I don’t want to talk about wildfires, evacuation orders, plagues, epidemics, or politics. I just want to draw and make my customers happy.
This is before:
And this is after:
Now I am waiting for my customer to tell me if this is what she requested. I can keep going, if I have good instruction. It is a pleasure to work for people who know what they want and express it clearly.
P.S. Happy artist too.
When it was time to mail the cabin drawing to the customer, I packaged it. Trail Guy came out to the studio to offer his delivery services, and I was delighted to not have to interrupt my work with a trip to the Post Office. Yes, I know it is only 3-4 miles away, but in the summers, my work days are limited because I keep going to Mineral King instead of keeping my feet planted in front of the easels. So, I value my work time and appreciate not having to do my own errands.
Trail Guy returned from the Post Office with the receipt and an explanation of why it cost $18 to send a piece of paper to San Diego – had to buy a box, pay for insurance, etc. And “piece of paper” isn’t meant to discount the value of an original pencil drawing, but essentially, to the post office, it was a highly insured piece of paper packaged carefully in an overpriced box.
He turned toward the counter in the painting workshop, picked up a taped-together bundle of cardboard and said, “What is this?”
Ahem. That would be the drawing that I thought he had just mailed.
When I got back up off the floor from laughing, I emailed my customer to tell her to expect a box of cardboard, minus her drawing before actually receiving the drawing.
Later that afternoon, I went to the Post Office with the actual drawing. The clerk retrieved the box from the back, we opened it, inserted the drawing, and she taped it back up. No new packaging, no new payments. It was in time to go out with that day’s mail.
I LOVE THE POST OFFICE IN THREE RIVERS!!
“Cabin Art” or “Cabinart”* began with pencil drawings of cabins. It it a treat to be able to draw cabins when those jobs come in.
Someone saw a copy of my book The Cabins of Wilsonia and asked if I could draw her parents’ cabin, working from emailed photographs.
You betcha!
I showed it to you a bit earlier while in progress. I gave it my best effort to work from the customer’s photos and a sketch, and then sent her a scan of the almost finished drawing to her. She asked if I could add something that didn’t really show in the photos, a procedure that is almost always dicey. Since she communicated clearly throughout the project, I was willing to try.
Got it!
We talked about possibly having cards made in the future, so she paid the fee to do the digitization. Now you get to see what it looks like before and after getting digitally prepared. Something about scanning a drawing picks up every little anything that appears in and on the paper. Can you see the difference?
*It puzzles me that as a Typo-psycho, I never figured out how the name of my business should be spelled.
I had* a good customer who used to email me photos of places to draw that he would give as gifts. I don’t know where many of the houses were and just had to do my best with a single snapshot. He kept giving me work, so I guess my best was good enough for him.
Some friends have made several trips to Ireland and hired me draw memories for them of their trips. They haven’t yet invited me to go with them – they are regular friends, not Really Really Great Friends.
Some other friends have had several visits to this “cabin” in Colorado. They provided photos, but alas, no invitation to accompany them either.
Another cute house from a provided snapshot of an unidentified place by former* customer.
I am your Central California artist, using pencils to make art that people understand of places and things they love at prices that won’t scare them. (One who won’t turn down an offer to visit a beautiful location to take my own photos).
*He was a good customer, a joy to work with, but the last time we communicated, he said he couldn’t think of anyone else to give drawings to!
Custom art, also known as commissioned art, is a communication challenge.
If someone asks me in advance of taking photos, I instruct him to take many photos of the place from different angles, and then up close for all detail that might be hidden in shade or behind trees.
Often there are giant obstacles, such as old blurry photos of places that are no longer in existence, places that are far far away (Montana, South Africa, Cape Cod all come to mind from past experiences), or places that are only accessible in one season or not visible due to weird angles of land or too many trees. 
.
Times have changed, and most people have lots of photos on their phones, so I get what I get and I don’t get upset. Basically, people do the best they can, so I’ve learned to work with whatever comes. The key is clear communication – someone who is responsive and can explain things that aren’t visible in the photos can make up for weak reference photos.
