Pencil Commission

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Has anyone ever had an unpleasant UPS driver? I think they must all be screened by personality before getting hired. If they are high energy, extroverted, optimistic, friendly, and have a good sense of humor along with a great memory, then they are candidates to drive those big brown trucks.

My UPS driver will retire soon, and he likes my art. He knows about my art because our buildings have murals on them, he delivers supplies to me, and I often greet him with a paintbrush in each hand.

He has the privilege of delivering to Sequoia National Park, and has taken some fun pictures of his truck surrounded by beautiful scenery. He wants a pencil drawing of his truck in one of these scenes, and has been sharing ideas with me for a few months. 

Recently, we figured out the best combination of brown truck with Sequoia scenery. Because the photos he shared with me belong to him, and because I don’t know the rules of a huge company like UPS, I will only show you my beginning sketches.

This is okay, but could be better. Trail Guy and I discussed the possibilities, because he actually has a very good sense of composition. (And zero desire to learn to draw or paint, so don’t even suggest that to him). We agreed on a solution.

Mr. UPS is good with either idea, but this one is definitely the winner.

He has no deadline, but it is nice to draw in my studio with reliable heat so I dove in quickly. Stay tuned. . .

Redwood, Sequoia, Big Tree?

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Hi Pippin! I hate it when you have a campout, but at least you are camouflaged pretty well in the non-spring months.

Couldn’t think of anything to say about today’s paintings except that I might have enough sequoia/redwood/big tree paintings for a little while. Might have had a bit too much fun at the class reunion (Redwood High School, Visalia, Class of ’77) to be very articulate. (No, I don’t drink, but lack of sleep has similar outcomes of stupidity and dull-wittedness).

Sequoia, Big Tree, or Redwood?

If you can’t see the photos, go here: cabinart.net/blog.

Sequoia, Big Tree, or Redwood? 

All three work. 

Redwood High School class of ’77 45th reunion is this weekend. So few people are attending that it was moved to a smaller location (no, not Goshen or Farmersville or Ivanhoe). I will be attending because many people travel great distances to go, and it would be quite rude if I couldn’t be bothered to go 35 miles to Visalia. Besides, maybe someone will show up who likes and then buys my work. “Networking”, I think it is called. Now, back to production.

Three paintings are now completed and ready for display and sale at Kaweah Arts in Three Rivers.

In the Big Trees, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $125 (plus Calif. sales tax)

Sequoia, 8×8″, oil on wrapped canvas, $100 (plus you know)

Big Tree, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $65 (plus. . . sigh.)

 

Finding titles for these pieces is quite the chore. Painting them is easy, because now I have enough experience that I can make them up, using a photo just to get a clue.

Welcome to the World, New and Improved Oil Painting

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When paintings are slow to sell, it is a good art business practice to analyze them. This is best done with the help of someone who knows the customers. 

Recently I took a hard look at this painting, one that I had always liked, because I love seeing dogwood in bloom around redwood trees. But what if I am the only one who feels that way? I am here to earn a living, not to paint for myself. (Well, sometimes I do allow a painting to live in my house for awhile, but that isn’t the main point of all the easel time.)

I asked the proprietor of Kaweah Arts why she thought this hadn’t sold yet. She and I have been friends for many years, always honest with one another. I told her that I figured most of her customers don’t even know what dogwood is, because the bulk of them visit Sequoia National Park in the summer when the dogwood isn’t in bloom.

She very diplomatically replied that her customers are interested in the big trees alone. Of course they buy other items, but sequoia trees are what Sequoia National Park was formed around.

Together we evaluated the painting, and then I told her to remove it from the inventory list, because I was taking it back to the easels.

This is how it went.

Welcome to the world, new and improved

“Redwood, Dogwood”, oil on wrapped canvas, 12×16″, $325.

Back to the Easels, the Sawhorses, and the Big Chair

Oil paintings generally happen on an easel; acrylic mural paint goes onto panels of scrap wood resting on some sawhorses. What’s “the Big Chair”? Glad you asked. Keep reading.

Sawhorse Project

Kaweah Arts requested a panel with a single redwood where the entire tree is visible. I have 2 different sizes of these panels, and instead of waiting to hear which size the customer wants, I will paint them both. These sell steadily to people passing through while visiting Sequoia. Eventually, The Park will be reopened, and those customers will resume stopping by Kaweah Arts while on their way to The Park.

I don’t think this is quite finished but I was running out of daylight.

On the Easels

These were on the easels. The top one is a bit of a do-over and the others are just the first pass over the canvas. They will help resupply Kaweah Arts after I rob them of the large paintings to take to the Courthouse Gallery for the show Images of Home.

These are ready to be varnished.

The Big Chair

A friend makes these giant redwood Adirondack chairs; I painted an indoor mural to earn a few of these. This one was in the perfect position to hold 5 paintings while they dried in the sunshine after I varnished them. Can’t even see the chair, can you?

Okay, here comes the announcement. I hope it doesn’t become invisible to you from too much repetition.

