Back to Sawtooth

Remember all those oil paintings of Sawtooth Near Sunnypoint? Sunnypoint was a Forest Service campground in Mineral King closed in the 1970s (or was it the 1960s? I wasn’t there then.)

The view that has been so popular is a bit made up. When you are standing where I have stood to take so many photos, year after year, of the same scene, your eyes tell you that the barest tip of Sawtooth shows. When you leave the exact spot, you remember it as a place where Sawtooth, Black Wolf Falls, the stream, and wildflowers are all coexisting in beautiful harmony.

It is my job to gather up all those pieces of reality and combine them into a believable fantasy for you. This beautiful fantasy, which matches up with peoples’ memories, has brought me back to the easel once again.

After a week of messing around, taking walks, editing 2 books, and staying away from the painting workshop, I finally went back to work.

The work that remains after this dries:

  1. Add the wildflowers
  2. Fix whatever is wrong that I have noticed during the drying process
  3. Sign
  4. Let dry again
  5. Scan
  6. Varnish
  7. DELIVER!

There is more to the story of multiple iterations of the Sawtooth Near Sunnypoint paintings. Mañana. . .

Sales, as Opposed to Tech Troubles

The year started in a somewhat ignominious manner with tech troubles. That stuff is quite alarming, upsetting, and interruptive. I combat this by reviewing all the sales in the previous month (necessary to pay for all the tech repairs, and I am sorry to report that no fat lady has sung yet).

I had sales through Kaweah Arts, the Mural Gallery, Exeter’s Courthouse Gallery, along with commissions. All is not lost – let’s rejoice together!

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE! Tune in tomorrow, same Bat time, same Bat channel.

P.S. Happy Birthday to Trail Guy!

Last Oil Commission of the Year

On December 31, it was cold and gray outside. This meant it would take awhile to get heat up near the easels in the painting workshop, so I chose to paint inside the house. 

The lady from Spain who bought a poppy and requested an orange and a pomegranate to match extended her stay here. (Clearly, she is liking our subject matter.) This meant there was enough time for me to paint a pomegranate. It made me wish I could get the orange painting back in order to touch it up, assign an inventory number, and scan it. (I painted the orange in a day while sitting at the Courthouse Gallery.)

It has a few days to dry before it is ready to be scanned and delivered. 

It is very pleasant to paint in the house – I sit at the dining table instead of standing at the easels. The room is warm, Trail Guy is hanging around, Pippin is in the living room (under strict rules), there are tunes. Yes, I can have tunes in the painting workshop but I generally listen to podcasts instead. Maybe I’ll get my hard-nosed work face in place a little later in the new year. But for now, this is my preference. 

Thank you, Señora España, for choosing the art of this Central California artist!

That Was Quick

On Friday I delivered some notecard packages to the Mural Gallery in Exeter. Manager Cindy told me of good sales of paintings there and said someone bought an 8×8″ oil painting of a poppy. That someone also requested the same size of an orange and another of a pomegranate. I asked a few questions, then went off to the Courthouse Gallery for a day of gallery-sitting and painting.

A little later, I heard from Cindy that the customer is from Barcelona, Spain, and will be returning there shortly after Christmas. That’s cutting things a little close, especially since I may not be going back down the hill before then.

When I looked in my crate of supplies, I saw an 8×8″ canvas with a photo of an orange lying on top of it. Hmmm, I wonder. . .

So, I started a new painting of an orange.

Because I have painted more oranges than I can remember, I was able to veer away from the photo but keep it believable. Of course, I had my painting friend with me to point out any areas of weakness.

I bypassed a few steps here: no wire on the back, no layering, no drying, no scan, no varnishing. But it will dry, Cindy will deliver, and our customer from Spain will go home with 2 paintings in her luggage!

Almost Finished with the Sawtooth Paintings

At the time of this writing, 2 of the Sawtooth paintings are finished, and the third just needs a small area before joining the others in their finished state. I had leftover paint on my palette, so I painted the edges. This made them a bit too wet to handle, so #3 had to be on hold for a bit.

As I show you these photos of the paintings in progress, I get more and more confused as to which painting is in what stage; I’m like the mother of triplets who lost the note telling which kid has a mole on his 2nd toe or something else to distinguish them (but I don’t have difficulty in real life because they are 2 different sizes and have an inventory number on the backs).

Sometimes when I look at photos of the finished paintings, I see more things to correct. Unless they are glaring mistakes, I will ignore them. These patient customers would like their paintings sometime, preferably sooner rather than later.

