Central Calif. artist Jana Botkin works on a bright oil painting of Mineral King.
Continue readingLarge Important Commission, Chapter 7
This large important oil painting commission is getting to be fun. With some custom art, the customer directs many parts of the process. With others, they cut me loose to just do my best and make it look good. This project is the latter. (so far)
The color on the top photo is early morning light in the painting workshop. I started with the close orange tree on the left, worked across the front row of the orchard, moved into the shadows beneath the orchard, and then began laying stones on the wall. The final photo shows the beginnings of rose bushes in the foreground.
I will continue correcting the colors, tightening the details, fixing wonky stone walls, and studying this until I know it by heart. It is large (for me), important, and deserves as much attention and care as I can possibly give, because there is no deadline!
P.S. Yes, that is a little stack of books. It will be improved on as the project progresses. Remember, this is for the Tulare County Library, to be displayed in their Woodlake branch.
Large Important Commission, Chapter 6
It was time to get back to the Large Important Commission. I repainted the sky, mountains and foothills, this time adding detail. I wanted to copy the rocks EXACTLY, which is ridiculous, because the hills are sort of made up. So I made up the rocks, and when I stepped back, they looked believable. That is the goal, rather than becoming a human Xerox machine. 
I stopped for a minute to sit down and mix some colors, and immediately Tucker jumped onto my lap. He was lucky to not get any paint on his tail, which was sticking straight up toward my palette.
The last time, the barn roof got a little bit pink. You know how I love to draw with my paintbrushes – this was a very satisfying fix. Because the paint is wet, it is shiny. And isn’t this the strangest roof? 
Next session I will keep adding detail to the orange trees, maybe add fruit, put the dirt and shadows in, start the wall, maybe even indicate where the roses will go.
In other painterly news, since Kelly’s Mineral King Sunset sold, I am painting another one to sell at Silver City, continuing to strike while the iron is hot. And since I am on a roll with Farewell Gap on very horizontal canvases, might as well start a second one, this time 8×16″ instead of 6×12″. This is the base coat on each one, just covering the canvas, getting the pieces in place, using colors that are close enough. Some people start with just browns or grays, but I think color is more fun.
9 Steps on a Custom Painting, Chapter 5
That’s a title change from the story of a large and important commissioned oil painting, but the saga continues as I build up the layers of paint and try to figure out how to make this worthy of “large and important” as a description..
Here are some thoughts and explanations as I bumble along. (The numbers don’t correspond to the photos.)
- The first photo has bright morning sunlight at the bottom; I wish I knew how to duplicate this sort of contrast with paint.
- As always, I started with the farthest items first – sky, then distant peaks, foothills next, citrus grove, etc.
- The mountains are from a photo I took north of Ivanhoe, which isn’t too much different from the view seen from this place between Lemon Cove and Woodlake.
- I moved the barn higher, which might have been a poor decision. The light and shadow on the roofs of the barn look pretty good.
- I have some confusion as to how to arrange the trees, because I am working from photos of differing viewpoints plus envisioning whatever makes sense from my previous experiences painting citrus groves.
- When I took the photos, there was a wildfire putting a dull haze of smoke over the colors. I am exaggerating the brightness because it makes for a more pleasing painting.
Now it needs to dry awhile. Next, I will correct things that are not believable, correct colors, tighten up details, and then wait for more drying so I can add more details, wait for more drying, add even more details. . .
Large Important Oil Painting, Chapter 4
Are you wondering why I asked the library to pay a 1/2 deposit on the commissioned oil painting? I have learned that if a place or person doesn’t pay a deposit, sometimes they disappear. Not often, but it has happened enough that I believe in the importance of a financial commitment on the part of the customer. With a place like the library, someone could change jobs and then the newcomers have no idea what took place. (I didn’t get to year #27 as your Central California artist by making the same mistakes more than once, no twice, wait, . . . never mind.)
I asked the librarian if she wanted to see photos of the painting in progress; she politely declined. I asked if I could show them on my blog; permission was granted.
Upside down forces me to see the proportions and shapes. The first layer is very thin, loose, nay, downright sloppy.
