Plein Air in Mineral King, #2

A number of years ago (feels like 6, must be 10) I tried painting on location from the bridge in Mineral King. I had no instruction and no idea of how to proceed.

Painting in Mineral King in 2007 – it was TWELVE YEARS AGO! (I still have that shirt.)

Trail Guy and I walked to the bridge and inspected the views and possible areas to set up. The bridge is narrower now, so setting up on it is asking to be hit by someone’s rearview mirror, or moving every time a car comes.

This is from the bridge, a perfect scene, but one that can only happen via photos or with lots of trotting back and forth across the bridge. (There is no bridge troll, so it could work.)
This was about the only option, in spite of the uneven ground.
The stream didn’t really show despite being on a bridge. Too many willows.
The juniper blocks the top of Vandever, so I moved it.
Once again, I relied on the sketch to tell me what to include and what might fit.
First, the underpainting.
Second, the greens. Looks terrible, but has promise at this stage.
Better.
It’s kind of interesting to see the evolving canvas and the scene in one shot.
Suddenly, I was tired of dealing with uneven ground, people stopping by, and painting outside, so I packed it up and walked back to the cabin to finish.

I’ve painted this scene about 50 or 60 times, and drawn it in pencil at least a dozen more. So, I felt confident finishing it up at home.

Almost finished.
“Crowley Cabin”, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $125.

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.