Paint While the Poppies are Hot

Poppies aren’t literally hot; this is my version of “Strike while the iron is hot”. What does that actually mean? I think it has something to do with blacksmithery—taking action in a timely manner.

These four oil paintings of California poppies sold immediately.

The poppies are out in abundance, and interest in them is high. Gotta paint poppies now! These will have to be done quickly and possibly delivered while still slightly wet if I am to tap into the season of interest. Let’s get those canvases ready NOW.

 

These two (6×6″ and 4×6″) are now available at Kaweah Arts in Three Rivers (unless they sold over the weekend).

This 8×8″ needs some more touching up and a signature.

Chop-chop, Central California artist!

And here is a thought: I do not remember poppies in abundance like this when I was kid. Is it because: a. they just didn’t bloom this way; b. my family wasn’t “into” poppies and wildflowers; c. I was oblivious? 

Probably c.

 

Coming Home to Orange Groves

I grew up in an orange grove.

That sounds weird. Until I was about 11 years old, we lived in a house in an orange grove, not under a tree with the jackrabbits. After that, we moved to a house in an olive grove. Although picturesque, olive trees are not as appealing to me as oranges trees. That opinion has to do with the scent of orange blossoms, along with the ready availability of food. (Don’t try to eat an olive directly from the tree. You’re welcome.) 

A year or two (probably three—you know how time flies) ago, I developed a strong desire to paint orange groves with foothills and mountains in the background. This isn’t my best selling subject (that would currently be Sawtooth and before that Farewell Gap or the Honeymoon Cabin), but it sells steadily. 

We saw this painting in progress a week or two ago:

Here are a few more stages of development:

It is lacking oranges on the right side, a wind machine, and maybe some blossoms. They might be too small at this scale. I was very careful to get the mountains accurate, so if you know the middle fork of the Kaweah, you will recognize Alta Peak and Castle Rocks.

Why do I love this subject so much? 

Prolly need some counseling.

Definitely need some counseling, but it prolly doesn’t have anything to do with this particular obsession.

“Prolly.” I love this non-word.

Finding My Way Home

It feels as if I am finding my way back home in my art pursuits. Sales are encouraging, commissions are energizing, rain and snow is reassuring, and all of those things reignite my desire to paint, draw, and tell you about it.

We recently saw this oil painting:

It didn’t look right to me. The colors were wrong, and it needed orange blossoms. Back on the easel with you!

Better.

Painting oranges feels like coming home.

Seven New Oil Paintings Available

These seven oil paintings are now finished, dry, scanned, and available for purchase.

“Purchase” sounds so fancy; these paintings are ready to buy. (Is that better? Don’t want to get above my raising here.)

Navels, oil on wrapped canvas, 6×12″, $125 plus California sales tax IF YOU HAVEN’T MOVED AWAY YET
Poppy 59, oil on wrapped canvas, 4×6″, $50 plus 8% California sales tax
Poppy 58, 4×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $50 plus you know what
Poppy 57, 4×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $50 plus you know what
Poppy 56, 4×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $50 plus you know what
Sawtooth Near Sunnypoint VII, 6×12″, oil on wrapped canvas, $125 (plus 8% if you still live in California)
Craig Ranch, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $125 plus you know what if you live you know where

Any questions? Maybe the comment feature is working on this blog post. If not, we are probably friends in real life so you can email or call or lean out the door and yell or wave me over on the road or talk to me after church on Sunday. Lots of options for connecting.

Nose to the Grindstone

Doesn’t that sound uncomfortable? What if you also had your shoulder to the wheel, put your back into it, and were toeing the line? How would you get anything done?

Fortunately, I only have to plant my feet in front of the easels. None of these photos do justice to either painting, but when they are finished, dry, and scanned, they will look better. Then when you see them in person, you will really like them.

How’s that for an abundance of confidence?

Finally finished this 8×10″ of the Craig Ranch. It is shiny and wet, not a good look.

Then I began a painting of a subject that I really love to see in person and to paint.

The base coat colors are wrong, but I did begin building the mountains correctly. White dries the slowest of all the paint colors, so this will need to rest awhile before I continue with the mountains.

Productive Painting

You know that I haven’t painted too much this year. The green and orange paintings were a start. Then I got a message about a larger painting that sold, and suddenly I felt energized to paint again. (That painting will appear at the end of the month in a post about sold paintings).

So many artists have way too much inventory and continue to crank out paintings without regard to potential sales. I have a real aversion to too much stuff. When things aren’t selling, I evaluate the paintings to determine if the quality just isn’t there, or if interest in that subject has waned, or maybe I just don’t have quite enough exposure—a likely explanation in this time of no art festivals and boutiques. Sometimes I retouch a painting; other times I paint over the top with a new subject.

If a subject is popular, I will paint it often. 

Currently, the most popular subjects are citrus, poppies, and Sawtooth.

Are these finished? Maybe, maybe not. If not, they don’t need a lot more work. 

Orange and Green

The previous posts were Green and Orange, so I decided to shake things up by calling this one “Orange and Green”.

I spent a few hours painting one sunny afternoon while a hummingbird went bonkers inside the workshop, refusing to leave. He buzzed and buzzed, while Jackson talked and talked to him, talked to me about him, and finally gave up.

This excitement didn’t interfere too much with my ability to concentrate, but I did lose interest after finishing 4 poppies. Then I smeared a bit of paint on the oranges before quitting entirely.

The 6×6 and 8×8 poppies are commissions, so there is incentive to get them finished. The other pieces are just for general inventory, so no one is clamoring for them. No shows are scheduled, and it is nice outside. I have some knitting projects, the weeds are going nuts, and maybe, just maybe, I am lazy.

P.S. Instead of being “lazy”, I decided that I am just be tired.

Green and Orange

Green and Orange are secondary colors. They are mixed from the primary colors, red, blue and yellow. This is my palette before I started some new green and orange paintings. Instead of two yellows, I used three this time, because I had them all and they made mixing the right colors a bit quicker.

This is layer number one on a 6×6″ and an 8×8″ canvas. 

More details are needed, and you can see that the color photographs in a murky fashion by the late afternoon light. This is the 8×8″.

Same same here on the 6×6. More details, weird color at the end of the day.

Both of these paintings are spoken for.

And Even More About Notecards

When I started publishing my pencil drawings as notecards, I had no idea that printing cards in color would become affordable.

SURPRISE!

I had no earthly idea that I would ever become an oil painter. 

SURPRISE!

I had no idea that someday I would be selling a package of 4 cards for $10 instead of 10 cards for $5.

SURPRISE!

All of these notecard designs (and many others) are available here: Cabinart/Store/Notecards.

 

 

New and Improved

Sometimes I reevaluate paintings that I don’t like, trying to figure what bothers me. Sometimes I also reevaluate paintings that haven’t sold in a timely manner in spite of traveling to different locations. Sometimes paintings that have traveled develop flaws, scratches or unexplained booboos.

All of these situations can eventually be remedied.

A painting that has been in several locations without selling recently got returned to me because of a weird mark. I could easily fix the flaw, but I wasn’t ever particularly pleased with the painting.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I like it better now.This is the Honeymoon Cabin in Mineral King, a mini-museum for the Mineral King Preservation Society. The painting is 6×18″, it is oil on wrapped canvas (framing unnecessary), and the price is $165 (+ 8% California sales tax).