Three Oranges, To Go, Please

Two weeks to paint three oranges, but really, only one because of a planned 2 days off and because of drying time.

No problem. . . just get outta my way! They don’t have to be truly identical, because each one will end up in a different home.

That sounded weird. If they were all in the same home, they really wouldn’t have to be identical. Never mind.

They will all be presented at the same time, so they need to be close. That way, no one says, “But I like his better!”

This is how it looked over the course of Day One at the easels.
The last step of Day One was painting layer #1 on the edges. When I return to the project in two days, they will be dry enough to put on the next layer. The second day of painting will be when I perfect all the details. 

Two days isn’t some formula; it is because I teach drawing lessons on the second day and have a prescheduled appointment on the third. On day four I can continue.

They most certainly need more work. . .

 

I Draw Better Now

Over a year ago, I was at a dinner and ran into someone who had bought a colored pencil drawing of oranges from me in the early 2000s. He mentioned that it was still hanging in his office.

I said, “I draw better now; can I have it back to fix it?”

Yes, I actually said that to a satisfied customer. He was sort of shocked, but he agreed; then, a year passed and I heard nothing.

Last week, one of my drawing students came to class with the original colored pencil drawing. She exercises with the customer’s wife, and I guess the man decided to take me up on my offer.

I’ve learned more about color than I knew back in my days of colored pencil. This is probably a result of learning to oil paint. (Last week I said that growth is good unless one is a cancer cell. . .)

BEFORE: Central California Sunshine, a colored pencil drawing from 2001

AFTER: Central California Sunshine, revised in 2017

Here, let’s look at them small, so they show up on the screen at the same time (depending on your device):

The upper one looks almost finished, the lower one looks finished. The difference is probably too subtle for normal people to notice, but it matters to me.

This drawing is available as a reproduction print, 11×14, $40. One time a potential customer told me she didn’t like it because the light on the orange on the left looked like frost to her. Ever since that time, whenever someone buys a print, I add color to it. It is time consuming, and it has made me wish to get the original back so I could fix it.

THANK YOU, DENNIS AND PATTY, for a chance to redeem my reputation!

Sequoia Trees and Navel Oranges

Sequoia trees and navel oranges are specialties of Central California, right here in Tulare County where I live and work as an artist (and now as an editor too).

So, I paint Sequoia trees and navel oranges. Often.

When these are dry, I’ll scan them and put them on my website for sale. Maybe I’ll put them on the blog too.

IMG_2209 IMG_2211 IMG_2212 IMG_2213

Fruit Looping

Last week we looked at 3 completed fruit paintings that included a squished orange.

I began 3 more fruit oil paintings (I AM a Central California artist, after all!) because I had 3 more of those extra thick canvases.

fruit oil paintings

Then, I looped back to the squished orange and unsquished it.

orange oil painting

Can you see the difference?

1545 Orange #123

Squished.

orange oil painting

Unsquished.

Looping around with my fruits.

Orange You Glad This Mural is Finished?

A drive-by shooting of the Rocky Hill label mural on the east wall of Rocky Hill Antiques, east of Exeter.

 

This is how the mural looks in the morning light. It faces east, so I was only able to work on it when the shade was 2 feet wide, around 2 in the afternoon.

And, in case you have forgotten, it has a hidden item! No prizes offered, just the satisfaction of finding it.

Taste The Arts

 

Blooming Oranges #2, 8×8″, oil on wrapped canvas, $125

Taste The Arts

Saturday, October 11, 2014

11 AM – 5 PM

Downtown Visalia 

 

Taste the Arts is the name of a street fair type event in Visalia. It is very extensive, with lots of opportunities to try different methods of making art. There will be demonstrations in  spray paint, stenciling and murals, along with lots of artists exhibiting and selling their work.

Here is their link: Taste The Arts

I participated in an early version of this show about 2 years ago. The Arts Consortium is the most organized group I’ve ever had the privilege of working with, and I expect this event to be great!

What Else Would You Expect a California Artist to Paint?

As a Central California artist, there are certain subjects that dominate my painting life.

If you have read this blog for any amount of time, I bet you can guess.

If you are new to this blog, welcome! You don’t have to guess because I am about to show you.

These two 11x 14″ paintings, citrus (or oranges, if you prefer) and poppies (or poppies and lupine) are drying on the wall in my painting workshop. I think the poppies painting wants more foliage. I could ask it, but instead, I’ll ask you. My chances of hearing something useful are better coming from you.

The commenting process on this blog is annoying. I think if you comment, it will tell you it didn’t go through. This is because it lands in a spam folder and then I have to “moderate” the comment.

Anyone want to try?

Thanks!

Inspired by Citrus

I am the daughter and granddaughter of citrus growers. I thought I might become a citrus grower myself, but I became an artist. Still self-employed, but in a much less risky and less regulated business. Still, I am inspired by citrus.

