Let’s count the recent Big Tree* paintings: 1. Big Tree Sold at Kaweah Arts 2. Second Big Tree painted and delivered to Kaweah Arts 3. Third Big Tree painted in anticipation of another sale 4. A fourth Big Tree begun as a commissioned oil painting.
Now Big Tree #3 looks too skinny.
*Remember, Big Tree refers to Sequoia Gigantea AKA Redwood
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.
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
Today is the grand opening of Kaweah Arts!
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
After adding the birch branches to the Hard House oil painting commission, I happened to look at an oil painting of a Sequoia in my studio. For some reason, I haven’t really liked this painting very well.
Since it hasn’t sold, maybe no one else likes it either. After working on the sequoia mural and the giant snowy sequoia oil painting, I had an idea of how to improve it.
It always feels weird to put a completed painting back on the easel. It is a blend of feeling good about knowing I can improve it, and feeling a little embarrassed that I didn’t figure it out sooner.
Okay, now look:
Maybe I can do better. It took awhile to recognize the photo I used for this painting because I have definitely used it as reference only rather than an exact recipe.
Maybe I’ll keep messing with it. The contrast could be heightened on the main tree, and maybe a foggy looking distant sequoia would look believable behind it to the left, as in the photo. All the distant trees could be made grayer or lighter or something that shoves them farther back.
Who am I to think I can improve on nature? The answer is this: I am someone who understands that real life is messy and artists get to clean it up. For example, look at the large amount of dead branches on the 2 trees to the left of the main tree in the photo. What purpose would they serve in this painting? Likewise with the young tree in front on the right side – it obstructs the view of the big tree.
So many decisions for just one painting – it is a wonder I can even decide what to wear in the morning. Aha! That explains why I often don whatever I left on The Chair the night before.
A friend from down south (that means Southern California or “Socal”) called to see if I could paint sequoias in snow for his company to use for their holiday card this year. (Companies aren’t allowed to send Christmas cards anymore.) We discussed sizes, timelines, and designs. After those preliminary decisions were made, I sent this sketch for approval.
The sketch vanished into the atmosphere, and another sketch of different proportions was requested. I sent this, but knew it wasn’t as good as the 18×36″ proportioned one, so I sent the first one again. (Did it vanish because I had the audacity to write the words “Merry Christmas”? Don’t be a conspiracist!!)
Then the requested time frame to receive the finished painting shrunk. People who don’t paint don’t know how long it takes for oil to dry; people who do paint don’t really know either but realize it isn’t an overnight situation. People who live in cities don’t know how long it takes for giant blank canvases to get shipped; people who don’t live in cities don’t really know either, but understand that time must be built in for snafus.
So, I looked at the 18×36″ painting of sequoias on the easel that was set aside because I have commissions, which always take precedence over the paintings I do to build up my inventory.
Necessity is the mother of invention and being innovative is part of living rurally. I decided that this unfinished summer scene could be converted to winter, because there isn’t enough time to wait for a new canvas to arrive.
White is the slowest drying oil paint color, so this will need a few days before the detail begins.
Yippee skippee, I can do this!! (Why didn’t I think to add on a rush charge? Does anyone out there want to be my business manager? secretary? coach?)
A young woman named Sarah works at the Silver City Store. She told me that she loves my painting on display there titled “Big & Tall”.
(In case you are wondering why anyone could “love” this painting, remember that it looks way better in person!)
I told her that I could paint one for her in a size that would fit her budget (and suitcase – I believe she lives a fairly peripatetic lifestyle – and “peripatetic” is a great word that you might want to look up and adopt).
She was excited, and chose 6×18″. We discussed the cropping that would be necessary since this is narrower proportionately compared to the 18×36″. Sarah said she trusted my judgement, so I began.
First I found the reference photo. Then I folded paper around it and experimented with the cropping until it looked right.
Then, I mixed the colors and began.
I am getting used to the mess of a beginning painting; it doesn’t make me feel visually assaulted any more. Does this mean I am finally accepting myself as an oil painter instead of just a pencil artist who paints?
Maybe so!
A customer/friend bought a painting off my website. She requested that I paint in an animal so the size of the trees is truly evident.
OH NO! It already sold, and I didn’t take it off my website!
I can’t find the original photo so have to work off the photo of the sold painting. It is always best to start with the original, but sometimes stuff just can’t be helped.
Dry enough, scanned, heading to the Post Office today!