Today’s drawings are examples of having worked from blurry or old photos that could not be supplemented with more details. The customer had to fill in with memories, supplied to me in words rather than pictures.
Tomorrow I’ll show you drawings from places that are far away. Maybe we can discuss why it is that customers won’t fly me to Montana to take my own photos. . .
With much of the custom art that I do, I don’t get to actually see the places in person. This is less tricky than in the olden days of film cameras and waiting for pictures to get developed and then put in the mail.
Someone I’ve never met saw a copy of my book The Cabins of Wilsonia, went to my website, and used the contact button to ask me if I could draw her parents’ cabin in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
(Obviously I needed my website redesigned to emphasize the fact that I make art people can understand of places and things they love at prices that won’t scare them – i.e. CUSTOM ART!)
As usual, I said I’d need to see the photos first. She sent me several.
The customer sent me more information.
I began the drawing, even though I didn’t have all the answers yet.
Finally, I took these photos and sent them to her. She was thrilled and I was relieved.
I asked again about the left end gable because it shows in the drawing, and I want it to be right. She responded immediately with this immensely helpful photo.
Doing custom art of places I’ve never been to requires many photos, conversations, and sketches. It is a mystery and a puzzle, and when I am on the right track, it is enormously satisfying to grant the customer’s wishes and exceed her expectations.
Meanwhile, may I interest you in a copy of The Cabins of Wilsonia?
I learned that the cabin owner was going to be present in Mineral King, so I put the “pedal to the metal” and finished the drawing late one evening in the studio in order to deliver it in person. The customer was very pleased and surprised.
There is a great deal of satisfaction and relief when I have a chance to redraw something from my Primitive Era. (That’s what my dad told me to to call my earlier artwork.)
Have I told you lately that I love to draw in pencil?
Last week I had the opportunity to give a drawing lesson to a girl that I only see once a year while in Mineral King. Instead of taking her through all the usual steps, I took a shortcut to a finished drawing. This is because she will be drawing on her own, far away without me hovering and coaching.
After looking through my photos, she chose this photo: 
We went through the beginning steps, and suddenly, 2 hours had passed. Now what?? How can I help her continue?
By drawing the picture for her and letting her copy the drawing, that’s how! It is easiest to learn to draw from other people’s drawings, because you can see what they made the pencil do.
To keep my head from getting fat, have a look at these two sketches from 1985 and 1986. WHY do my friends keep these things? And WHY do they send them to me?? To keep my head from getting fat, of course.
That “artist” could have used a few drawing lessons.
P.S. What a blessing to still be friends and in touch with people after 35 years!
After my booming (in my own little mind) success with the original set of notecards for Tulare County, Mineral King, and Visalia landmarks, I moved on. My memory is fuzzy about which card sets came next, and at what point I quit my job in the print shop. I worked from our little house in Lemon Cove and supplemented my income with a summer job baking at the Silver City Store, helping out at a friend’s Exeter gift shop for Christmas, and filling in at the printer when they had need.
The ideas continued to flow. Now it was time for Tulare County Landmarks II, which moved into other towns of the county.
Since this set included Lindsay, Tulare, Porterville, and Exeter, I found stores in all those little towns to sell the cards. I may have spent as much in gas expenses to drive around calling on the stores as my profits.
(The little circles are holes; these cards were samples for customers to see what was in the variety packages.)
To be continued. . .
After the notecard set of Tulare County Landmarks began selling, the ideas began flowing. Mineral King was the next logical set, especially since I already had two drawings finished. Reruns, but I didn’t care and didn’t think anyone else did either.
This was the first time I drew the Oak Grove Bridge; this view is now too overgrown to photograph the bridge clearly.
All of these were from my own photos with the exception of the Mineral King Store. I don’t remember my family going to Mineral King until after the store had disappeared, so I used an old postcard without any regard or concern for copyright laws.
This is also the first time I drew the scene of Farewell Gap with the Crowley cabin. I had no idea how popular that would become or that I would draw and paint it so many more times (or any idea that I would become a painter).
Stay tuned. . . many more notecards ahead in this series!