oil paintings | Cabin Art

Meanwhile, Back at the Easels

We’ve had a long break from actually working in my studio. Murals, Mooney Grove, diversions. However, while you have been social distancing, I have been painting.

The Oak Grove Bridge is my favorite subject to draw and paint. Currently I only have two in my inventory, and when/if the Silver City Resort opens its store this summer, I would like to have more for sale.

I began a new painting, this one 10×10″. (Above: 6×18″ and 24×30″)

Then I began a table full of little ones, all based on Mineral King wildflowers. Hard to tell these are based on anything at all. Guess you’ll have to just wait for more to be revealed.

HEY! I haven’t offered you the book that came out last year for awhile, Mineral King Wildflowers. Here it is, just in case you were waiting for a convenient opportunity to buy one. (But I bet all 12 of my readers have a copy because you are probably my best friends who were listed in the dedication of the book.)

100 page paperback, flowers in photos, common names only, lots of chatty commentary, $20 including tax.
Available here
Also available at the Three Rivers Historical Museum, Silver City Store, from me if I put them in my car, or Amazon.

P.S. The Three Rivers Historical Museum is closed due to The Thing, and the Silver City Store is closed due to the season.

oil paintings

More Oil Interludishness

Yeppers, I made up another word. It simply means that I was able to paint a few more days than expected and have more progress to show you on Mineral King oil paintings.More detail on the painting on the left, but more contemplation is needed before signing this.

What does Pippin think?Since Pippin didn’t offer any help, I added wildflowers to these two.That was fun, so I did the same to the painting on the left.Now let’s tackle this unusual arrangement of a usual subject matter, the Honeymoon Cabin in Mineral King, now a little museum. Well, actually right now it is boarded up for the winter. And let’s just paint it, not tackle it, hmmm?This turned out really well, so when it is dry, I’ll photograph it minus the poor afternoon sunlight and sheen of wet paint so you can fully appreciate its specialness.

Pippin? Got anything to add here?

Guess not. He just adds cuteness to my life.

oil paintings

Oil Interlude

“Interlude” is a musical term that means in interruption with a lude.

Wait, what?

Nothing. Just messing around with words. After finishing the oak tree mural, I had days of appointments, administrative work, errands, and other things that interfered with painting, However, I did get in a few days of painting Mineral King scenes, and here are the results.

Started this one back in early January, a 10×10″.

I felt confident and hardly looked at the photo while finishing.

Is it finished? When it is dry, I’ll see if there is a believable way to add some wildflowers.

This is 6×18″, a fun format and size to paint. It forces me to distill a scene to its essence.

It will need wildflowers. The title is “Mineral King Wildflowers”, so duh.

Oak Grove Bridge # 29. Probably a higher number, but I was a little sloppy in my earlier record keeping.

In the interest of offering these paintings for sale, the following advertisement is for your convenience/to ignore – your choice.

I sell 6×18″ for $150 plus tax which brings it to about $160; the square is 10×10″ for $175 plus tax, about $190. The plan is to have a good inventory for this coming summer, but if you are interested in buying any of these paintings now, it can be arranged. Comment here or contact me with the contact button or email me or say something to Trail Guy if you see him at the Post Office or grocery store.

Planning Time

Each year in January, I evaluate the Mineral King paintings that sold over the summer. I make lists of sizes, subject matter, what sold, what didn’t sell. Then I plan what to paint for the next summer, choosing sizes, subject matter, and photos to work from.

Because there are many guests who return yearly to Silver City where my paintings sell, I have to be careful to vary the sizes and views, while maintaining a good inventory of the most popular subjects. The classic view of the Crowley Cabin with Farewell Gap in the background remains the top seller; the Honeymoon Cabin and Sawtooth are usually neck and neck for second place. After that, anything with water, and as long as I add wildflowers, any other subject usually sells.

The 6×18″ format has done very well, either horizontal or vertical. It is unusual and fits into squishy little spaces.

Painting this time of year can be uncomfortable in the workshop. Trail Guy lights the heater, and then we shut the doors to keep the heat in. Sometimes the cats are on the wrong side of the door (whichever side they are on is usually the wrong side for them.)

Of course I had to start with my favorite subject, the Oak Grove Bridge.

The next largest size I’ll need this coming summer is 10×10″. These are small sizes for oil paintings if sold in a gallery; I am selling these in a store that caters to folks who travel light. Different locale, different clientele, so different sizele. (Sorry, that just fit there.)Good start to this season’s paintings. I’m cold, so I’ll go in the studio now where the heater is more effective and I can’t hear the neighbor’s dogs as loudly.

Mineral King oil paintings

Tightening Up Plein Air Paintings

This past summer I painted plein air (on location) in Mineral King for the first time in about a dozen years. The results were mixed; I wasn’t fully satisfied with 2 of the paintings.

So, I put them back on the easels last month and tightened up the details. Can you see the difference?

After – Crowley Cabin, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $125

After – Empire and Cabins, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, sold

There are always more things I could have done. (Time for me to stop looking at these.) And be assured, they always look better in person.

