Recently, I had to leave Three Rivers at 10 a.m. This presented two choices: A. waste time until 10, or B. paint for an hour or two before leaving. Being the responsible mature adult that I am (oh hush, you!), I wisely chose B. Creating Tulare County-based paintings is what I do; wasting time is […]
Spoken-for Sequoia
The spoken-for, in-progress Sequoia painting jumped to the top of the queue. Here you can see it in steps to completion. The light was wrong in the afternoon so I moved the easel to the opposite side of the table. When the painting was finished, I had to flip it upside down to paint the […]
Begun, Finished, Improved
Begun These oil paintings have their first layer down. Finished These paintings are dry, scanned, and delivered to their stores. (And in the category of Wishful Thinking, perhaps they are sold.) Improved These paintings have some minor items added to make them a smidge better.
Working Through the List on the Commissioned Oil Painting
And writing the longest blog title ever. Does this look finished to you? It’s not. When I was driving home a few evenings ago, I really studied the way the ridges change color as they recede into the distance. So, I messed with them again. The differences are subtle, and now that I see it […]
Thinking About Water and Feeling Reckless
Because it is raining while I write this, I am thinking about water. A few years ago, we had a very wet winter after several dry ones, and I became obsessed with watching flowing water. Here are some of the results. I was quite pleased with the drawings and pretty proud of the titles too. […]
Tulare County’s Best Getting Better
More leaves, maybe a few more oranges, and definitely some orange blossoms are all that is needed to complete this little improvement project.
Tulare County’s Best
Whenever I have a show, no matter how many pieces sell, I bring home the rest and wonder why they didn’t sell. Then I think about the ones I’ve had the longest, pieces that I have improved on each time I show them again. How can I make these pieces better? I did this scene […]
Navels in the Orchard
Navels in the Orchard is actually just navels on canvas, another oil painting of Tulare County citrus. I painted the details working from the back to the front, which means first I painted the items which are the farthest away from the viewer. Usually I wait until the painting is dry to photograph it. But […]
While I Was Getting Gas
At The Four-Way, right next to the Chevron station, there is a classic red barn with an enormous Valley oak tree, quercus lobata. It’s just part of the landscape, and one day while I was getting gas, I realized that this barn could just tumble, or the excess pavement near the tree could prevent it […]
Ad-libbing, Guessing, Winging It
On my first day back at trying to be fully human, I resumed detailing this piece. This Mineral King painting was a big challenge on many levels, and I am now quite happy with it. Feeling accomplished, I chose the next painting to work on, thinking it would be a piece of cake. This is […]