When deciding what to paint, there are several factors to consider. What subjects will sell, which sizes will sell, what do I already have on hand, has anyone expressed an interest in a particular shape, size, or subject, and do I have good photos to work from?
After studying my stack of photos in the Citrus file, I chose eight to paint. You saw four yesterday, and here are the other four.
This will be 18×36″($1200) and I will raise the mountains in the distance, might make the hills more green, and grow those orange trees larger. And, I might hang it in my dining room, unless/until someone buys it.
6×12″ for this one, $125, maybe add some distant snow-covered peaks and grow the trees a bit, or crop off the dirt at the bottom so it fits the canvas.
This will be 10×20″ ($400), and it is almost perfect, except for needing more oranges on the trees.
6×12, ($125) more oranges on the trees, some cropping on the sides to make it fit the ratio of 1:2.
Next, I will wire the backs of the canvases, assign inventory numbers, think of good (or mediocre. . . this gets difficult after awhile) titles, and then start with base layers.
Which one would you like to reserve? Because sometimes your Central California artist needs to remind people that. . .
Using pencils, oil paint, and murals, I make art that you can understand of places and things you love for prices that won’t scare you.
There is a file on my computer named “In Progress”, with one inside of it called “Paint”. Inside that folder is yet another folder named “Citrus”.
“Citrus” isn’t entirely the right title. The right title would be too long: “My Current Favorite Subject to Paint” or perhaps “Orange Groves, Foothills, and Mountains” or we could call it “The Best Things About Living in Tulare County”.
The file has 30 photos, so it takes awhile to study, compare, name them (so that I can find the right ones again), and think about the best proportions and ways to crop.
After I choose a stack that I want to paint, then I inventory my canvases, finding a variety of sizes and shapes that will work best for each of the paintings.
Recently I chose eight new scenes, and then assigned various canvas sizes to them. I price according to size, rather than difficulty, which means the prices are consistent. (I’ve shown them with the sizes in case you want to reserve one or more of the paintings.)
Have a look at the first four photos and canvas sizes:
This one will be 6×18″ ($165), and I will make mountains appear behind the foothills; there will also be a bit of squishing and stretching of the scene so it will fit the chosen canvas ratio of 1:3.
This one will be 10×20″ ($400), and the oranges will be more visible on the trees; more trees will be added at the bottom to better match the proportions of the canvas, or some sky added; maybe some of the mountains will be condensed.
This one will be 12×16″ ($350), and the oranges will be more visible; I might take away the little avenue that appears in the lower left corner. (Now spoken for.)
This one will be 6×18″ ($165), so it will be more cropped than the photo, (which you might be able to tell is a couple of photos melted together with Photoshop in an attempt to widen the scene.)
Tomorrow I will show you the other four photos that I plan to paint.
5×7″ oil paintings of navel oranges on panels, sitting on a mini wooden easel have been selling well at Exeter’s Mural Gallery. One sold, the buyer requested another, and the gallery asked for 2 more. Those sold immediately, and the gallery requested more.
You can see the beginnings here on this post from earlier in November.
I painted five more, moved them into the house to dry, and forgot about them! They were on a piece of cardboard on top of a cabinet that was above my eye level. They were certainly dry enough to scan when I remembered them.
These sell for $60 each at Exeter’s Mural Gallery. They look better in person, because in spite of a good scanner, the colors are never quite right on the computer screen. (You might have heard that here before.)
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