Mineral King oil paintings oil paintings plein air plein air painting

Paint On, O Painter

I recently read O Pioneers by Willa Cather. Can you tell by the title of this post? I’m glad I finally read it, enjoyed it, but wouldn’t gush about it to others or call it a “must read”.

With all the spring beauty, it is a little bit hard to keep my feet planted in front of the easel, but I press onward. Currently I’m listening for the second time to The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg while I paint, and that helps keep me working. (Very good book)

The trees in the foreground look as if a fire has gone through the neighborhood, so I added detail.

These are all finished. Trail Guy still thought the top painting of Alta Alpenglow looked fire-ravaged, so I added more fuzzy things to resemble some foliage. Probably just looks like mistletoe now.

These are also finished. That makes 16 of 32 finished, mostly Mineral King oil paintings, halfway through my stack (in case you didn’t want to do the math).

I like this – Trail Guy and Young Trail Girl, releasing a fish back into the stream.

So very tiny. . . I’ll need to work on it further, if the 2-hair brush and my magnifying glasses hold up.

This is a relief after the tee-niny-eensy people.

None of these are finished, but they are close. Maybe I’ll be faster on my next painting day so that my mean painting boss will let me go outside.

Mineral King oil paintings oil paintings

Painting a Half Day

Isn’t that an odd title? One day last week my walking buddy and I decided to drive to a new place and walk a trail instead of heading out at dark-thirty with flashlights and walking a road. This meant that I only had a half day to paint. So, hubba hubba hubba, let’s git ‘er dun. The plan was to get the last 9 paintings covered with the basics in colors and shapes, not to detail anything. In other words, to do a job, not a good job.

2 alike, an 8×8″ and a 6×6″. This is the most popular Mineral King oil painting subject.

Five more makes nine. Now what shall I work on?

I climbed up on a ladder to get a view of a table full of paintings in progress. There are 20 here. You’re welcome (I know you were wondering whether or not to take the time to count these.)

While on the ladder, I looked out the door at my irises in bloom.

Before deciding what to work on next, I took another census. With these, I’m up to 28 paintings.

But wait! There are 5 more, for a total of 33. When I said there are 32 in progress, I was ignoring the citrus.

This one! I’ll do this one next. I might be a teensie bit bored with painting greens.

After photographing a painting, I can see the things that aren’t quite right. Why are those things more visible on a computer screen than in person? What is more important than matching the photo is deciding if the painting can stand alone.

And as a reward for being so productive, I chose to work on my favorite bridge. The colors are weird in the painting because it was actually dark outside when I took the photo, so the camera was confused.

Phew. That was a sprint. And after walking 6 miles in the morning. . . I’ll show you our walk tomorrow.

P.S. The promised update on a memorial service for The Cowboy
Bert Raymond Weldon, May 21, 1956 — January 8, 2019
CELEBRATION OF LIFE AND RECEPTION Friday, March 15, 2019, 11:00 a.m. CrossCity Christian Church, 2777 E. Nees Avenue, Fresno, California 93720

Mineral King oil paintings oil paintings

Painting Animals

No motivational quotes today, just some paintings in progress.

A little more detailing, a signature, and BaddaBing, BaddaBoom. (Cowboy Bert used to say that when he meant a thing was finished.)

Maybe these roosters could be named BaddaBing and Badda Boom.

Tucker had a few days of being under the weather and off his feed. (Any more cliches to describe this?) He’s back to normal except a bit more tired than usual.

P.S. Here is the promised info on the memorial service for The Cowboy.
Bert Raymond Weldon, May 21, 1956 — January 8, 2019
CELEBRATION OF LIFE AND RECEPTION Friday, March 15, 2019, 11:00 a.m. CrossCity Christian Church, 2777 E. Nees Avenue, Fresno, California 93720

chicken paintings oil painting oil paintings painting poultry

Determined, Persistent, Responsible

“Determination gives you the resolve to keep going, in spite of the roadblocks that are before you.”—Denis Waitley

“I will persist until I succeed.”—Og Mandino

“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”—President Abraham Lincoln

Assembly line of Honeymoon Cabin paintings.

Listening to podcasts pulls me through painting days that feel as if I will NEVER finish ANYTHING. (This feeling may simply be a result of starting 32 paintings at the same time.)

Baby steps, back to front, the usual process.

As I worked on these paintings, I was entertained by the slightly raunchy podcast “By The Book”, where 2 women read self-help books and then live by them. I got tired of their cussing, so I switched to the fabulous motivational speaker Brian Buffini, where I heard the quotes above.

The photos have simply become guides for me as I revisit familiar subjects. This does make the process of painting easier.

In spite of not finishing any paintings, it was a productive day. I WILL get to the fun parts of drawing with my paintbrush, putting in the details that make me like to paint, and then signing the paintings. Why? Because I am determined, persistent, and responsible and because I have podcasts to listen to while I push ahead.