Forrest’s Dream Cabin, Finished?

After a period of severe procrastination, which involved studying the photographs and the unfinished painting of Forrest’s Dream Cabin, along with a fair amount of weed pulling, I finally decided that I do know how to draw with my paintbrush.

My thought was that at the very least, I could detail that cabin to the nth degree, and then maybe I could see what to do with the rest of the painting.

Okay, let’s dive in
I’ve added the ramp so the cabin doesn’t require wading to get to, along with more details to the windows and the siding.
Here’s a bit more. Hard to tell the difference, but there must be some difference, because I took another photograph.
And, now the cabin is finished, with smoke coming out of the stovepipe.

But will Forrest think the painting is finished? I sent him this photo, taking inside the painting workshop at the end of the day. Wow, did that ever distort the colors!

Next, I carried it outside in hopes that the color would photograph more accurately. By that time, it was upside down on the easel because the bottom edge was wet.

This color isn’t exactly right either. When it is dry, I will paint the top edge, sign it, and take it to Forrest for his approval in person.

The fat lady hasn’t yet sung (but she might be practicing a few scales.)

My show “Still Here” is still there, at Arts Visalia, that is. The phone # to make an appointment to see it is 559-739-0905. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, noon-5:30. The last day to see my work there is Friday, April 30.

New Mineral King Oil Paintings

The new Mineral King oil paintings are dry enough for the scanner. Have a look:

Honeymoon Cabin II, 8×8″, oil on wrapped canvas, $100 plus tax if you haven’t left California
Oak Grove Bridge #33, 8×8″, $100 plus tax for California residents
Sawtooth, 8×8″, $100 plus you know what if you live you know where
Crowley Cabin II, 10×10″, $125 plus a penalty for staying in the Golden State

Same subjects, perhaps a bit more skill than last summer, definitely more skill than 2006 when I began painting. Why do I still feel like a beginner who has to apologize and make excuses? Anyone know a good counselor?

P.S. They ALWAYS look better in person.

My show “Still Here” is still there, at Arts Visalia, that is. The phone # to make an appointment to see it is 559-739-0905. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, noon-5:30. The last day to see my work there is Friday, April 30.

Fixes in Progress

My plein air painting of the Kaweah Post Office really bothered me.

First, there was something wonky with the roof; second, the signs looked wrong, sloppy, crooked, unacceptable; third, the light was not doing anything worth looking at. So, I messed with all those things. The color will be better when it is finished and I scan it.

Later I will address the lack of detail in the giant oak tree.

This one of the river. . . hmmm not sure why it bothers me, so not sure what to fix. I can’t find the original photo, or perhaps I changed it so much that I can’t recognize the original photo. Because I don’t paint the river often enough to truly understand it, I have to study the photos very carefully to make sure I am not depicting impossible things.

It feels more believable to me now. I will probably continue to add detail, because drawing with my paintbrush is my specialty. 

Neither one of these feels finished, but I will continue to work on them. I still don’t know what to do with the snowball bush/Moro Rock/Alta Peak painting. It might just become something completely different. 

My show “Still Here” is still there, at Arts Visalia, that is. The phone # to make an appointment to see it is 559-739-0905. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, noon-5:30. The last day to see my work there is Friday, April 30.

Three Rivers Oil Paintings

There are a few paintings in my portfolio and studio that don’t please me. Two were painted when I was learning plein air (painting on location instead of in the studio). The other was painted my normal way, working from photos in the studio. Still, something just doesn’t suit me in any of these Three Rivers oil paintings.

I don’t know why this painting of the South Fork of the Kaweah bugs me.

I painted this while standing across the road from the Kaweah Post Office, then touched it up several times, but the bottom line is that I am more comfortable with detail than blurry things.

This one was painted with my easel standing in the living room while I looked out the window at my snowball bush in bloom, with Moro Rock and Alta Peak in the distance. Once again, it is just too blurry. I have fought to see clearly for most of my 61 years and cannot accept a fuzzy version of life and then pretend as if I like it.

It isn’t good to show and try to sell work that I am not pleased with. So, back on the easels, where I just sat and studied them for awhile.

These paintings will take some thought, time and work. 

 

 

 

Custom Oil Paintings

These are custom oil paintings, commissioned pieces, from a whole lotta* years. Each one was done with a whole lotta* discussion with the customer (customer—custom art—get it?) to be sure to achieve what the customer desires.

This customer provided photos, but I went there myself and looked it over further, taking a few more pictures to be sure to get things accurate.

