Category: Oil Paintings

Unfinished Paintings, Finished Drawing

These paintings have been waiting for attention for weeks, or perhaps months.

It is true that what comes easily is usually more fun. I find painting to be work. It is satisfying, but laborious and more often than not, it is difficult.

In troubling times, I gravitate back toward that which brings me pleasure and comfort. Drawing in pencil fits that description.

Perhaps I am just procrastinating. Or maybe it has to do with life’s difficult situations using up whatever extra oomph is needed for me to tackle more challenging projects. Whatever the reason, right now I am choosing pencils over paintbrushes.

Poppies at the Beach

Poppies at the Beach, graphite and colored pencil on paper, 11×14″, not for sale

Studio Painter with an Inferiority Complex

Studio. Workshop. Painting workshop. The building where I paint.

Who cares? It is indoors, with consistent light, an easel that holds still, and nothing blowing around. I like being a studio artist. There is a snobbery out there in Art World about plein air painting being superior. It is a specialized skill, and I admire people who can produce good work in a short amount of time with light that changes and changes and changes.

I am not one of those people.

The painting on the left is 8×8″; the one on the right is 6×6″. This is the Honeymoon Cabin in Mineral King. I paint it and it sells so I paint it again. Any questions?

Sorry. That sounded belligerent. Perhaps I feel a bit inferior when I compare myself to those awesome people who can paint on location.

Comparison isn’t a good thing. It is right there with perfectionism in terms of wiping out one’s confidence.

I’m painting my favorite bridge again. This will be done with brighter than normal colors, as I did it last time. This time it will be 11×14″, not a square. Paintings that turn out well restore my confidence, in spite of the inferiority complex about being a studio painter. If I tried to paint this in plein air, I’d either get bitten by a rattlesnake or run over. It’s scary enough just taking photos of it!

This is a set of 3 6×6″ paintings, all done with brighter than normal colors because it makes me happy to mix those kinds of colors. This is layer #1 and there will be at least 2 more layers added to each painting.

From left to right: Lake Kaweah, Moro Rock/Alta Peak, Blossom Peak with the North Fork of the Kaweah River. (Long title, small painting) All three are Three Rivers scenes.

These little paintings take a long time to do, but because of their small size, their value is perceived as a bargain. Often, people mistake them for 4×4″ and expect to pay $30 each.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Each one takes probably 5 hours to paint in order to get it to the level of detail and precision that I like.

Sorry. There’s that bad attitude again. Sigh.

Studio Painting, Phew!

What a relief to be painting in the studio. The light is consistent, I’m not cooking in the sun, and nothing blows away.

This: becomes this:

It will dry awhile, and I’ll make it better. Those flowers were sure fun – it is rare to just put bright colors down in a world of browns, grays and greens.

This:

becomes this:

It will dry a bit, and then I’ll work on it some more. The colors look a little wonky when they are shiny because of being wet. And there are some messy parts in the foreground that I will have to decipher and then interpret. This painting and the barn are somewhat loose interpretations of reality, but those who have been there will know the scenes.

Painting on a Garden Tour

Back in March, I visited a home in Three Rivers that was scheduled to be part of a home and garden tour. The organizers believed that having artists painting in the gardens would add some interest to the tour (and were hoping for sales to raise more money for the school.)

I am a studio painter, not one who paints on location. People who are supposed to know these things say that all painters should practice painting on location. Why? So we can really really appreciate our studios, that’s why!

After looking through the photos from my private pre-tour, I chose 3 views and did an underpainting of each one.

“Underpainting” might not be a real word. It is the first messy layer so that later layers aren’t spent perfecting shapes. It is the same thing as my first steps in drawing – sizes and locations, blocking in, main objects first. (Gotta paint the dog before you paint the fleas!)

The top 2 paintings are the house and barn. I wasn’t kidding when I said “messy”. (The bottom painting is my favorite bridge, yes, again, because I always have one of those going.)

This one is the first layer of the view from the front porch of the house.

Good thing you already know I can paint, or you might be afraid.

Monarch Trail Revisited

There is a section of the Mineral King trail returning from Monarch Lakes that always catches my eye. It has some gnarly looking junipers, and I photograph it over and over.

I painted it once. Turned out pretty well, sold quickly.

Monarch Trail

Monarch Trail, oil on wrapped canvas, size forgotten, painted in 2008

Because I like the redo on the Oak Grove Bridge and am currently enjoying painting in a square ~~format~~ (“format”?? When did I stop saying “shape”??) shape, and because I think my painting has improved (one would hope so within a 7 year period), I decided to try it again.

Monarch Trail

Monarch Trail, oil on wrapped canvas, 10×10″, $150

New and improved? Or just more detailed? Taste is an individual matter, and currently I am drawn to brighter colors rather than trying to match reality like a Xerox painter. I’m also not trying as hard to copy things perfectly. Life is short – mix brighter colors, and don’t try so hard. Or try harder on the things that matter. But how do you know which ones matter?

Never mind. Enjoy the new square painting of the Monarch Trail.

NEW AND IMPROVED Oak Grove Bridge

If you have read this blog or followed my art for any time, you may have figured out that I have a thing for the Oak Grove Bridge. The sign on the bridge reads “East Fork of the Kaweah” or “Kaweah River” or something, but Trail Guy told me it is the Oak Grove Bridge back in 1985, and so that’s what it will always be to me.

