Painting in the Cold and Dark

On December 19, the power went off at 7:20. Edison hadn’t bothered to notify us, but judging by the number of boom and utility trucks, we knew it would be a long, cold, dark day. (SO VERY THANKFUL FOR THE WOODSTOVE, THE GENERATOR, AND THE HUSBAND WHO KEEPS IT ALL RUNNING!)

There was a bit of sunshine on the easels for about 2 hours in the morning. With the door open, I was able to make some eensy progress. Since my reference photos for both of these paintings are on my laptop, I needed to be prudent with my screen time. (We don’t run the generator non-stop, and it keeps the fridge and freezer going, which is very far from the painting workshop).

I should be able to paint this without looking at any photos. If the instructions suggestions weren’t to reproduce a specific pencil drawing, I could make up a similar scene. However, in the hopes that the interested party will be happy enough to buy the painting, it is prudent to keep it as close to the drawing as possible.

Tucker stuck with me, not even in the sunshine, just doing the meatloaf to stay warm.

This one is the commission. I want it to be really really good. Really Good. The customer is a delight to work with and not pressuring me at all. I just want to do my best for her.

It helps to see the shapes and proportions more correctly if I turn it all upside down.

I am working from a combination of two photos and the sold painting that the customer wished she had seen first.

SIMPLY HOME ENDS ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29, AT CACHE, 125 SO. B STREET, EXETER, NOON-4.

ENTERING GIANT FOREST, 8×16″, $250

2025 CALENDARS, STILL AVAILABLE? (LAST TIME I CHECKED, THERE WERE TWO. )

All is Bright

Still not much going on in my little world, other than enjoying some bright sunshine and starting two bright paintings. Winter is mild in Three Rivers and we are usually above the fog. (Do you want to move here? The town is shrinking, so if you don’t mind living in California’s flyover country where there is no Trader Joe’s or universities, you’d be welcome here!)

From my show Simply Home, I got a commission to paint. In spite of having 50 paintings to choose from in the show, someone requested that I paint something that already sold. Yes, I can do this.

Someone else requested that I paint a scene that I drew in pencil about 25 years ago. It was a commission, until I realized that it wasn’t a commission—it was a conversation. Until money changes hands, it is just a conversation, EVEN IF the other person says, “Yes, I definitely want you to paint this”. Because it is a great idea, I know it will sell to someone, so I began the painting.

SIMPLY HOME IS RUNNING OUT OF TIME

IN THE ORCHARD, 11X14″, $300

This painting was added to the show after a customer took her painting and left a blank spot on the wall.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29, IS THE LAST DAY TO SEE THE SHOW. 125 SOUTH B STREET, EXETER, NOON-4.

2025 CALENDARS – VERY FEW REMAINING

ONE TWO Calendars (Sold one, found two more!) available here: cabinart.net/store/

All is Calm

Not much going on in my little world right now. Let’s enjoy some photos.

2025 CALENDARS

Calendars available here, $25 each: cabinart.net/store/

SIMPLY HOME

SEQUOIAS IN WINTER is sold, but is still hanging at CACHE, 125 South B Street, Exeter, California. Fridays 10-4, Saturdays 11-4, Sundays noon-4. SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29, IS THE LAST DAY TO SEE THIS SHOW.

Sequoias in Winter, 16×20″, SOLD

A Drive on the Mineral King Road

There was an overcast day in Three Rivers this week. Maybe more than one, but we are only concerned with one of them for purposes of this post. We drove up the Mineral King road, as far as the Conifer gate. (That’s the upper gate, which is below Atwell.

Brrr
Good to know that the temporary bridge is still in place. . . hoping it is still there when we drive back down the road.
We broke into the sunshine around mile 4.5-ish.
Hello, Oak Grove Bridge! (mile 6.5-ish)
We were in that muck down there, temperatures in the 50s, and now in the sunshine, it will reach 70.
The Sweet Ranch in the sunshine. I wonder if it is called a “ranch” because of cattle in its history, cattle in its present, or just because what else does one call a spread in the foothills? (My uncle used to call his orange and avocado grove “the ranch”, which I always found peculiar.)
We think that if someone drove to this gate, then all the way back to the Foothills Visitor Center, he would be disappointed and surprised by the complete ignorance about this gate or sign on the part of personnel at the Visitor Center. Just conjecture on our part, but probably true.
Often we are above this stuff in Three Rivers, but not so on Wednesday.
Everyone recognizes Sawtooth. (I’ve painted it at least 60 times, and drawn it in pencil many other unnumbered times.)

Now the gate locks are consistently secured, we got a little sunshine, and you are up-to-date (but only as far as Conifer.)

