Intimidated

I began working on the 16×20″ commissioned pencil drawing of the big old country house. It is a challenge, due to combining several views into one scene, and due to the size. It is intimidating, so I decided to warm up to the task by working on the little old houses from the single little old photos.

No people will be included in the drawing. Can’t see ’em, can’t draw ’em.

That was fun and maybe even a little bit easy. Not too easy, because some of it just had to be guessed at. There is a mop drying on the roof, a broom leaning up against the front window, and the handle of a hoe or shovel leaning against the wall. I don’t know what those vines are or what is supporting them. The shingles on the roof were hard until I figured out how to duplicate the pattern. Grass, in case you are interested, is just organized scribbling.

NEXT! I love to draw, particularly architectural subjects. But you knew that, didn’t you?

Using pencils, oil paint, and murals, I make art that people can understand of places and things they love, for prices that won’t scare them.

Big Old Country House, 3

In case you are just now tuning in, I am making custom art of a big old country house, south of Farmersville in Tulare County, for my new friend Jane and her husband. They chose the angle they like best, and I was so happy that we both liked the same angle.

They were thinking about an oil painting, and chose the size of 16×20″. They also asked if that was a good size to capture all the details, and on this house, there are many many details. Many.

Honesty is the best policy. I showed them a custom 16×20″ oil painting of a house, and said it was not my best work. This meant that although I did the best I could, it wasn’t something that showed the house or my skills very well. The photos I had for that painting weren’t very helpful, so that may have had something to do with it. Indeed, but also everything was just too small for a paintbrush.

I also showed them a custom 24×30″ oil painting of a house, and said that this was a painting I felt proud of. I was not trying to upsell them at all, only to make it clear that I could do a better job on a larger painting.

Then I told them that I do my best detail work in pencil, so if details are what matter the most, then they will be happiest with pencil.

They chose a 16×20″ PENCIL DRAWING!!

Alrightythen (yes, I always think of this as one word), let’s git-‘er-dun!

I love to draw, because I am a Central California artist who uses PENCIL, oil paint, and murals to make art you can understand of places and things you love at prices that won’t scare you.

Big Old Country House, 2

After going through 40 photos of the big old country house, I organized them by main views with accompanying details, and labeled each photo. I’ve learned that this is a very necessary step if I am going to do the best job possible. (In the olden days, I would take a couple of snapshots with my film camera, get them developed, pick one and then just draw it without even showing the customer first. It is a wonder I had any customers at all.)

I have learned to not overwhelm my customers with too many choices. I have also learned that it is good to show some sketches first. I chose the 2 best options, and began to sketch them. Because Jane and I have a lively texting correspondence as we get to know one another better, I sent her this photo of my sketches in progress.

I was adding color in case she and her husband were going to choose an oil painting over a pencil drawing. The idea of sending the photo was to show her that I was working on her project. I messed up by not telling her the reason I was sending these and that they were not finished.

Jane and her husband were very excited and chose the top view. Wait, what? These aren’t finished. I am so embarrassed to have sent them prematurely. (Texting is a dangerous form of communication).

The good news is that the top view was also my favorite. (The other good news is that Jane laughed when I told her that I was embarrassed.)

Then we had to decide pencil drawing or oil painting.

Tomorrow, oh patient (and impatient) Blog Readers!

Big Old Country House

A friend introduced me to his cousin. We became instant friends. Let’s call her Jane, because that is her name.

My friend and Jane’s shared grandparents had a wonderful home in the country south of Farmersville (Yes, that is the name of a town here in Tulare County. Wanna make something of it?) They both thought it would make a great drawing or painting, so I went there to take some photos. 

I love the style of this house! I took many photos, from every angle possible.

Want to guess which one I liked best?

Want to guess which one Jane and her husband liked best? (They are my customers for the project.)

Want to guess which medium they chose?

“Medium” means the substance from which I will make the art – pencil or oil paint, in this case.

Custom Pencil Drawings

A friend’s mom was visiting from Georgia. She brought me these photographs.

Each one is the only existing photo of a house that no longer stands.

Each one will become a 9×12″ drawing.

Each drawing will be better than the photo, at least that is always my goal. 

There will be no visible wrinkles either.

 

Done Painting

Done painting for now. It is hot in the painting workshop (in spite of the roaring swamp cooler) and there are mosquitos, and there are no painting jobs with a deadline.

Excuses? 

Yes. I’d rather draw.

Besides, I have 4 new pencil commissions. More tomorrow about that.

Here are the last things I worked on with paint. (Could have been the frustration of working with acrylic that made me put my paints away for now.)

Look at the cute little oil painting alongside the giant acrylic painting, leaning up against the workshop doors. Three sizes of redwood paintings, none of them anywhere near the reality of the big trees in person.

I found my old photos of sunflowers in order to add realistic leaves. It needs more leaves, and all need to be larger so there is less blank space around. Maybe it needs another sunflower. 

But I’ll think about that another day.

Seven Big Tree Oil Paintings

Sequoias, Big Trees, Redwoods. Since discovering the 6×18″ canvas size, I have painted redwoods on them seven times.

You can see that sometimes I used the same photo. I don’t know if these are shown here in the order painted, but I know for sure the last one is the most recent (and still quite wet at the time of this writing). I happen to like it best, which is a good sign that my skills have improved.

P.S. These trees are in Tulare County, right here in California’s flyover country. They are something about which we can feel good. There are many things about which we can feel good here, but if you know someone who wants to move here, go ahead and remind them that we are fat, uneducated, and poor. Oh, and there is high unemployment, bad air, and no Trader Joe’s either.

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

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

Big Panels With Mural Paints*

Some friends had this tired thing by their kitchen door. I asked if I could repaint it. Then, Trail Guy tried to strip off the peeling decal so that I could paint. He decided it was a losing proposition, so he built me a new panel. Then he built me another one with the scraps.

I decided to go ahead and paint right over the peeling decal for my friends (it was probably headed for the trash anyway), and then paint something to sell on the new panels. Maybe some poppies would look good on the smaller panel.

That was all a bit ambitious, because this needed to be done with acrylic paint rather than oils. Mural paints, actually, so that they wouldn’t cost a fortune and take forever to paint and to dry. Mini-murals – no big deal, except that I forgot how very annoying those quick-drying paints are. Because of that quick drying problem, it is quite hard to draw with my paintbrush, i.e. make the details perfect.

I don’t like it yet. Needs more leaves and stems, lots more greenery, more than I feel capable of making up without photos to refer to.

And you can see how much I liked the poppies.

Bye-bye, poppies.

Tomorrow I will show you what I did with the new sturdy panel. (Yes, tomorrow, in spite of it being Saturday.)

*are much harder than I expected.

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