Here – you can see a few more and join me in my state of confusion. This top one is finished, but we are hard pressed to tell in the high contrast sunshine.  The 16×20 is finished; the 11×14 beneath it isn’t – look at the trees on the right (middle) side. This one looks finished. I wonder if it is the 16×20 or one of the 11x14s. This one needs mid-ground trees and foreground grasses and flowers. Definitely not finished. This one appears to be finished. When there are grasses and tiny colored dots for flowers, it is finished.

What’s harder? Painting the same scene three times, or trying to sort the photos and show people? Or trying to comprehend a blog post about it? (See? I always have questions!)

Lots of Sawtooths (Sawteeth? Nah)

Painting the same complicated and difficult picture multiple times doesn’t seem to make it any easier. But, since I have done it before, I know I can do it again (and again, and yet again).

This is the 16×20″ version.

These are the two 11×14″:It takes some discipline to not get too far ahead on each one. Even if I am on a roll, I have to move to the other 2 canvases to repeat a successful rock, tree, texture, or stretch of water. When all are finally finished, I will evaluate each part, decide which painting is the best in that area, and then bring the other two up to the level of the best.

P.S. Who’da thunk that the plural of “Sawtooth” would be “Sawtooths?”

Department of Redundancy Dept.

I have become a (temporary) Sawtooth painting factory.

First, sky and clouds on all three.

Second, Sawtooth on all three.

Third, trees on distant ridges on all three.

Fourth, work on the distant trees that are somewhat distinct.

Fifth, scribble in some layers of green on all three, because it is getting too dark to see, there is green paint on the palette that can be used to add another layer to the canvases, and that’s all I can take today of the repetition of these custom Mineral King oil paintings. 

Next painting session: figure out the confusing rocks in the stream on one painting, and then use it as a guide for the other two. This will be more effective than repeating a rock three times and then realizing it is in the wrong place. Who cares if a rock is in the wrong place? If it makes the stream flow look unbelievable, all three customers might care.

Special Painting for a Special Person

Remember when I painted a Farewell Gap oil painting and wouldn’t tell you why? I said it had to be the very best painting I had ever done. The Best Version of the Classic Mineral King Scene

The painting was commissioned by the Mineral King Preservation Society and the Mineral King District Association to be a gift for Louise, someone who has been very instrumental in both preserving the history of Mineral King and developing a good relationship between the cabin owners and Sequoia National Park. 

She also happens to be one of my dearest friends, someone who coached me through my first murals, got me my first paid public mural, and has been more encouraging than anyone I have ever known. She is also an author, and I had the privilege of editing and publishing two books for her: Trail of Promises and The Visalia Electric Railroad. We work together like a well-oiled machine, one that laughs a lot while producing good results.

Here are some photos of the presentation of the painting.

I love this lady.

P.S. These came via email:

1. What a beautiful post, beautiful painting, and beautiful lady.  How is Louise doing?  She looks well. – Jon S.

2. Your “Louise gift” in this morning’s post brought tears. what a touching tribute to my very special cousin.
three cheers for a beautiful exhibit! – Bev

Large Important Commission, Chapter 9

I left the oil painting alone for a week or so, in order to gain distance and objectivity. (Yes, wonky photo, because in spite of this camera’s superiority to its predecessor, the screen is still invisible in the bright sunshine).

Then I switched the photo to black and white, in order to study the contrasts.

This session of study resulted in a list.

  1. Make the snow brighter against sky
  2. The rock shadows on hillside are too dark
  3. Close leaves next to orchards need to be lighter
  4. Tree trunks look too uniform
  5. Too much contrast on wall rocks near books
  6. Need more roses below the wall
  7. Make shadows darker on front row of orchard
  8. Make oranges on the close branches brighter and more yellow
  9. The elephant on Alta Peak and the slope to the left of the elephant need to be fuzzier

All nine items have been addressed. Can we see the difference in this black and white version?

Maybe.

Here is the new color version (also taken in such bright sun, although filtered through a layer of smoke from the fire at Lake Isabella).

Obviously, this painting is going to be a challenge to photograph well.

Just for interest’s sake, here is the sketch (the post about it is here):

It has come a long ways since the beginning, first shown in this post.

And thus we conclude the ongoing saga of The Large Important Commission Oil Painting.

Maybe, maybe not. Maybe the books need to be less jarring. On the other hand, maybe they are supposed to pop out of the painting because it is for the Tulare County Library (Woodlake branch).