Mineral King is Open

And the summer begins …

I didn’t take any of these pictures, which were all taken before I went up the hill, because living in two places comes soon enough without pushing it. Our cabin is a summer dwelling, for good reasons.

Hence, the Early Bird, AKA Trail Guy, took these photos. (You can tell because his camera makes sky spots).

Opening the cabin is a big project, because Trail Guy and the Farmer open several people’s cabins, which requires many tools. The projects abound, the work never ceases, and yet wild horses cannot restrain these two good-hearted, hard-working gentlemen from serving the neighborhood.

Phlox

Two hardy souls marched (or perhaps simply staggered) up to Eagle Lake, BEFORE the Spring Creek Bridge was installed. One of the two generously shared her photos (and reported back that it was COLD.)

Looking down toward the dam that forms Eagle Lake.
Looking upstream toward the ridge that forms the other side of Eagle Lake.

Since this is supposed to be a marketing and advertising “platform” (these words… sigh … what am I supposed to call this? A venue? An avenue? Media?), have another look at my painting of Eagle Lake from a similar viewpoint (I think I was on the dam itself.)

Eagle Lake, 7×14”, oil on wrapped canvas, $200, at the Silver City Store so let me know if you want to buy it and I’ll retrieve it for you next weekend.

Ad over. Remember the fallen on this weekend because it isn’t supposed to be about getting away and fishing and hiking and boating and BBQing. However, because of the brave, we are free to do these things.

Admonition over.

Endeavor to persevere.

And remember, if you comment and it doesn’t appear, your comment will appear after I have returned from the Land of No Electricity or Internet or Phones to release it.

Bridge Building (With Paint)

Incremental Improvements

Painting #38 of Tulare County’s best bridge (according by your Central California artist) is inching forward into excellence. Can you see the incremental improvements?

We can probably consider it all finished now, EXCEPT FOR THE BRIDGE ITSELF!

Ahem. Excuse me for shouting. It just surprises me that after I put an enormous amount of concentration and effort into the painting that the most important part remains to be detailed.

Maybe it would be fun if I did a series of posts with all the different versions I’ve painted of this bridge.

But first, this one needs to be finished.

Here is a photo taken with my real camera instead of the inferior phone camera; the colors aren’t as strong, but neither is it as pixelated, which doesn’t matter here on the interwebs.

We call this the Oak Grove Bridge; people who don’t know it very well might call it the Kaweah River Bridge or the Mineral King Road Bridge or the East Fork Bridge. Those names sort of work.

Not that bridge

There are folks who, when they see my paintings or drawings of the bridge, say, “I’ve eaten at that restaurant”. They are wrong—the only eatery at the Oak Grove bridge might be the tailgate of one’s pick-em-up truck. The Pumpkin Hollow (“Gateway”) bridge is at the confluence of the East and Middle Forks of the Kaweah River. It isn’t over a deep canyon, just one lane wide, and with a single arch.

See the difference?

Maybe it is time to draw the bridge again in pencil. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve done that; there are only 2 versions in my computer, because so many drawings didn’t get scanned or reproduced or even photographed in my early days.

Long Distance Commission, Chapter 3

This project progress took place before I started the mural on the Ivanhoe library.

This might be the first time I have ever put a canvas on the drawing table and measured out exactly where everything is supposed to go.

When I had enough pencil guidelines on the canvas, I took it out to the painting workshop and set it up on the easels with the sketch for reference. The hard work of designing from the stack of photos all taken from different angles in different eras of the house was finished, so I needed to trust the approved sketch.

The first layer needs to be thin, or in ArtSpeak, “Paint lean to fat” (this means that the artist should thin the first layer of paint with turpentine and gradually add more oil— “fat” — with each successive layer. (When I first hear this, I was slightly offended, thinking that it was commentary on my body type. . .)

I worked from back to front, which means sky first, since it is the farthest away.

I didn’t get too concerned with mixing exact colors at this stage. . . “Closies count (except in hand grenades and horseshoes.)”

I tried to stay in the lines. This is a new method of painting for me. I’ve done a few of these architectural type paintings before, but this one feels more important to get exactly right. I wonder if it is the long distance relationship; most likely it is the exactitude with which Mr. J. has described so much about this house.

The sky looks as if there is a flat mountain ridge, but that is because I primed the canvas before I knew exactly how this scene was going to be arranged. The many layers will cover that “ridge”.

I sent this photo to Mr. J. and he was pleased. It needs some drying time before I cover everything again, with paint that isn’t as thin, and paying more attention to the correct colors and details.

Calendars available here, $25, includes shipping

Oops, I Forgot, Chapter Five

The idea was to show you all the paintings in my solo show at CACHE, one per day here on the blog, for the duration of the show. But, I forgot to show you all the paintings of Three Rivers! Today’s painting is the final in the “Oops, I Forgot” series.

MISSING PAINTING #5

Rachel’s Lake View, oil on wrapped canvas, 20×24″, $1300

It is available on my website store. Here is the link and the price here includes sales tax. (If you live out of state and want to buy the painting, just email me and I’ll sort it out for you.)