Images of Home

Exeter Courthouse Gallery

November 14 – December 30, 2021

Opening Reception – Sunday, November 14, 1-4 p.m.

7 New Oil Paintings, 6 of Sequoia

In one day! That’s because only the fun “gravy work” was remaining on 6 of them, you know, the part where I get to draw with my paintbrushes, which were behaving well that day.

The 2 on the easel just needed the edges painted and my signature. The 2 little Sequoias needed better colors, more detail, edges, and signatures.

Being a frugal person, I didn’t want to waste the remaining oil paint on my palette, so I made the impulsive decision to paint this meadow. There is a large painting of Crescent Meadow that is garnering much attention at Kaweah Arts but the price is scaring customers. So, maybe this little one will satisfy that itch.

Here are all the completed paintings, drying in the painting workshop, which won’t take long in the 100 degree days of July, here in Central California. Top to bottom: 2 sequoia paintings (6×6″ each), Crescent Meadow (maybe) (6×18″), Moro Rock (8×10″), Tunnel Log (ditto), Kaweah Post Office (ditto), Giant Sequoia (6×18″).

Growing a Big Tree

The Big Trees, AKA Redwoods, AKA Sequoia Gigantea, take centuries to achieve their height and girth. Nay, millennia! In my painting workshop, they take about 2 days to 2 months, depending on the size of the canvas. 

Orange groves were holding my interest more than Big Trees for awhile. But, this is an art BUSINESS, and it is prudent to paint what people want to buy. So, I returned to this painting. Here are the steps of growth.

The tree is unnamed, based on a photo of a named tree, but not followed exactly. Why not? Because the colors were a bit dull and the details were obscured either by poor light or branches. Exactness is required in architecture, portraiture, and some landscapture. 

I made that last word up so it would match.

Big Tree, 6×18″, oil on wrapped canvas, $165 plus the dreaded state sales tax (which most likely will be wasted but it is one of the prices we pay for living in the Golden State.)

Usual disclaimer that all my paintings look better in person.

P.S. It costs a fortune to have a transplant, and while insurance covers much, there is much more that it does not cover. If you feel generous and inclined to help my friend, Rachelle, this is the best way to do so: HelpHopeLive.Org

Really Big Tree for Kaweah Arts

Today is the grand opening of Kaweah Arts! 

Kaweah Arts, 41841 Sierra Drive, 10-6 today

So, I painted a really big tree for them to sell.

The really big Big Tree is about 5 feet high by 16″ wide. It isn’t quite finished in this photo, because I wrote this post before “drawing” a few more details, signing, and painting the edges.

It is $250. Why so inexpensive? Because mural paints cost less, the wood panel was free (thank you, Trail Guy), and it is painted ever so much quicker than an oil painting.

Also because I use pencils, oil paint, and murals to make art that people can understand of places and things they love FOR PRICES THAT WON’T SCARE THEM.

Come see it at Kaweah Arts in Three Rivers today!!

P.S. It costs a fortune to have a transplant, and while insurance covers much, there is much that it does not cover. If you feel generous and inclined to help my friend, Rachelle, this is the best way to do so: HelpHopeLive.Org

Pencil Reminiscing, Part Seven

After publishing the notecard set of Backcountry Structures of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, I moved into the front country of the park. That’s where most of the people visit, and now I had connections in the organization that stocked the ranger stations and visitor centers in the parks.

I didn’t save any labels, so I don’t know if this is when I switched to 4 cards per package instead of 5, or if I lost a sample card along the way. I remember taking the photos for these drawings, because my niece went with me. There was a long line for photos in front of the General Sherman Tree, so Ashley and I got in line. When it was our turn, she went up to the tree and then laid on the ground behind the sign so I could take a photo without any people in it. The other visitors were quite puzzled by this, but I was thrilled by Ashley’s innovative solution. I think I actually drew her into the picture of the Four Guardsmen, but now I can’t see details that small.

To be continued. . .

Show on Short Notice

Told you it was a busy week! So busy that I forgot to post.

I received a “Call to Artists”. This is ArtSpeak for “Hey, wanna put your art in a show?”

The point of the show is to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the National Park Service.

The duration of the show is August 1 – September 30.

The location is the Courthouse Gallery in Exeter.

The deadline for entry is JULY 14!! Tomorrow!

The entry process was a little vague and somewhat complex, and with the short notice, I was scrambling. I have plenty of art of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, probably enough to fill the entire Courthouse Gallery all by my lonesome, but it has to be framed, the size determined, a price set, titles assigned, and photos or scans taken. This is part of the business of art.

Suddenly instead of working on the Exeter coloring book, I was pulling drawings from drawers, taking frames from storage and off the walls, digging through a box of mats, retouching drawings and occasionally reshaping them so they will fit in available mats and frames.

Bridge at Lodgepole2 Roaring River Falls2

Tomorrow I will describe my framing process. Prepare to either laugh or start snatching yourself bald in frustration.