 

Usually I paint oranges as a still life, which means an orange or two on a table-top. Now I am painting 4 or 5 oranges on a table top, but it is the easel that is on the table top.

never mind. . . worry does strange things to my writing ability

If the colors look juiced up to you, it is a combination of the fancy-pants lights and the fact that the colors are indeed juiced up a bit.

“Juiced up” is the term I’m using to mean a bit over-bright or exaggerated. I’m finding it fun to do this. Just a phase or a new way of painting?

Dunno. Just looking for some fun.

Don’t worry. Be happy. Happy happy happy.

There! Don’t you feel better? A California artist has got to paint oranges!

I Love Tulare County

For some reason, it embarrasses me to admit this. So, I put it as the title of this post – practice saying it, feel it, face it. (Say it loud, say it proud?) I am a California Artist and I love Tulare County! (Is it warm in here or is it just me?)

Oranges #121, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $90, available here

My cousins visited from Northern California. She is from the Chicago area and he grew up  near Buffalo. (They are married so I consider him to be my cousin too.)

We spent part of a day in Sequoia. This is where they met while working for The Park’s concessionaire. (Here in Three Rivers we refer to Sequoia National Park as “The Park”.)

Sunny Sequoias XVIII, 8×8″, oil on wrapped canvas, $75, available here

Girl Cousin has inherited a portion of an orange grove where I spend the first 11 years of my life. (Don’t worry – we lived in a house, not under a tree.) So, we visited the grove. City folks say “ranch” and Citrus folks say “orchard” or “grove”.

Oranges #121, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $90, available here

 

Several thoughts:

  1. I expected that the day in The Park would be the most fun part of the time together, but
  2. The time in the citrus grove was the most fun.
  3. Perhaps this is because it was cold and wet and foggy in the Park and intermittently sunny in the grove.
  4. Or maybe it is because I had my eyes opened to how special it is to have grown up as the daughter, granddaughter and niece of citrus growers.
  5. Being a “tour guide” to Girl Cousin and Mr. Girl Cousin (sorry Bob – but you gotta laugh at that!) caused me to realize that I do know quite a bit about my county and about citrus. I was amazed by how much I had to say about it all. (I’m sure The Cousins were too.)
  6. In the course of these days together, it occurred to me that I do love Tulare County. We are poor, uneducated, fat and have very bad air* BUT we have Sequoia and we have citrus. So there.

P.S. Three Rivers might still be the best place to live in Tulare County, but my second choice is in an orange grove at the edge of the foothills.

*I have to point these things out so you all won’t move here.

Learning to Oil Paint

Remember in the olden days when I was an oil painter? This was before 2013, the year I drew 180 pencil drawings of Wilsonia cabins.

A number of my drawing students have been pressuring me to teach oil painting. We know one another fairly well so they understand how I teach, and I understand how each one of them learns. Besides, I believe strongly that a person needs to be able to draw before painting. You can read about it here.

There were four students in the first session, and they painted oranges. That is the first thing I  painted when I started learning. They painted from photos, because the light changes way too fast to paint from real life. It is especially tricky when one is mixing from the primaries, which is the way I paint. (Some day I will post about that for you.) With four people painting, I spent the entire time going from easel to easel, with a short lunch break. Every time I finished helping one person, the next person was stuck. It was exciting!

The following week there were eight students! Three were returnees, one had been to my studio for a private lesson and the other four were brand new to oil painting. The new ones were wondering how they’d do, the returnees wanted to finish their oranges, and one ambitious painter wanted to also paint a lemon.

The results of the two days painting sessions were FABULOUS!

Yes, I know. “Drawing with a paintbrush” and a watercolor brush at that! So? She was getting the job done and easing into it with the tools and style that she was comfortable with.

This is a former tole painter who has been learning to draw with me. We were very pleased with her results! (She likes to “draw” with short handled brushes too.)

At last year’s oil painting workshop, this participant painted a pomegranate. Now she has almost an orange to go with it.

This fabulous orange was painted by an advanced drawing student. If she decides to not pursue a career in medicine, she can always become an artist.

Last year a pomegranate, this year an orange AND A LEMON TOO?? In another year, I’ll be taking painting lessons from this woman!

Pretty good, eh? And this is her first oil painting in her entire life!

Sometimes when we are drawing, we turn both the photos and the piece of work upside down. It works for painting too, unless you are painting from real life. This gives our eyes the chance to override our preconceived notions of how a thing is supposed to look. It gives the right side of the brain precedence over the left side. It helps us fix the parts that aren’t correct. It is hard at first, but it is a great way to get better accuracy.

Not finished, but when it is, it will be stunning.

Orange, pomegranate and lemon oil painters, I am proud of you!