Slow Trail

This oil painting is based on a photo that I took near the junction of the Eagle Lake and Mosquito Lakes trails, (Mineral King, of course) on the way to what we call Eagle Meadow. The meadow is a seasonally gorgeous blend of Jeffrey shooting stars and knotweed, thick with mosquitoes. It isn’t visible from this spot near the junction, but you might be already slapping. (How about that for a title to this painting? “Already Slapping”)

You last saw it looking like this, while I was wondering 2 things: “Why bother?” and “Who told me I can paint?”

While waiting for blank ornaments to arrive, paint to dry on other projects, and approval to come for a pencil drawing, I went back to my slow trail painting.

It is a slow trail indeed, but I will get there if I don’t stop. The stump in the lower left may need to go away, but it is what helps me recognize which trail I am on.

Sneering, smiling and snorting

I like having lots of work; thinking about the next step on multiple projects energizes me.  Having many jobs boosts my confidence and calms down all the self-doubt for awhile.

Thinking about rude comments from old art teachers, snobbery in the Art World, or during times when work isn’t selling and jobs aren’t coming my way – these things cause doubt and insecurity in your Central California artist. (“When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling sad. . .”)

Happy customers, helping people learn to draw, sales, commissions – these things build my confidence. (“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. . .”)

Confidence is a good thing, but one must take care not to let it grow into arrogance. That might be why I often slip into self-deprecating humor here on the blog. I’ve heard it said that arrogance is a sneer and confidence is a smile, but haven’t heard what sort of facial expression comes with insecurity.

The painting of the ranch in rural Southern California is now in the hands of a happy customer.  Join me in a smile or even a big laugh when you read the name of the place!

Bucksnort

And let’s smile some more at the beauty in the desert.

I am struggling to find a good title for this piece. “Beauty in them thar hills” probably isn’t the best one, but that’s what is rumbling around in my brain.

 

Painting The Desert

There are people who like the desert; I am not one of them. When I was in Israel a few years ago, I remember thinking “THIS was the ‘land of milk and honey’, ‘the Promised Land??” Deserts make me feel hot and thirsty, worried about water, missing green.

There must be beauty in the desert for so many people to like it. One of the strong motivational forces in my life is to find beauty wherever I can. While visiting a friend in Death Valley, I enjoyed looking for the beauty and then determined that I would find something in my photos to paint.

Have a look at the progress since I first showed this to you.

The painting was on hold while I finished some commissions. While waiting for others to dry in order to continue, I finished the desert painting.

And as always, when it is dry I will scan it so you can better appreciate its qualities (and it will be squared up, something that eludes me with a camera.)

Drowning Out the Rude Critic in My Head

The sunset painting was a big challenge: mixing colors that I don’t normally use, brightening colors from the provided photos, rearranging things from the photos, and because of the precision required, drawing with my paintbrush. 

Someday I may finally accept that drawing with my paintbrush is My Style, in spite of the Art World looking down its nose at this way of painting. But I digress. The point is that a customer requested a certain painting from me because he likes my style, and I have done my best to deliver.

So there.

Where was I? Got caught up in that Artworld thing, feeling like a fake artist. Will that insecurity ever subside??

Drying now.

As usual, it will be better in a scan, but still not as good as real life. Disclaim, disclaim, disclaim.

I loved working on this painting! Commissioned work is very gratifying, and it helps balance out the rude critic in my head.

First Sunset

Are you familiar with those franchise businesses where people combine alcohol consumption with painting? I think the idea is that you get all happied up and can’t tell how horribly you are painting. (It is about the experience rather than the results.) People have shown me their paintings, and they often include a sunset.

I’ve been oil painting since March 8, 2006 and have never painted a single sunset. Now, I can’t say that anymore.

A friend of mine sells real estate in rural Southern California. Hard to imagine there are rural areas in Southern California, but I assure you that there are. He asked if I was willing and able to do custom paintings that he could give as gifts to his clients. This was on the same day, in the very same hour, that I had written him a note suggesting the idea. The note wasn’t yet mailed to him (a real note on real paper) when his email arrived with the very same idea. 

That was weird. Exciting too.

His assistant sent me some photos, which I cropped into various shapes to show her some ideas.

His assistant was very responsive, excited to work with me, and full of helpful suggestions. After reading her instructions, Photoshop Junior and I did this.

Then, I began painting my very first sunset. (You may be relieved to know that it was done without “benefit” of alcohol, although it may have been useful to ameliorate the ugliness that is inevitable when I begin a painting.)

Stay tuned. It is bound to improve with time.

 

Like Lemon Meringue Pie

This painting will require many layers, and I fully intend to enjoy every minute of the process. It isn’t necessary to talk about turning lemons into lemonade – this painting is more like lemon meringue pie.

It was dry, so I relayered the mountains and hills, then moved into the lemons on the left, then the ground, then finally a bit of cleaning off my brushes by putting more green into the grove. 

When this is dry again, I’ll relayer the sky before continuing on the lemons and the grove. I want this baby to be PERFECT. 

P.S. I love lemon meringue pie, and that’s saying something, because as a former pie baker (it was just a job, not a career), pies do not excite me. Further, one of my life’s guiding principles is “If it isn’t chocolate, it isn’t worth the calories”.

Finished, Finished, and Finished

Here are the scanned versions of the most recently finished oil painting commissions. Scanning produces better results than photographing, but first the paintings have to be dry. This is why there is a time lapse between you seeing them on the easel and seeing the finished product. But don’t be confused by the bridge – I didn’t get around to showing it to you on the easel until it was actually finished and dry in real life.  

Devol Coat of Arms
Green Tunnel, Mineral King
Oak Grove Bridge XXXI (#31), but probably closer to #35 since I didn’t number my oil paintings very accurately for a few years.)

If you are like me, you are curious to see the difference between the last 6×18″ Oak Grove Bridge and the current one. It is interesting that I can paint from the same photo twice and get different results. Some of this is because I have to just make up the “growies”, since there is no way to copy them exactly. Besides, real life is messy. And speaking of real life, there probably isn’t as much difference in the colors between the 2 paintings if we saw them in person. So much has to do with how it photographs or scans.

Oak Grove Bridge XXIX (#29)

If you ever think you might like a painting from a photo you see on my blog (or one you’ve taken), or if you’d like a painting that has already sold, I can do that for you.

Inching Along the Commissions

Reminder: “commission” is Art Speak for a custom piece of art. Here are two in progress:

No matter how often I paint the Oak Grove Bridge, it challenges my ability to draw with a paintbrush. Drawing with a paintbrush is something that is sneered at in the Art World, but I am hard-pressed to imagine how one of those loosey-goosey painters would handle this subject.

I sent this photo to my customer, and he declared me to be finished. He was actually nicer than that – he said, “As I said before, you are the best!” Aw shucks, thank you, DB. You are a dream customer.

The giant circle continues to develop. The surface of smooth plywood with several base coats of paint is different than canvas and will take multiple layers to cover. That’s fine, because I can get tighter and better with each layer. This is my preferred method of painting, fix, fix, fix some more, and fix again, called “glazing” in Art Speak. That is how I painted the bridge commission.

My customer the citrus grower asked if the trees would be darker, because I sent a photo taken earlier than this one. Then I took this photo, and because the paint is wet here, it is reflective so it still looks pale. I kept painting, and then sent this photo:

I love this subject matter just as much as the Oak Grove Bridge and am quite happy about getting to spend many hours making it look as good as possible.