Yes, I am fully aware that Homer’s Nose does not appear above the Oak Grove Bridge in real life. However, the customer requested this, and my dad taught me, “You kisses their fanny and takes their money”. (No, no fanny kissing took place – it is simply a figure of speech that means you do what the customer requests whether or not it makes sense to you.)

This one was painted for someone who is color-blind, so I focused on contrast for him. 

I use pencil, oil paint, and murals to make art that you can understand of places and things you love for prices that won’t scare you.

*We discussed this term in yesterday’s post.

One Inch Too Big

Here are the three dry Mineral King oil paintings that are one inch too long to fit on the flatbed scanner, which I now have to connect to the old laptop in order to use. This is because when I “upgraded” my operating system, it caused my current laptop to no longer communicate with the scanner. 

What passes for old in this world is just hard to comprehend. Merle Haggard had a line in a song, “Wish a Ford and a Chevy could still last ten years, like they should” – how about a printer or a scanner?

I now also have to do some shenanigans with a flash drive in between the old and new laptops in order to fix the unsightly black edges around some of the paintings because of that blasted “upgrade”. If I hadn’t said anything, you probably would not have noticed.

Never mind, let’s move on, shall we?

The Honeymoon Cabin (which is a museum for the Mineral King Preservation Society)
Farewell Gap (well, oops, I hadn’t signed that one and now have to retake the photo.)
The Oak Grove Bridge, #32 (I’ve probably painted it more than 32 times – sometimes I just lose track of numbers).

Each one of these is oil on wrapped canvas, ready for hanging, 6×18″, $165 plus California sales tax, which is 7.75% here in the foothills of Tulare County, deep in the heart of California’s fly-over country. (But we feed the world, and don’t you forget it.)

Guess I’d better gird my loins, find my inner warrior, be a brave soldier, and return to Forrest’s Dream Cabin.

Painting Mineral King Like Nobody’s Business

Forrest’s Dream Cabin still feels a bit daunting, too hard, too challenging. Maybe I am just lazy. Or the hateful time change still has me dragging. Or too many trips down the hill in one week threw me off my stride. 

Excuses, excuses. Even when I am in a diminished state of mental energy and toughness, I can paint Mineral King like nobody’s business*. 

When these are dry, I will hook up my old computer to the old scanner and scan them so you can get a better look. Tomorrow I will show you the ones that I photographed because they are too large for the scanner by ONE LOUSY INCH. (Who decided that 17″ was a good dimension for a scanner??)

*Such a strange cliché but I am not interested enough to look it up.

Classic Mineral King. . .

. . . in a new shape and type of light.

Have I painted this scene tall and narrow before? No. (Disregard the photo along side the painting – it was left there from a previous painting.)

Or in this evening light? I don’t think so.

Or with a dam on the creek? Nope 

I chose to leave off the smaller tree on the left. You probably wouldn’t notice if I didn’t tell you. This might be finished. Of course I can always add more detail. . . 

P.S. If you recognize this charming child, wish her a happy birthday today !

A Day at the Easels

Forrest’s Dream Cabin was ready for more work, so I flipped it over in order to reach the mountainside at the top of the 30″ canvas.

After finishing the mountainside, adding more detail to the distant chapel, straightening out the roof, adding more stilts and a railing, I put in a few windows and turned the lights on inside. Suddenly, I froze and was assaulted with “Yikes, this is too hard”, and “What do I think I am doing here??”

The cure for that is to go pull weeds.

Then I moved on to an oil painting where I KNOW the subject matter*.

That’s more like it. I know what I am painting and can just start at the beginning and finish at the end. With Forrest’s Dream Cabin, I am just fumbling along, so it is slow, requiring much thought and time. Forrest is not in a hurry, is appreciative and easy to work for.

Here are two last thoughts (visual thoughts): *Mineral King, of course

Forrest’s Dream Cabin Flipped

Last time I showed you this oil painting commission it looked like this:

In this session, I began working on the water, first measuring to be sure the horizon line is horizontal. Then I repainted the water. This erased the hint of stilts that the cabin was resting on; now it is floating. 

I kept studying the photo until I discerned a hint of shadows and reflections from the cabin.

Then I started adding more detail to the snow covered trees. 

This is how it looked at the end of the painting session. As I add the detail, I realize that much is hidden in shadow or behind undefined blobs on the photo.

So I turned to the Duck! looked up the name of the lake on DuckDuckGo and found many photos to study for better detail. Turns out that this version has been flipped horizontally. Forrest doesn’t need me to copy the photo exactly because he is looking for a particular feeling that the scene evokes. However, I do need help to put something in place of vague black blobs, so I will just inch along, making decisions with each indistinct item and area.

Pippin is also flipped.