencil drawing by S. Brown – private collection

pencil drawing

Growth, part two (Cards & Commissions)

I used to draw pictures that fit nicely into sets of notecards, which then sold very well both retail and wholesale. I still do a few cards, but the market just isn’t as big. In fact, it is microscopic. Tell me, how many cards, thank yous and little notes do you send a year? How many do you receive? Hmmmm, really have to think about that one. Cards do sell, but not very many anymore. (Despite the handiness of communicating via computer, the truth is, no one ever cherished an email, so there.)

In addition, I drew cabins and homes on a commission basis. (still do!) That was the sum total of my abilities in the early years, and it kept me quite busy.

local notecards pencil commissions Sequoia

Growth, part one

Ever read the book Who Moved My Cheese? If I remember it correctly, it is about the necessity of changing and keeping up. Way way way back when I first started selling art, I drew a picture of the Kaweah Post Office. It was not very good, but I was too dumb to know the difference between good and not good and too excited to calm down and study it and repair the not-so-good parts. Instead, I had 100 reproductions made and began selling them. If you have one of those and would like to trade it for a better version, please let me know – it will be FREE. This offer is good for the first 9 8 people who respond and PHYSICALLY HAND ME THE OLD PRINT!! Of course, if you’d like to just buy one, you may do so here: https://www.cabinart.net/reproductions_new.shtml There are only 2 remaining prints of the Post Office, so the offer is now officially expired.

Kaweah Post Office

Inner Slob

You have probably heard it said that inside each fat person is a thin one screaming to be set free.

I am the converse of that statement.

Don’t think that I think I am thin; I’m not, but I’m certainly not obese.(or “obeast” as I heard an acquaintance once pronounce it. I’m guessing she isn’t much of a reader.)

However, each day as I march out the door to take a power walk (4-8 miles at a 15 minute mile pace), I am leaving coffee, a comfortable armchair, the woodstove in the winter, knitting, my Bible, a library book or two, my cats, and many other lovely sedentary preoccupations.

Each day as I resolutely march out to my studio to paint, draw, plan, return phone calls or any other task necessary to keeping my business going, I pass numerous Adirondack chairs strategically placed around my yard for the purpose of taunting me.