When I worked exclusively in pencil, a drawing had to have contrast. My friend Debbie used to say, “Remember, black is your friend.” She was right. Without contrast, a drawing is flat, plain gray and boring. Paintings can sometimes get away with not very much contrast. They don’t look great, but the color distracts from […]
Business Decisions Are Hard Without A Crystal Ball
Maybe they are hard with one too. I’ve been getting the message from several sources that my prices are too low. My subject matter is Tulare County, and most of my customers are here. Because we are poor, fat, undereducated, breathing bad air, and accustomed to frugality, I price my art work accordingly. Common art marketing […]
Making People Cry
My dear friend Natalie moved to Texas about 18 years ago. I still miss her. We email, write letters, talk on the phone very occasionally, and every so often we find a way to visit each other. Natalie is such a great person that her boss and co-worker decided to buy a couple of paintings […]
The California Artist Finds Her Big Girl Pants
I got serious about working on this commissioned oil painting of the Kaweah Post Office in Three Rivers for a nice (and hopefully patient) lady from New Jersey. Now, this is more like it. layers, details, contrast, texture. It needs to dry so I can paint the words on the signs – KAWEAH, POST OFFICE. […]
More about lavender
My amazing friend Barbara grows lavender. She opens her lavender gardens (or is it a farm?) to the public each June when the lavender is at its peak. People can harvest bunches of lavender. The dates of this event are a little squishy, because the bloom is dependent on the weather. This year, it is […]
New Mineral King Paintings
Last summer, the Silver City Store sold a pile of paintings for me. This summer I am preparing in advance, so each time I stop by and see one is gone, I can put another in its place. I had a stack ready to go, and then 2 of them sold. Nope, I don’t mind […]
Painting Preparation or Procrastination?
It has been about 2 months since this California Artist did any oil painting. When I take a long hiatus*, I wonder if I will be able to paint any more. I used to have that little niggling worry about drawing when several weeks would pass without my picking up a drawing pencil (unless I […]
Three Rivers Oil Paintings all called “Kaweah”
A couple of oil paintings sold, so I moved them from their pages on the website to the Sold page. In the process, I realized that several paintings are not on the site that should be. Kaweah River in Fall, 10×10″, $125 They won’t load. Technology confounds me once again. Just when I think I […]
A Painting Break
Because my self-imposed drawing quota for The Cabins of Wilsonia was met for February, I used the last week of the month to knock out a few oil paintings. Two are commissions, and the rest are to sell at the Three Rivers gallery Colors. Here they are in progress: Kind of nice to be working in […]
Loosiosity, Revisited
“Loosiosity” is a word coined by my customer/student/friend Sara. Because it is one of those self-defining words, I’m guessing that you can figure it out. Sara commissioned me to paint a scene for her based on a piece of art she had seen and loved. I had a little photo of that art, but didn’t want […]