I have painted and drawn it many times.

In 2011 I did a large-for-me oil painting of it. 18×24″ is huge when one is accustomed to painting 6×6″ or 8×10″.

It started out rather disastrously, when an easel in front of it dropped down and ripped a hole in the canvas. Upon the brilliant suggestion of a blog reader, I turned the torn canvas into a tote bag, and began another painting.

The new painting turned out so well that I have been using it on my business cards.

oak grove bridge

But, it didn’t sell.

Why not? Too much money? Come on! Paintings of this size sell for thousands. My bridge painting is a bargain at $500.

I know. This is Tulare County.

So?? It is a good painting.

Time passed. I finally decided that after 4 years my abilities have improved. Growth is good. Admitting it is hard, because it feels as if I am telling those who have bought my earlier paintings that I ripped them off.

(Do you feel ripped off? Would you like me to retouch a painting you bought earlier??)

I decided to rescue it from the gallery where it sat unappreciated and bring it home to study it. My first thought was, “Wow, this looks good”.

Then I realized that I am blinded by love for the bridge, so somehow had to find a way to be objective.

I thought about it and found a few things to improve. Because my style of painting is to paint layer after layer, this wasn’t too difficult. I ended up repainting most of it, right over the top, sharpening edges, increasing contrast, exaggerating colors. This is the result:

Oak Grove Bridge, oil on wrapped canvas, 18×24″, $500

NEW AND IMPROVED OAK GROVE BRIDGE AT SAME BARGAIN PRICE!

Maybe I don’t even want to sell this painting. I could auction it on the premise that anything is for sale if the price is right.

Do I hear $550?

Painting and Painting

Language is so confusing. “Painting”, a noun (a stretched piece of canvas with a picture depicted in oil paint)? Or “painting”, a verb (the Central California artist at work)?

Both. It means both.

I’ve been painting and painting and painting. Oil painting. Studio Tour is coming, and people like to see new things. I’ve repainted some subjects, painted over the top of others, and begun and completed entirely new oil paintings, some of old subjects, and some of newer ones.

That should have covered it, but just in case confusion lingers, here are some pictures of oil paintings. (I keep saying “oil paintings” instead of just “paintings” in case it helps someone find my blog and website.)

If this photo doesn’t confuse you, perhaps you are unconfusable.

Some are finished, some are not. Guess you’ll have to attend the Studio Tour or the upcoming Redbud Festival (unless they all sell at Studio Tour) to see these.

Mineral King on the Easels

Fridays are sort of for Mineral King on this Central California artist’s blog. Can’t get there right now, although people did drive all the way to the valley a week or 2 ago.

However, I have many photos, and Mineral King is probably the heaviest category.

As a studio artist, I rely on photos. They are photos I have taken of the same subjects multiple times in a variety of seasons and times of day. Art snobs think that painting from photos doesn’t count. I don’t know any of those people, or if I do, they haven’t shared their bias with me.

Anyway, in spite of the time of year, I am able to paint Mineral King, that oh so popular subject. Here’s what is in progress:

This is the Monarch Lake Trail, heading back down to the valley. There is a section of trail with some very gnarled junipers that I photograph each time I am there. I’ve painted it before, but not in this square format.

IMG_0245_2

Sawtooth sells, so I repaint it. Farewell Gap with the Crowley cabin sells, so I repaint it. Sometimes I put hours and hours into these little 6×6 paintings, and then I feel a little yucky about selling them for $50. So other times I put less time into the detail, and then I feel a little yucky about selling them at all. These are NOT finished, or to quote my friend Ron T., “Best viewed from the back of a fast horse.”

Farewell Gap with the trail heading toward the now defunct pack station. This is the first pass over the canvas. It is also a 6×6″.

I noticed that my friend and fellow Three Rivers artist Nadi Spencer is now charging $60 for 6×6″ paintings. She is light-years ahead of me in experience, so she should be getting more for her work.

I wonder if I should raise my prices. That, along with actually selling the work is the most difficult part of being a Central California artist. I wonder if it is easier if one lives in the land of Art Snobbery. . .?

Juiced-Up Bridge Painting

My favorite thing to paint is my favorite bridge, the Oak Grove Bridge, also known as the East Fork Bridge. That’s the East Fork of the Kaweah River, 6.5 miles up the Mineral King Road.

I paint it and draw it often. It is beautiful, particularly because it is such an architectural surprise on a narrow, winding mountain road.

This time it is a 10×10″ painting with sort of juiced-up (exaggerated) colors because that is fun to paint and fun to see.

Any questions?

oak grove bridge oil painting

Oh, the price! I don’t know yet, because I think this is really really good and makes me want to rethink pricing by size. So, you may have to wait until the upcoming studio tour to find out. (Is it wrong to like one’s work?)

SOUTH VALLEY ARTISTS’ STUDIO TOUR, March 20, 21 and 22, tickets available for $15 at ARTS VISALIA. You can read about it on this link.

Poppy Painting Worth 1000 Words

I began a 6×18″ painting of a field of poppies and showed it to you with just one pass over the canvas. Then I went silent.

Now I will speak 1000 words worth to you:

Poppies #41

Poppies #41, 6×18″, oil on wrapped canvas, $150