This painting is from a perfect photo taken by my friend and drawing student, Rachel on the way home from her job in Three Rivers. Lake Kaweah, Kaweah Lake, I never remember the real name, because around here we simply call it The Lake.

Oops, I Forgot, Chapter Four

The idea was to show you all the paintings in my solo show at CACHE, one per day here on the blog, for the duration of the show. But, I forgot to show you all the paintings of Three Rivers!

MISSING PAINTING #4

Comb Rocks in the Distance, oil on wrapped canvas, 10×10″, $216

It is available on my website store. Here is the link. and the price here includes sales tax. (If you live out of state and want to buy the painting, just email me and I’ll sort it out for you.)

This painting is from several photos taken on the BLM land, sometimes called “Case Mountain”, sometimes called “Salt Creek” in Three Rivers. Those craggy rocks are visible from many places in Three Rivers, appropriately named Comb Rocks because they resemble the comb on a rooster.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Trail Guy!!

Oops, I Forgot, Chapter Three

The idea was to show you all the paintings in my solo show at CACHE, one per day here on the blog, for the duration of the show. But, I forgot to show you all the paintings of Three Rivers!

MISSING PAINTING #3

Salt Creek Falls, oil on wrapped canvas, 16×20″, $650

It is available on my website store. Here is the link, and the price on the website includes sales tax, which is why it is higher than shown here. (If you live out of state and want to buy the painting, just email me and I’ll sort it out for you.)

This painting is from several photos taken on the BLM land, sometimes called “Case Mountain”, sometimes called “Salt Creek” in Three Rivers.

Oops, I Forgot, Chapter Two

The idea was to show you all the paintings in my solo show at CACHE, one per day here on the blog, for the duration of the show.

I told you about my virtual friend named Elisabeth, who posted a beautiful photo on her blog that reminded me of two of my paintings. Here is today’s missing painting, for you, Elisabeth (and my tens of other readers).

MISSING PAINTING #2

Take Me Home. . ., oil on wrapped canvas, 16×20″, $650

It is available on my website store. Here is the link, and the price on the website includes sales tax, which is why it is higher than shown here. (If you live out of state and want to buy the painting, just email me and I’ll sort it out for you.)

This painting is from several photos taken on the upper North Fork Road in Three Rivers.

Architecture at Asilomar

Many of the buildings at Asilomar were designed by Julia Morgan, the architect best known for designing the Hearst Castle in San Simeon. She is also known for many fine buildings in Berkeley, AND a building at the Springville Hospital (for TB) here in Tulare County, now torn down due to earthquake standards.

Pencil drawing of Wayside at the Springville Hospital

Roomie and I were assigned a room in The Stuck-up Inn.

Our room was shockingly small for two people and all the painting gear. The room assignments were a mystery, because some of the people who paid for a single room had rooms that were much larger. Weird.

It had rooms around a central courtyard, where I sat to paint one afternoon after I had a fight with my easel.

I thoroughly enjoyed the living room each morning before the sun came up. It was a place to be alone (so thankful no one else thought of hanging out there!), to stretch, to read, and to experience some solitude before taking a pre-breakfast walk at (or on) the beach and joining the teeming mass of painters.

In spite of the space limitations, I was completely charmed by the age and the details of the building. As Roomie said, it forced us to spend more time out painting. I was very thankful for the fact that we were so compatible.

Crocker Dining Hall
Main building/lodge/office/etc.

Next time, I will show you photos of the sunrises and other things that caught my attention in this week of painting in Monterey.

Meanwhile, back to reality:

Big Oak Tree

Did you know that Tulare County is home to the largest oaks in the country? The valley oak, quercus lobata is not what this big oak tree is. I found this tree somewhere along Dry Creek Road. I didn’t get close enough to know what kind, but I can tell by the shape that this isn’t a valley oak. It is unusually perfect, almost symmetrical, and all without ever having been pruned (except when cattle chew on the lower leaves.)

Sky and distant ridge.
Distant waves of wildflowers, closer blades of grass.
Added wildflowers, a rock, more blades of grass and a few limbs because I couldn’t wait to get to that tree.
Details in the grass, another rock, and details in the dirt.
Finally started on the tree.
Am I finished? Time will tell.

Once it is dry, I will sign it, paint the edges, and either photograph or scan it, so you can see it with its brighter and more accurate colors.

One of Tulare County’s Pretty Places

Remember seeing this 16×20″ mess first layer?

I think it will be a good one. I combined about 4 photos on Photoshop Junior* to see if my version of this scene was better than reality and concluded that yes, indeedy it is, or it will be if I can execute it with excellence.

Let’s go!

I am choosing to not show the beginning photos for a couple of reasons.

  1. I don’t want any input as to whether or not I have chosen the correct elements in the correct sizes and placements. Sometimes I do want input; this time I do not; that could change. . .
  2. I want you all to judge the painting on its own merits rather than whether or not I can accurately copy a photograph.

Phooey. I can see 3 shapes that look wrong right now. “Wrong” in that they don’t look fully natural or believable, because I am only judging this painting of one of Tulare County’s pretty places on its own merits, not while looking at any photos.

*Photoshop Elements is the “easy” version of Photoshop.