Odd Job, Day 2

After my customer sent me a chart of colors to include, it was time to try it with Photoshop Junior to see how it would look. Looking at her list of colors within the Coat of Arms, I saw that green was missing, so that became the background. 

This is actually the 2nd or 3rd iteration from many conversations and adjustments as we worked out the design together.

The pointy-pokey waving arms didn’t please her, so she sent many other design to consider. I developed a more ribbon-like look on the left side.

The symbolic Farewell Gap needed simplification too.

We had a few more discussions about black outlines, smoothing out some of the bends in the purple ribbon.

 

Everything is now ironed out, so it time to move to canvas. 

Tomorrow. . . 

P.S. I am guest posting once a week on the Mineral King Preservation Society website, under the topic of “An Artist’s Inspiration”. The first post went live yesterday. www.mineralking.org

New Odd Job

“Odd” means “unusual”, as in I’ve never done this before.

I’ll give you a break from Mineral King wildflower oil paintings and show you my new project. This is a commission, which is a fancy word for custom art work.

A customer/friend sent me this and asked if I could do an oil painting of her family’s coat of arms.

I said something like, “Sure, but first we’ll have to decide on some color.” She then sent me this.

So I looked up meanings to the parts of Coats of Arms. We learned even the colors have meanings.

Next she sent me this.

Time for some Photoshopping (I use Photoshop Elements, which is really just Photoshop Junior).

Come back tomorrow to see how this developed.

Mineral King Wildflowers 4

Are you tired of these posts yet?

In rethinking these paintings, I realized that this view is probably from White Chief. Or it could be from the Eagle/Mosquito trail. So, not all of the little Mineral King wildflower paintings are from the Franklin/Farewell Gap trail after all!

Mineral King Wildflowers 4, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $60

Mineral King Wildflowers 2

Let’s try this again with Mineral King wildflower painting #2.

Mineral King Wildflowers 2, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $60

I wonder if I show a painting a day if people will stop reading my blog, or if I will sell paintings. 

More will be revealed in the fullness of time. . .

Mineral King Wildflowers

I finished 8 little oil paintings of Mineral King wildflowers and realized that every single photo I chose to paint from was from the same trail. Well, duh. That trail, the Franklin/Farewell Gap trail, is always the best place to find reliable wildflowers. There are other places that are off-trail, but I don’t want to put that type of information on the World Wide Web.

Okay, time for painting #1, titled “Mineral King Wildflowers 1” (Clever, I know.)

6×6″, $60, oil on wrapped canvas, ready to hang

 

Completed Commission

When I told you the story of painting a commissioned piece of Lost Canyon, I may have accidentally misled you into thinking that all the changes and decisions were a nuisance. 

Drying in the painting workshop (the studio shows through the window – that’s the little building where I draw, a much less messy activity.)

Not so!

The customer and I had a great working partnership. He was discerning and decisive and helpful, not a pain in the least. My goal was to paint exactly what he wanted, but also to help him explore the idea even further than his initial request. We both enjoyed the process and ended up happy with the result. (The color is way better in person!)

Completed Wildflower Paintings

Sort of completed. There is always waiting to dry, scanning, titling, adding to the website, varnishing, more waiting to dry, and sometimes packaging and shipping. . .

Well, would you just look at that?

Every one of these paintings shows Timber Gap.

Why??

Because the best place for wildflowers in Mineral King is up the Franklin/Farewell Gap trail, which is across the valley from Timber Gap. 

There are other places with good wildflowers, but this is our favorite. (“Our” refers to Trail Guy and your Central California artist.)

Now is a good time to remind you of my book. (The museum remains closed for the time being and Silver City isn’t planning to open until June 5.)

 

100 page paperback, flowers in photos, common names only, lots of chatty commentary, $20 including tax.
Available here
Also available at the Three Rivers Historical Museum, Silver City Store, from me if I put them in my car, or Amazon.

Lots of Work Right Now

“Busy” is a loaded word. People like to say they are “crazy busy”, maybe because it gives them a sense of importance or indispensability. I bet people aren’t using that word too often right now.

I am busy during this weird time. Some of it is commissions, some of it is bidding on jobs, some of it is taking advantage of more time to catch up on things like keeping my website current and reading business books.

Maybe instead I could say, “I have lots of work right now”. For that I am grateful, and I am grateful to have the time to take care of customers and my business responsibilities.

Enough chatter, Central Calif. artist. Show us some things!

11×14′ commissioned oil painting
Oak Grove Bridge XXX, 10×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $175
8×10″ commissioned oil painting
Slowly progressing on these small Mineral King wildflower paintings.

There is more, but there is also tomorrow to show and tell you.

Thanks for tuning in today!

 

Decision on the Morphing Commission

While I was working on the backpacks in the commissioned oil painting of Lost Canyon, wondering if I’d be able to move the stream and trail, the answer came back as a definite “no”. They wanted the trail to remain across the bottom of the canvas.

When someone hires me to paint something specific, that someone is my boss.

I kept working my way down the scenery toward the backpacks, figuring out what to put in those large areas where I didn’t have any photos to guide me, figuring out how to make the stream flow in a believable manner, adding rocks, shrubs, trees, and textures.

The color isn’t accurate here because it was photographed in low light at the end of a painting day. But I wanted you to see how this is coming along, particularly the backpacks! This is my favorite way of painting – drawing with my paintbrush.

What remains to be painted: the hiking poles, the lower grasses, and of course wildflowers in the grasses.