Today the plan was to paint the mural, after I finished the unavoidable paperwork and phonecalls. Being a bit antsy about time, I usually try to do something productive while on the phone. Drawing works well in this capacity, so I worked on a commissioned piece. All of the sudden it was 5:30 p.m.! Whoa, I love to draw!
I am pleased to report that the collage drawing of Redwoods was very well received. It is awaiting colored pencil application, and I have very timidly put a touch of color in. What holds me back is that color messes with the values, which is Artspeak for darks and lights. Meanwhile, I have begun drawing #2. Turns out the photos supplied by the customer are horrible aren’t of a quality that is useful to me. So, I set the drawing up and then set it aside to await better photos. Yes, I know this looks like a mess, but so do blueprints to the untrained eye! (#2 is the one in the middle)
Next, I began drawing #3. In case you haven’t been following this project, this is a set of 3 large 18″x12″ pencil collages depicting scenes of the area for a local B&B. If you are a painter, you might laugh yourself silly at the idea that 18″x12″ is “large”, but let me gently remind you that the point of a pencil is a very small tool for covering real estate quickly.
Now, check out today’s work. This is a drawing I would have declared impossible, even 5 years ago. (Growth is a good thing, unless you are a cancer cell.) This is the vertical scene on the far left of the drawing. It was to be something else originally, but we discussed what would and would not make a good drawing, and the sycamore won. Actually, C & P are the winners, because they will be owning this in the fullness of time. I feel quite pleased with this, and need to log off in case I get struck by lightning for the sin of pride.
Central Coast Pier – sold
My friend Debbie and I have known each other since high school. She returned to college a few years ago after raising her children. She had a desire to be an art major, and she has absorbed knowledge like a sponge. We have attended workshops, shows and seminars together, and bounce art ideas off one another without stopping the entire time we are together. Before I was a painter, she used to remind me over and over, “black is my friend”. This was to encourage me to get my darks as dark as possible in my drawings. That was inspiring, because it showed me how to make better art. HOW is big with me. . . anyone can spout criticism, but it takes an insightful and knowledgable person to have a way to fix the problem and to be able to articulate the solution. Debbie also inspired me by encouraging me when I was wavering on the decision of learning to oil paint. She told me exactly what to buy, answered many basic technical questions, and never let on how shocked she was at my total ignorance!
People say to me, “You must have a lot of patience to draw like that!” The answer is very simple: it doesn’t take any patience to do what you love. Think about your favorite activity – is it playing golf? It must take a lot of patience to chase that little white ball around! Is it watching teevee? It must take a lot of patience to just sit there! Is it playing music? It must take a lot of patience to learn to make it sound good! The mother of my Oh-So-Wise Dad taught me something about patience. She told me “Patience is not stifled impatience; it is love quietly waiting.” (Whoa! No wonder my Dad was so wise!!)
Antique Yard – graphite – sold
Here is the painting that was a little bit shy yesterday. It is a bit of an experiment, using the purple (Sorry, Lisa!) violet/blue background. I’m still not sure which way should be up, so it isn’t yet signed. (besides, it is too wet and I might mess up!)
Then it was just too hot to paint, so I moved into the studio and worked on this piece. Remember this? I wrote about it and showed it in the June 6 posting, titled “Commissions”. Here is another small portion of the piece:
Working on the snow portion helped me not hot-to-death. (This is not proper English, in case my Chinese friends are wondering!) I was a little worked up because the A/C in our house croaked and no one was calling back to repair it. This caused snow to have a strong appeal.
And, I’m sure you’ll be pleased to know that Juan from Lindsay answered his phone, showed up on time, gave a fair estimate, got the new unit and by 8:00 p.m. it was installed and keeping us all cool! Thank you, Juan!!! (possibly my new best friend)
People ask if I work from photos or from real life. The answer is both, but with a heavy emphasis on photos.
I use a camera to gather my information, and I use sketches to arrange and improve a scene. Real life is messy, and I try to clean it up! There are principles of composition that make 2 dimensional art more pleasing without seriously altering reality.
Here is a photo and a drawing of the same scene. You may notice there is more stuff in the drawing than the photo – this is because I work from multiple photos to create the scene that I experienced, rather than copy the photo by rote. True confessions: I used to copy everything exactly as it appeared in the photo because I was greener than grass, didn’t know any better and thought it would be “cheating” otherwise! Live and learn . . . this is called GROWTH!
Each day is different from the others because the variety prevents a set routine. Yesterday was full of variety – preparing the entry form for the Ag Art show, talking to someone who wants a portrait drawn, visiting with someone else who is looking for “authentic California art” as a wedding gift for his sister, doing some banking along with other errands, finishing up little oddments from drawing lessons, preparing for a private lesson on portraiture, and actually drawing.
Have a look at what got finished yesterday:
In the photo provided by the customer, the garage was quite prominent, as was a sunlit picket fence across the entire front. In fact, those were the dominant features. The customer gave me the liberty to adjust things to emphasize the house.
You all helped me select the graphite portrayal of several barns with a tractor. Thanks! Now I am requesting your input again. Will you help me name it?
Titles definitely matter – think of last year’s First Place winner in the Farm Equipment category. What if it had been called “Tractor Tire” instead of “Size Matters”? (I shudder to think of it)
So here are my top two choices:
1. Character Counts
2. Built to Last
Perhaps you have a better suggestion – I am open to hear it!
In drawing lessons, sometimes it is difficult to articulate my thoughts. A picture is worth a thousand words, and sometimes a thousand words still can’t explain the picture. Often, I can’t find the right word, so I will make one up. The funny part is that my students understand the meaning!
This morning a woman was working on some boulders but something wasn’t looking believable. The problem was that she had inadvertantly made potatoes and an oversized pinto bean! Once we had that figured out, she asked how to draw some grass behind the boulders. I was trying to keep her from making a lot of little lines all in a perfect row. The instructions came out, “You need to sort of bounce your clumpage along – that’s it, just horizontalize it a bit more”. She got it.
No potatoes allowed in my river!! The title of the piece is “Spring Run-off” and it is one of the few pieces I can’t bear to part with.
. . .the barn in pencil!!! Thank you all for helping me to see my way clearly to a decision. There were also a number of people who emailed me directly instead of commenting on the blog, and each one of those voted B. 2 voted for A, and I appreciate their strength in not running with the pack.
There is a different juror/judge each year. Some care about how well the entries interpret the category. Others only put the piece in the appropriate place and then judge it based on artistic merit. One judge actually down-graded a fabulous piece because the title didn’t match the work! Hard to say, so I just do my very best with each entry and do not settle for “good enough”.
We won’t know until late August how the piece fares in the competition. As with most things in life, more will be revealed in the fullness of time. (Are you sick of hearing that yet?)