April Distractions in Three Rivers

I tried to oil paint last Friday but the greenery and wildflowers overcame my sense of duty. So, Trail Guy and I drove up North Fork Drive to the end.

My palette was ready to go.
I worked on Sawtooth a little.
After telling Trail Guy that I’d heard the flowers were great up North Fork and staring out the window a bit, he said, “Let’s go now!”

The road was longer, rougher, narrower than I remembered and all very worth the drive.

The last 3.5 miles are unpaved.
This is Yucca Creek at the end of North Fork Drive.
That’s one narrow little footbridge over a massive old culvert pipe.
Wowsa.
The yellow flowers are called Madia.
Heading back down has a view of Ash Peak with a blooming yucca and bush lupine.
Looking over the edge down to the North Fork makes one glad to not encounter any oncoming traffic on that narrow road with no turnouts.
Poppies are yellower in the wild than in my yard.
The poppies on the hillsides are what gave California its name of “The Golden State”. (Bet you thought it was the gold rush)
I love Fairy Lanterns, AKA Satin Bells. Pink isn’t my favorite color, but it is rare enough in nature that it stands out.

After we got back home, I painted a little bit more. There is this commissioned oil painting of Sawtooth for a very patient customer, and it would be good to make progress.

Sawtooth’s shape is improving, and it is acquiring colors and texture.

Then, I got distracted again and thought that wildflowers would look great on a 6×18″ canvas. Can you see the possibilities here? (Put on your rose-colored glasses with me!)

Planning a wildflower oil painting.

More Easel Time

Remember the commissioned oil painting of Sawtooth? I do, really, I do. Please don’t worry, DV!

It looked like this after the first painting session.
Now the sky and upper half of the painting has another layer that is more dramatic, which means both the colors and contrast are stronger.

It was a rainy overcast day, and by the time I got to the Sawtooth part of the painting, the light was too poor to mix colors accurately. That wasn’t very important on the first layer, but it is increasingly important as the layers build.

So, I moved on to a Kaweah Post Office commission. SD asked me to paint another Kaweah Post Office IX for her. This one is number IXV. It should be XV, but I didn’t number one of my earlier Kaweah Post Office paintings. That happens a lot around here.

Kaweah Post Office IX was painted in 2013; its twin will be painted in 2018 with a few adjustments. It will be a fraternal twin, rather than an identical one.
Gotta start somewhere. . . Don’t worry, SD. I’ll paint until you are thrilled with the results!

As I was painting, I realized it would be helpful to see the one this was modeled after, because maybe this wasn’t the actual photo used for that one. Yea for a laptop.

A decent start.
Added to the drying rack (who is back there making all that noise??)

Starting Over Again With Sawtooth

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:

First I assign an inventory #, title the piece and attach a hanging wire.
Second step is to prime the canvas, or “tone” it as another artist names it. That was even more boring than Step #1, so this photo is showing the paint from the tubes and the colors I mixed to begin the painting.
Painting from back to front means that the blue sky strips go on first.
Then some clouds, and the realization that it would be helpful to crop the photo to a square.
More clouds and the beginning of Sawtooth’s shape.
The angle looked too steep on Sawtooth’s right side slope, so I pulled out my angle finder tool. It was a little tricky to take this photo so I am not holding the thing correctly here (vertical needs to be vertical, not tipsy). I’ll recheck the angle in the next layer.
At the end of the painting session, everything had a first coat of paint.

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 Accountability

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.

Sawtooth Peak Oil Painting Continued

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??

 

Layer By Layer

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.

New Mineral King Paintings

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.

 

1627 Sawtooth XVI
Sawtooth XVI, oil on wrapped canvas, 8×8″, $100
1628 Sawtooth XVII
Sawtooth XVII, oil on wrapped canvas, 8×8″, $100

Sawtooth on a Cupboard Door?

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 oil painting on a cupboard door

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.