Are You Drawing With Your Paintbrush Again?

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Yes, I am drawing with my paintbrush again. Paintbrushes, and the smallest I can find, treating them as if they are pencils. Wet flexible pencils are not as effective as graphite pencils, but I think this painting is getting better as a result of all this teensy work.

Remember this?

The first item of business was to complete the distant hills and grove.

Next, instead of painting around the children, I dove into the minutiae, “minutiae” in terms of size, not in terms of importance.

Boy first, because as a righthanded artist, working from left to right lessens the risk of smearing wet paint.

Since the photo of the children was taken in a parking lot, it will be tricky to manage the light in a believable manner, and tricky to make believable shadows. First, though, we need believable children.

These kids are just so cute, both in person and on canvas.

Much work remains, and it will be thoroughly enjoyable as I pursue art of Tulare County, combining my favorite subject of citrus and the mountains with the challenge of believable little people.

Familiarity Breeds Comfort

If you subscribe to the blog and read the email on your phone, the photos might not show up. (Some people get them, some do not; it isn’t a problem I know how to solve.) You can see them by going to the blog on the internet. It is called cabinart.net/blog, and the latest post is always on top.

“Familiarity breeds contempt” in some cases; in the context of my oil painting endeavors, familiarity breeds comfort. “Sawtooth Near Sunnypoint #8” is signed, sealed, and delivered, another commissioned oil painting in the archives.

This means I can move into another comforting subject, one that I love to paint, although this one has its own challenges. This oil painting commission came with much freedom. The customer didn’t care what orchard as long as it is oranges, wasn’t concerned about the foothills, and after much conversation (“Really, you must care about something specific here!”), he decided that Sawtooth and Homer’s Nose made the most sense for the visible peaks. His focus is the children, and he provided good photos.

If I were a loosey-goosey painter, this would be close to finished. Alas, I am a painter who loves detail and when this dries, I will begin drawing with my paintbrushes on this Tulare County classic view.

 

A New Oil Commission

If you subscribe to the blog and read the email on your phone, the photos might not show up. (Some people get them, some do not; it isn’t a problem I know how to solve.) You can see them by going to the blog on the internet. It is called cabinart.net/blog, and the latest post is always on top.

Custom art, or “commission” work might be the most satisfying piece of my business. I am painting something that someone really wants, painting with confidence that it will be loved, and confidence that it will be sold. 

Artists can be so insecure. We pour ourselves onto paper or canvas, creating something that really lights our fire, getting lost in the process, and then . . . what? Nothing happens.

So, when I get a commission, particularly one of something that I am familiar with (orange groves, sequoia trees, Sawtooth, cabins, or anything Mineral King), it is a real pleasure to paint.

Beginnings

The customers chose 16×20″. I primed the canvas, assigned an inventory number, and wired the back. Pippin hung around, but wasn’t interested in the details. (And the vase of lemon geranium may have repelled the mosquitos.)

It was near the end of the day, and I was in danger of falling into Idiotville, where Stupid, Sloppy, and Careless reside, so I set it aside for the day.

And this is how it looked after the next painting session:

That again? 

Yeppers, this time in oil paint instead of pencil. Not sisters this time—a brother and a sister, different grove. And no deadline, so I will spend oodles of time make this piece of Tulare County art perfect.

Oodles, I said.

Maybe, Maybe Not

When I look at a finished painting in person, it seems truly finished. This painting signifies the best of Tulare County to me, and I am not always objective.

However, when I look at a photograph of the painting on my screen, sometimes things appear that weren’t all that noticeable in person. 

Here is a progression of the untitled painting that is finished, or maybe not.

Tuesday morning overview.

Tuesday morning lower right corner, unfinished.

Wednesday morning lower right corner, finished (but in shade so hard to tell what is what).

May I be finished now? Better put it in the sunshine for a truer color photo.

Now may I sign it, and then paint the edges? 

Maybe, maybe not. Better let it mull a bit, study, scrutinize, put on my truth glasses (just a figure of speech) and try to be objective.

Or maybe I should show the customers and see if they think I am finished.

Maybe, maybe not. 

Mired in Detail

After spending a good chunk of an afternoon drawing with my paintbrush, perfecting the detail on the 50th Anniversary Floral Bouquet oil painting, I had a real hankering to return to the commissioned oil painting of my favorite subject. “Slamming out” some quick small paintings for the Redbud Festival just wasn’t lighting my candle.

This painting was calling my name.

I began texturing the distant hills. 

Then I built a few roads.

If this wasn’t a commissioned piece, it would go in my dining room. I can paint another for myself, but there is enough other (PAYING) work that it is not a priority. 

So, I will enjoy the process of being mired in detail for someone else’s happiness. Snow, GREEN, poppies, CITRUS. . . the very best that Tulare County has to offer. (But remember, we have bad air, high unemployment, diabetes, teen pregnancies, high welfare, no Trader Joe’s or Whole Paycheck grocery stores, and a severe lack of education. Just sayin’ in case you were thinking of bringing some big city values to our little piece of California’s flyover country.)