Life Lately

My life is full of random things lately. Some projects at church, a colorful scarf using up scraps to surprise a friend, walks by the river, minimal Christmas decorations, an oil painting workshop. And power outages, internet and phone outages, and road blocks.

Work consists of selling calendars and reminding folks of my show at CACHE* in Exeter, “Simply Home”, which ends December 29. Is that the last day or is that the day the show is coming off the walls? (Volunteer-run organizations tend toward squishiness, so I am unclear on the meaning of the ending date.)

2025 CALENDARS

Available here: CABINART.NET/STORE/

SIMPLY HOME

Sunny Sequoias, 18×36, oil on wrapped canvas, $1500

*CACHE HOURS: FRIDAYS 1:30-4:00, SATURDAYS 10-4, SUNDAYS 12-4

Two Boys From Kansas

To show Friend/Customer how color will look on his drawing, I printed it on my unreliable printer and scribbled some color on the copy.

This passed muster (not sure about this term but it has military origins). So, I pulled out my good colored pencils (Polychromos by Faber Castell) and colored the original.

After I scanned it, I realized that I forgot to put color on 33, the number of the engine. So, now it has color there too.

Phew. Finished this very challenging pencil commission in time for Friend/Customer to deliver it for Christmas.

Maybe it is time for a long winter’s nap. . .

SIMPLY HOME RUNS UNTIL DECEMBER 29 AT CACHE.

Clover Creek Bridge, 16×20″, $650

2025 CALENDARS, AVAILABLE HERE.

Screenshot

One Hair Width

My friend/customer likes to challenge me. He thinks I can do things with my pencils that I am never sure I have the ability to do. We talk, I sketch, we talk some more, I revise, we talk some more—and that’s all before I begin the drawing.

I’ve shown you some of this in progress, beginning with this messy sketch.

When the very complicated and unforgiving fire truck seemed to be the easiest part, I KNEW I was in for a challenging rest of the drawing.

With time was running out, I set a deadline for finishing, and began on those little boys, working from almost impossible-to-follow photos.

After I had the boys drawn, I scanned it and sent it to Friend/Customer, who said the larger boy looked fine, but he didn’t like “the bend” of the smaller boy, whose head also looked too small.

I wanted to say, “Then why did you send me a photo with him bending?” Instead, I embiggened the little boy’s head and unbent him.

He said it looked good, then texted that Mrs. Customer thought the bigger boy’s cheek looked too chubby. How she could see this is a mystery to me. However, she knows the boys, and I trust her judgement.

The difference between a chubby cheek at this tiny scale is the width of one hair. THIS is the reason that one should never try to draw a face smaller than an egg, and I don’t mean a hummingbird egg. The boys were supposed to be drawn from the back, but the supplied photos show a tiny amount of faces. (Why am I unable to say, “NO, I CANNOT DO THIS!”?)

That tiny adjustment was accepted. Friend/Customer asked if I was going to put anything on the lower third of the drawing, and I replied, “Nah, I’m gonna quit and sign it now.” (Of course I was just kidding around, but wanted to poke at him for putting me through this stressful, make-it-up, mind-reading exercise.)

The grasses and wildflowers were also very challenging, because I had no photo for this completely fabricated scene. It was a large piece of real estate to cover with the tiny point of a pencil, but being the professional that I am, I soldiered on. When everything was planted and landscaped, I scanned the drawing yet again and sent it for approval.

The next plan is to print this out and experiment with color. I will put red on the firetruck, yellow on the sunflowers, and something on the boys’ tee shirts, most likely blue. Friend/Customer asked if I could do it on a copy first so that they can approve this non-erasable addition before it goes onto the original.

If the practice piece passes muster, I will add the colors. Then I might just go have a cigarette.* Stay tuned. . .

SIMPLY HOME

Sawtooth #58, 6×18″, $195

The show hangs until December 29. You can see the show at CACHE in Exeter, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, because as you know, everything looks better in person. The hours are posted on CACHE’s website. (Scroll down to see the hours.)

2025 CALENDARS AVAILABLE

Available here, $25 each, or at CACHE, or if you see me around with a handful in Fernando’s trunk.

*Take it easy. . . I’ve never smoked in my life and never will.

Some Yardening, Some Walking, Some Drawing

(And I made cookies that morning too.)

TODAY OUR POWER WILL BE OUT FOR THE BULK OF THE DAY, SO IF YOU ORDER A CALENDAR, EMAIL ME, OR COMMENT ON THIS POST, YOU WON’T BE GETTING A RESPONSE UNTIL THE EVENING OR TOMORROW.

FIRST, 2025 CALENDARS. Available HERE.

