All those paintings of Sawtooth completed over the past several months, and someone wants a different size?
Yep. No problem. I am an artist, and artists make art. Here are the beginning steps of the commissioned oil painting of Sawtooth:
Wow, it is time-consuming and interruptive to photograph the steps in this much detail. But, this customer has become a friend and likes seeing the progress. I’ve heard from others that seeing the process is interesting, so here we go. . .
Oil painting isn’t my favorite thing; pencil drawing architectural subjects is my favorite thing. Given the choice between oil painting and waiting tables or cleaning motel rooms, OF COURSE I’d choose oil painting. However, some days it helps to have a bit of accountability to do the thing that isn’t my favorite.
My nephew didn’t want to go to class (he is in college) and I didn’t want to paint. So I said I would if he would. We both did. Yea, Nephew! Yea, me!
Here are the results of that accountability.This:
Became this:
And now looks like this:
All that remains is to let it dry so I can flip it onto its top to paint the bottom edge and then sign it!
And another Mineral King Sawtooth oil painting will be finished.
The layers continue to build on Sawtooth Peak, an oil painting.
As it was when you last saw it:
Another layer added to the sky:
Another layer added to Sawtooth:
Another layer added to the lower ridges:
And more added to the lower ridges:Yo, Professor Layer, may I be finished with the sky and the peak and the lower ridges now? (Can you see Trail Guy’s visor in the background as he adds grommets to the Kaweah Artisans banner?)
When this dries, I’ll put in branches at the bottom edges. I think this wants greenery, or maybe it is fine as it is. . .
What do you think??
I learned to oil paint in layers, called “glazing” in ArtSpeak.
The oil painting of Sawtooth is acquiring layer #2. Something I didn’t learn is this: how many layers does a painting require? If it looks great after layer #2, do I really have to put on more layers?
The teacher in the 1/2 semester class I took at the local junior college had us repaint the entire painting every single time we went to class. I learned a few things from him, but not why he thought so many layers are necessary. He could have just been making us practice and learn by repetition.
I don’t want to be like the woman who automatically cut off the end of the roast because her mom did, because her mom did. Turns out Grandma cut off the end because her pan was too short.
Here’s Sawtooth as layer #2 works its way down the canvas.
Last week I was a ninja-crazy painting factory, cranking out oil paintings of Mineral King. This is high season in the high country, and it is busy. Gotta get ’em done, visible, and selling.
Sounds a bit like a mercenary, an artist of fortune.
Nah. No fortunes are being made here. Just painting Mineral King.
Usually at a garage sale I am overtaken by the desire to go home, fill a box with stuff, and bring it back, sneak it onto a table, and tiptoe away. Stuff stresses me out. Too much stuff makes me twitch, mumble to myself, and randomly toss objects into the trash or a give-away barrel.
There might be a mental disorder that is the opposite of Hoarding. I might have it.
HEY! I THOUGHT THIS BLOG WAS ABOUT ART!
I’m getting there; keep your shirt on.
I found a cupboard door at a garage sale. It was all alone, no cupboard, no twin, no handle. It suddenly looked like a canvas that wanted paint.
So, I bought it and painted it. Stuff with a clear use is exempt from my Too-Much-Stuff-Problem.
Sawtooth is one of the prominent landmark peaks of Mineral King, visible from Visalia. (I prefer to look at it, hike beneath it, photograph, paint and draw it rather than climb it or be flown off of it.)
Sawtooth on cupboard door, approximately 9×21″, oil, sold
It sold to a visitor to my studio on First Saturday Three Rivers while it was wet. As long as it was signed, she was happy. And if the customer is happy, I am happy.