The title of this commissioned oil painting is Forrest’s Dream Cabin, so it is imperative that I move it from nightmare to dream status. Here is the next painting session of step by step improvement.
Sky first, painted upside-down for easier reach.
2. The colors on my palette look so dull.
3. Water next. I could reach this part right-side up.
4. Mountain and foreground branches
5. I want to start drawing with my paintbrush on the cabin detail, but I think the water and background mountain will need more layers first.
The colors are so much duller on screen than in real life. Forrest said, “it’s like a ghostly cabin is emerging out of the scene, nice!”
P.S.This is not a houseboat; it is a cabin on stilts in a lake in Northern Italy.
Last week it got cold and rainy but I painted in the unheated workshop anyway because summer is coming and I will wish it was cold. Yes, there is a heater which Trail Guy offered to light for me several times, but I declined. It was overcast, and I knew I wouldn’t be painting all day because it was a little hard to see the colors correctly.
In deciding which of the 7 Mineral King oil paintings to work on, it may not surprise you that I chose one of the Oak Grove Bridge, my favorite subject to draw and paint.
The bridge needs to be refined and the foliage needs to be finished. Then I will probably start on the other oil painting of my favorite bridge in all of Tulare County.
Yes, yes, I know it is still March, my second favorite month (interpret that either way you would like). But summer comes every year, and with it comes the need for me to supply Silver City Resort with oil paintings to sell. There isn’t a lot to paint of Silver City itself, and as nice as it is, people go there BECAUSE IT IS NEAR MINERAL KING.
Excuse me for shouting. I feel that all the way to my toes, since I took a job at Silver City in 1985 BECAUSE IT IS NEAR MINERAL KING.
Here are the paintings that I have begun in order to have merchandise for Silver City to sell.
My friend/customer/web designer Forrest requested a large painting of a cabin. He searched for several months, until he came up with a photo that he declared to be “IT”. Alas, he was not the photographer, and I just can’t be copying people’s work without permission.
No no no no, I can’t copy no more, I’m scared of waking up in the courts. No thank you, please, it only makes me freeze (with fear), and then it makes it hard to face the Lord.
Forrest contacted the photographer and got permission!
So, I started. He said it would be fun to see the progress, and I decided to include you all in on the fun. I also told him to not be scared, because they all start out ugly. Forrest’s Nightmare Cabin, perhaps.
Yeppers, it is sideways. Easier to reach the top of this 20×30″ commissioned oil painting. Remember,
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.
(except that the beginning stages might scare you.)
That was the last one needed for the upcoming show, Still Here, at Arts Visalia in the month of April (virtual? actual in-person? More will be revealed. . .)
Now I can get back to the Mineral King paintings that I started when the others were too wet (or I was too flummoxed) to work on.
Now I have to decide if it is a good idea to show you all the finished paintings that will be in the show or maybe just make you actually attend the show in person. (As if I have the power to make anyone do anything)
Lest you worry that I am spending too much time taking walks, visiting friends, admiring daffodils, and weeding my baby poppies, here is some evidence of forward motion toward completing the paintings needed for the upcoming show Still Here at Arts Visalia in April.
Lots of detail, little buildings, random trees, empty lots, all the hard-to-see and hard-to-paint things remain.Commission, as last seenCommission, almost complete.This Springville Ranch has been waiting patiently for more paint.
All finished except for the drawing of detail, my favorite part.
It was getting dark, so it was hard to see the right colors and the detail. Plus, the cats were ready to reclaim their home/jail/safe space for the night.
As a thank you gift for a gift of oil paints, brushes, and an easel, I am painting a Karmann Ghia.
No, not painting a car, making an oil painting of a Karmann Ghia.
This is for a former drawing student, and because my students and I always tell each other the truth about our art, I asked him to tell me if the painting was finished.
In the photo he sent to me, there was a piece of chrome missing from the door. I wasn’t sure what he was referring to, so I took a close up photo of the door on the painting to ask.
He replied with another photo of the car. (I deleted it before remembering that you might want to see it.)
Aha! I fixed the painting.
This received approval, but I told him that I think oil paint is so wobbly compared to pencil. It is. The canvas has texture, the paint doesn’t often flow smoothly, and the brush hairs go rogue. But I keep trying to make my paintings look as good up close as they do from the back of a fast horse (or across the room).
I touched up the sky, brought the painting into the house to dry, and then scanned it.
Karmann Ghia, 8×8″, private collection
Another one of my drawing students asked me why I painted it so small. BECAUSE IT IS FREE! Besides, when you give someone a piece of art, it isn’t wise to assume they will love it as much as you do or that they might have space for something large.
Isn’t that a lovely word? I love the juxtaposition of agriculture, especially citrus, against foothills. It wasn’t until I looked at my entire body of work that I realized this subject wasn’t adequately represented.
This painting of Lemon Cove is still in progress, an afterthought to my upcoming art show, Still Here, coming to Arts Visalia for the month of April.
This last photo was taken after dark, when I was painting using a light. I wonder how the color will look in daylight.
Meanwhile, I recently spent a bit of time with a friend in Orange Cove, another beautiful area of the Central Valley where citrus meets the foothills.
Orange Cove is in Fresno County, so I won’t be hustling to make any paintings from these pictures for the upcoming show. Its focus will be Tulare County, because I am STILL HERE!!
One of my long-time drawing students took as many art classes as he could cram in for several years at the local junior college. (Sorry, not sorry – “community college”) He completely immersed himself in art until suddenly, he was finished. Done. His interests moved into mechanical subjects, and currently he is immersing himself in all things automotive.
A few weeks ago he asked me if I’d like to have his oil painting supplies. REALLY?? Yes, please! What a generous gift!
So, I decided to paint a gift for him.
It isn’t quite finished because it needs me to draw with my paintbrush in order to reach the level of detail to do justice to his Karmann Ghia.
Yes, I still have paintings to finish for my upcoming show, Still Here.
But, in spite of those necessary paintings for the show, I am still. . .
. . .using pencils, oil paint, and murals to make art that people can understand of places and things they love.
Architectural details still missing, but background looking good.
