Last month I had my head in the sand or something. This month I did so much learning that I’m publishing this post 1/2-way through the month, with the (always reckless) assumption that there will be more to learn in the second half of the month. TECH 2. The new solve-all-your-problems iphone goes straight to […]
Business in the Mountains
The Silver City Store sold two Mineral King oil paintings on opening weekend; a few days later they sold a sequoia tree painted on a wood panel. Luckily for a future customer, I had one more ready to go. So, on the way up the hill last week, we stopped by to deliver it. While […]
Selling at Silver City
Over the weekend, I took all my Mineral King themed paintings to the Silver City Store, which is where I worked in 1985 when I met Trail Guy and changed the entire direction of my life (from meandering and going nowhere to based around Mineral King.) The first time I sold my art in a […]
In the Think Tank and Other Work Thoughts
Sort of Working Having finished the oil painting commission, priced paintings and cards to sell at Silver City, all this while believing that I have finished enough paintings for the entire summer (possibly delusional about that), it was time to consider how to next spend my work time. I pulled weeds at church (not work), […]
Four Little Victories with Unpleasant Tasks
On an overcast and chilly morning with our final fire of the season in the wood stove, I sat with my laptop and tackled some unpleasant tasks. 2. My printer is one of those 4-way deals: print, scan, copy, and fax. (Fax?? Who does that any more besides medical offices, which I do my best […]
The Hardest Part About Being an Artist (accompanied by a random selection of pencil drawings)
Anyone want to guess? Guesses Maybe you are thinking that it is difficult to paint according to people’s instructions (called “commissions” or “commissioned art”). That might be true for some artists, but I am not one of them. I’ve said for decades that I’d rather draw an ugly house than be a waitress. Maybe you […]
The Business of Art | Many words today
This might take more time to read than you want to spend. You also might not find it interesting. You can skip it today—I’ll still be your friend. In thinking about all the distractions and how long it has been since I last painted, I realized several things, the most glaring that. . . . […]
Drawing Lessons
Since 1994 I have been helping people learn to draw. Some people already have an inkling about drawing but want to increase their skills. Some have always wished they could draw but didn’t know how to start. Some have been told they are terrible at art (such mean fake “teachers” out there in the public […]
New Commission Pencil Drawing
My favorite form of art is pencil drawing. My favorite subjects to draw are architectural. It is fun to tackle subjects that really require thought, careful design, and a bit of artistic license. It is highly satisfying to turn a vague idea from customers into something better than they envisioned. A customer presented me with […]
Mural Refresh
The primary colors are red, blue, and yellow. All colors can be mixed from these (except flourescent colors but those colors aren’t relevant to my art). Colors mixed with yellow fade the fastest. This means that green becomes blue, gray becomes lavender, orange becomes pink, and brown turns purple. I first painted this mural at […]