I’ve told this story before, but hope I have new readers since that original telling. Here goes. . .
In August of 2007, I was asked to paint an ornament for the White House Christmas tree, representing Sequoia National Park. My first thought was to moan, “Not another freebie”. An invitation to a White House reception would come with the ornament, and I thought, “So? That’ll be expensive”. A friend said I would be nuts to turn this opportunity down, and then Michael said he’d be happy to come to the White House with me. So, I began painting. (You can see that my painting skills have developed since then, but just be polite, okay?)
At the time the call came, I was working on a painting of Sequoia trees in the snow. I got a few little ornaments and tried the same design on one in acrylic paint, but it dried way too fast. I tried oil paint on another, and that was better.
Eventually, a large shiny gold ornament arrived. It looked like glass, and I was afraid of dropping it. I put layer after layer of white paint on it, carefully handling it as if would break, because if that happened, what would I do?? During one of these layers, my thumb dented the thing a little bit and I realized it was plastic! That eased a bit of worry. When it was finished, my neighbor took photos of me holding it so that the size would be evident.
You can see this is no ordinary ornament – it was very big, which made it much easier to paint than my little practice ones.
There was a little difficulty about the reception because no date was given, and various reservations needed to be made. We painters were given a fax number to send any questions, so I faxed a note asking the reception date and how tight the deadline for mailing the ornament was. As I was frantically trying to program in the fax number so a response could be received by my fax machine, the phone rang. “Cabinart, this is Jana”, I answered. “This is Bob at The White House”, came the response. “Hi Bob,” said I, ever so casually. To be continued. . .
Layering in multiple painting sessions? Or pushing wet paint around in minimal painting sessions? Does it matter?
Okay, let’s just git-‘er-dun.
And here is the one that I completed in 2 layers.
No matter the method, the Sequoia Gigantea trees get painted convincingly on 6×6″ canvases, and eventually they will sell for $60 each (plus tax, because it cost a ton of money for California to pay for its wildfires.)
The other challenge is getting the photo/scan on screen to look the same as the painting looks in person. (WHERE ARE MY PEOPLE? I NEED PEOPLE FOR THIS!)
P.S. Today’s painting at Anne Lang’s Emporium
P.S. TODAY’S FEATURED ANNE LANG’S EMPORIUM PAINTING
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATHRYN!! (It is today, yes. . .??)
I am a pencil artist. With the exception of portraits, I am able to draw almost anything in a manner which pleases both me and my customers. I love to draw.
Oil painting is much more difficult for me to achieve the results I want. I could quit a painting at almost any stage, and my paintings would fit someone’s idea of a decent piece of artwork. But I think my customers, collectors, friends and blog readers expect a certain level from me.
(Art is so subjective – good, bad, mediocre, genius, or why bother?. . . “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.)
I prefer realism, combined with great light, accurate details, attractive colors (as opposed to repellant ones) and believability. No big deal, eh?
Sometimes I start a painting with heavier paint and a deluded notion that I will be able to finish the painting in one session. Later I end up seeing missed spots, weird colors, and ways to make it better, so it ALWAYS takes at least one more session. This approach only works on forgiving subjects, so I don’t try to copy the photo, but just use it for guidance.
Other times I decide that there is no rush, multiple layering is the best way to paint, I will take as much time and as many layers as necessary to turn the painting into something that I am happy to sign. Depending on the subject, the calendar, and the number of paintings in progress, this approach takes 4-8 layers. (EIGHT?? I MIGHT DIE OF Git-‘er-dun by then.)
There are other ways to approach oil painting – plein air (standing outside in the shifting shadows and sneaky sunlight with bugs chewing on me and wind threatening to topple the easel), palette knife (thick clumps of paint smeared on with a palette knife as if one does not have access to brushes, for Pete’s sake, WHY?), and those are just the ones I can pull off the top of my noggin.
WHERE ARE MY PENCILS?? I NEED TO DRAW.
Stop it. There are 2 oil paintings of Giant Sequoias to paint, so you need to stay at the easels and focus, you doofus Central California artist.
Sometimes I have to parent myself this way.
P.S. Anne Lang will be closing her Emporium in Three Rivers on Dec. 31. She has 12 of my oil paintings. As a way to encourage you to visit her place (this is the LAST week of the deli – you MUST go have a turkey melt!), I will be posting one of those paintings per day while she is still open.