It’s okay. I know what I am doing. (It’s about time, eh?) It has been awhile since I reminded you that:
I use pencils, oil paint, and murals to make art people can understand of places and things they love for prices that won’t scare them.
Another Oil Commission
In case you might have forgotten, I use pencils, oil paint, and murals, to make art that you can understand of places and things you love, for prices that won’t scare you.
Sales pitch over – let’s get on with it.
A friend sent me this photo of Sawtooth because her mother said she’d like a painting of the signature peak of Mineral King. The photo is a little plain, so we decided that some wispy clouds in the sky and brighter aspens will jazz it up.
Here is the rough beginning of the painting.
I added some green blobs, then moved it into the drying area with Yosemite Falls. I could have kept going, but it was time to head up the hill. And sometimes I just quit in the middle of the day because I am the boss of my business and can do anything I want. (Fall down laughing . . . sometimes the business is the boss of me.)
OH NO! Yosemite Falls is sideways!
This is because the Yosemite friend first sent me a horizontal photo, so I wired the canvas that direction. After she changed her mind, I decided to wait until the painting is entirely dry to change the orientation of the wire. Being the boss of my business, I can do things in any order I want. Sometimes I just get rebellious and live on the edge like that.
P.S. I have good friends who like my art and prove it by hiring me, and I consider it a great honor, although sometimes I wish I could just give it all away. But then how would I pay for this overpriced laptop and all the hidden internet costs? And gas? Oh, food too. . . what about taxes? and YARN???
I Can Do Better
I thought the commissioned oil painting of a Giant Sequoia was finished. I photographed it, fixed the photo on Photoshop Junior (because there is no way to hold the camera perfectly aligned with the painting), and even varnished it.
Then I decided to compare it to the one that my customer saw and liked, painted back in 2012.
The darks are darker in this one, and it just looks better.
Back to the easel with my newest Big Tree oil painting, since I can do better, because. . .
. . .I make art that people can understand, of places and things they love, for prices that won’t scare them.
New Big Tree
The first painting that I sold at Kaweah Arts was a 6×18″ oil of a Sequoia tree. Immediately I painted another.
My mama didn’t raise a dummy. This time when the big tree sells, I will have another one ready for delivery to Kaweah Arts. Call me “Butter” because I am on a roll!
Don’t be scared. It will turn out just fine. They always do, except when they don’t, and then I repaint them into something else.
Seven Big Tree Oil Paintings
Sequoias, Big Trees, Redwoods. Since discovering the 6×18″ canvas size, I have painted redwoods on them seven times.
You can see that sometimes I used the same photo. I don’t know if these are shown here in the order painted, but I know for sure the last one is the most recent (and still quite wet at the time of this writing). I happen to like it best, which is a good sign that my skills have improved.
P.S. These trees are in Tulare County, right here in California’s flyover country. They are something about which we can feel good. There are many things about which we can feel good here, but if you know someone who wants to move here, go ahead and remind them that we are fat, uneducated, and poor. Oh, and there is high unemployment, bad air, and no Trader Joe’s either.
P.S. It costs a fortune to have a transplant, and while insurance covers much, there is much more that it does not cover. If you feel generous and inclined to help my friend, Rachelle, this is the best way to do so: HelpHopeLive.Org
Growing a Big Tree
The Big Trees, AKA Redwoods, AKA Sequoia Gigantea, take centuries to achieve their height and girth. Nay, millennia! In my painting workshop, they take about 2 days to 2 months, depending on the size of the canvas.
Orange groves were holding my interest more than Big Trees for awhile. But, this is an art BUSINESS, and it is prudent to paint what people want to buy. So, I returned to this painting. Here are the steps of growth.
The tree is unnamed, based on a photo of a named tree, but not followed exactly. Why not? Because the colors were a bit dull and the details were obscured either by poor light or branches. Exactness is required in architecture, portraiture, and some landscapture.
I made that last word up so it would match.
Usual disclaimer that all my paintings look better in person.
P.S. It costs a fortune to have a transplant, and while insurance covers much, there is much more that it does not cover. If you feel generous and inclined to help my friend, Rachelle, this is the best way to do so: HelpHopeLive.Org