Deciding What to Paint Next

Sometimes it might be nice to have a boss or maybe a crystal ball or even a mentor or a board of directors. When deciding what to paint next, there are days when I think how good it is to just do whatever I want; other times I wish someone else would tell me what to paint.

I have two 6×18″ canvases left and five ideas for them.

When I don’t know what to paint, I go with my first idea or first impression. All of the ideas are good, all are Mineral King, of course. The juniper tree along the White Chief trail has been calling to me in spite of having painted it twice already this spring, and OF COURSE I want to paint wildflowers. The others might be good to paint later. But, I’ll have to place yet another order with the art supply company, and Prudence tells me to wait until some paintings have sold. (Prudence often tells me wise things.)

I’m starting this and treating it as an “alla prima” painting in an attempt to finish it in one session.
Nope, this will take another session and much better light. But, I think it is a great start.
I just dove into this without much forethought. Could not wait to paint wildflowers. Does this surprise anyone?

This Mineral King painting will require lots of reference photos to remember the leafing patterns and to get the flowers to be believable. (The peak is Vandever, which is on the right side of Farewell Gap.)

Small Business Decision

The business of art is full of choices and decisions, and rarely is there a map or an instruction book. I can find things on the World Wide Web, but often the advice is contradictory, or geared toward folks who live in cities or sell in galleries. This forces me to do my own thinking, an exhausting proposition at times.

For the upcoming show on June 30, “ART: INSPIRED BY MINERAL KING”, I have been painting diligently since January. Many pieces have sold, so I just keep painting more. 

Last week I made a small decision: I am not going to show photos of the newest pieces I’ve finished on the blog. Instead, I am saving them for the actual show. Afterward, I will post them here, hopefully with a SOLD sign on them.

This is a marketing decision. Might be good, might be dumb. As my dad used to say, “Time will tell”. (I prefer “More will be revealed in the fullness of time”.)

Then what shall I show you today? How about Piper and some weird white poppies:

There are white poppies in my yard. Piper is puzzled by this.