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Screenshot

YARDENING

I decided to dig the sweet potatoes that have been growing for around 6-8 months, if you count the time I started them In the kitchen window last spring. One sent its roots outside of the gopher basket, and of course that’s exactly where my shovel went. I put my wizened aged hand in the second photo so you can see how big they got. Last year they were about the size of my thumb, so I determined if this year wasn’t a decent crop, I wouldn’t bother again. “Decent”? That’s pretty subjective, considering this is the produce of about 10 plants. (Thank a farmer, if you know one. Without them, we’d be pretty hungry.)

Someone was watching from above.

My paperwhites bloom in December. Three Rivers doesn’t experience very much winter weather.

WALKING IN THREE RIVERS

Such a beautiful day required a walk. This sycamore is magnificent! A friend told me it had the largest leaves she’d ever seen on a sycamore; we figured out that she only sees the ones that grow in town, not the natives which are old and have lived by a source of water for decades (centuries??)

DRAWING IN PENCIL

Finally, I got myself into the studio to inch ahead on this very challenging commissioned pencil drawing. That “vending machine” was potentially going to keep me awake at night if I didn’t get it figured out. It may not be recognizable to a fireman, but that’s as “right” as it is going to be. (The paper is white; it looks gray because I used the phone under low light conditions to take this photo.)

I worked a bit harder on the two little boys, size, location, and shapes. Ditto for the sunflowers. I don’t know Kansas wildflowers, but I know that the state wildflower is a sunflower. If I can fake a vending machine on the side of a firetruck, I should be able to handle sunflowers. (No, it’s not a vending machine; that’s how it appeared to my ignorant self.)

SIMPLY HOME

The show hangs until December 29 at CACHE in Exeter. Their hours are Friday 1:30-4, Saturday 10-4, Sunday noon-4. It includes about 50 paintings, 3 original pencil drawings, calendars, cards, coloring books, The Cabins of Wilsonia books, and a few pencil reproduction prints.

Alpenglow on Farewell Gap, 12×24″, $650

You Want Me to Draw WHAT??

Good thing that you (and my customers) know that I know how to draw, or this rough sketch would cause everyone to back away slowly, wondering how I could call myself an artist.

This is a compilation, a conglomerate, a composite, of unrelated photos, following the ideas and instructions of a customer/friend with an interesting request. We have worked well together in the past; he answers all my questions thoroughly, tells me the truth, and I persist until he lets me know that I have gotten it.

When I started drawing on big girl paper. I was nervous, so I started with the sky, moving forward to the distant landscape, and then, as detailed and difficult as it is, the firetruck was still preferable to the little boys.

It has a section in the middle of the side that looks like a vending machine. WHAT?? That part can just sit quietly until I have no choice but to tackle it. It often behooves me to procrastinate on difficult sections, because . . . you know what I am going to say. . . say it with me. . . “MORE WILL BE REVEALED!”

The most difficult aspect of this type of drawing is figuring out what sizes the various parts need to be in relation to each other.

Each day that I work on this, I text the day’s progress to the customers. The reasons are so they know I’m working and tell me that I am doing a good job.

(When my drawing students want to draw things this difficult, I say no. When they persist, I am convinced they hate me.)

SIMPLY HOME

Classic Mineral King III, 18×36″, $1500

The show hangs until December 29 at CACHE in Exeter. Their hours are Friday 1:30-4, Saturday 10-4, Sunday noon-4. It includes about 50 paintings, 3 original pencil drawings, calendars, cards, coloring books, The Cabins of Wilsonia books, and a few pencil reproduction prints.

Screenshot
Screenshot

2025 CALENDAR, AVAILABLE HERE. $25

Before and After, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8

2025 CALENDARS AVAILABLE HERE.

In case these before and after posts are putting you to sleep, let’s skip the chit-chat and go right to the paintings.

Garapatta BEFORE
Garapatta, AFTER
Point Lobos, BEFORE
Point Lobos, AFTER
Carmel Mission, BEFORE
Carmel Mission, AFTER
Rocky Point, BEFORE (those aren’t birds – it is squished bug)
Rocky Point, AFTER
Pinos Point Lighthouse, BEFORE
Pinos Point Lighthouse, AFTER. This is my favorite, and I’m not alone in my assessment because it sold.

SIMPLY HOME

Sawtooth From Sunnypoint IX, 12×24″, $650

The show hangs until December 29 at CACHE in Exeter. Their hours are Friday 1:30-4, Saturday 10-4, Sunday noon-4. It includes about 50 paintings, 3 original pencil drawings, calendars, cards, coloring books, The Cabins of Wilsonia books, and a few pencil reproduction prints.