A Few More Orange Groves in Paint

Here is the rest of your tour through Tulare County’s finest scenery, as interpreted in oil paint.

This was a commission, the very first time I painted a citrus grove with hills in the background.

In the Orchard (sold)

Tulare County’s Best (24×24″, available, $1000)

This was a thank you gift so it didn’t need a name.

Citrus Sunset (sold)

 

This was a commission.

Another commission.

 

And the latest with the appropriate title of “Citrus and the Sierra”.

Citrus and the Sierra, 10×20″, oil on wrapped canvas, $350 (plus tax if you live in California)

P.S. I thought this piece was spoken for, but I didn’t put the size on it and the intended customer’s intended wall is not wide enough.

 

 

Orange Groves in Oil Paint

These are several oil paintings of my current favorite subject: orange groves with foothills and mountains in the background. Looking at these (and showing them off) helps me regain my confidence as an artist after the tiny face show-down.

Citrus Cove (sold)

Looking East (sold)

Lemon Cove (sold)

Picking Time (10×10″, available, $150)

In the Orchard (sold)

If you have a hankering for a painting of this type of scene, I am available for commissions. Just tell me the size, which mountains you want visible in the background, and anything else you’d like in the painting. Then, I will put your project in the queue.

There. Seeing all those “sold” signs, and knowing there is a queue all helped repair the ding to my confidence after the face trouble.

 

 

 

Searching for a Bridge

Three Rivers has one river, the Kaweah, pronounced “kuh-WEE-uh”. Four forks come together into the Middle Fork, but apparently only three mattered when it was time to name the town. (No, I don’t know which three.) Middle, Marble, East, South, and North are the names of the various branches.

A week or two ago, I learned that the brother of two of my former drawing students took on something called a “bridge project”. He was commissioned to create four 2×2′ tile mosaics to decorate a new bridge somewhere in the county. I asked around and concluded it must be the bailey bridge at the upper end of South Fork Road. So, Trail Guy and I went exploring.

You can see evidence of the SQF Complex fire that burned a lot of South Fork, threatened Three Rivers, Case Mt. and Mineral King

Here is the bridge, going in just upstream of the old bailey bridge, and still just one lane wide:

You can watch Nate Norman talk about making these tiles on this YouTube video. (You might want to fast forward past the first few minutes of someone talking about Arts Consortium business and get right to Nate’s presentation.)

I did a screen shot from the video to show you one of his truly beautiful mosaics. As someone who has experimented with tile mosaic in the past, I can assure you that this was no small undertaking.

We drove up near the bridge, but it was being worked on so I just took a couple of photos. I am guessing the tiles will go on each of 4 main pillars, one of which I have circled the spot in red for you.

The bridge is about 11 miles up South Fork Road, and I think the campground is one mile farther. We didn’t cross the bridge, but headed back down. It was such a beautiful day that I almost forgot about August. And heat. And smoke. And smog.

There were poppies, but they were closed up due to the overcast day. However, I did get this poor photo of a few wildflowers by kneeling in the mud on the side of the road.

You are welcome.

I do what I can to find the beauty in Tulare County, but not so much that people will flock here. Remember, we are uneducated, poor, unemployed, fat, and diabetic. Oh, and there is that bad air filtering down through the Altamont Pass from the Bay Area for which we get penalized. Further, there is no Trader Joe’s and never will be.

Just keeping it real.

Fake Tucker and keeping it real Tucker

 

Decisions, decisions

My very wise dad used to say, “Life is a series of choices and decisions”. (My very wise friend still says, “Choices and consequences”.) 

In preparing larger paintings while hoping for a show at a local-ish gallery, I have to keep in mind my mission, which is to show off the best parts of Tulare County with my art. One would think that choosing the best scenes would automatically result in sales; one would be wrong. 

It is painting the scenes that people love, scenes that ring a bell, touch their hearts, resonate, remind them of good memories, and doing all this in the most excellent way possible that MIGHT result in sales. (Anyone have a crystal ball that I can borrow?)

There is a scene that draws me back, in any season with water in the creek, and I want to paint it on an 18×36″ canvas. It is Yokohl Creek.

This version isn’t quite it, and won’t fit on 18×36″ format. So, have a look at the cropped version:

Better, so I started on the canvas.

But wait! Spring is the most beautiful time of year!

Shall I try to convert the view I cropped to spring colors? First, let’s crop this view.

This still doesn’t have the same visual pizazz to me as the brown version. What’s a Central California artist to do?

More will be revealed. . . (and I bet you can complete that sentence.)

Mooney Museum Mural, Day 3A

First, the name of the museum is Tulare County Museum, and it is in Mooney Grove. This is a county park. Just wanted to clarify, because the title of my blog posts about this mural make it sound as if the museum is called the “Mooney Museum”. I just like alliteration.

This is how the mural looked when I arrived on Day #3.

The brighter orange is poppies, the lighter orange is fiddleneck, and the lightest yellow is mustard. (You’re welcome – I know you were wondering.)

There were a few details left to add to finish this one.Better.Best.

There is too much to show you on today’s post, so Day 3B will appear tomorrow.