coloring book | Cabin Art

HEART OF THE PARKS is HERE!

Please excuse me for shouting, and for publishing an extra blog post off schedule.

The latest coloring book has arrived, and boy is it a good one, if I do say so myself.

I did say so myself.

This has Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park designs, including Mineral King (of course – did you expect any less?). There are a few repeats from previous coloring books – this means you’ve had practice.

Want one? They are on my website here and will be made available on Amazon when I am able to navigate all their hoops, tunnels, jumps and clicks.

1-c-seq-cover 23-s-lodgepole-bridge 35-kc-panoramic-point 13-s-parker-group

Gathering Visual Information

Visual information is necessary to an artist. In the olden days, artist did sketches. Cameras came along and made things easier. Digital cameras showed up, and now the visual information is quick, easy and abundant.

I am working on a coloring book for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, to be titled Heart of the Park. Those of us with ready access to these places call them “The Park”. It is 2 parks that overlap in several areas and are administered by the largest employer in Three Rivers. (That would be SEKI, AKA The Park, AKA National Park Service.)

My friend and I took a field trip so I could get the final photos needed. These were all in Kings Canyon, so we went through Sequoia to get there. I’ve spent quite a bit of time there, but most of it was in Wilsonia, working on The Cabins of Wilsonia. My photos were inadequate for the task at hand.

Or Version B? (that is Hume Lake, not in the Park, but in the line of sight to the canyons and peaks beyond).

The Gamlin Cabin is behind the General Grant Tree.

I may have learned about these types of corners in one of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books.

The view from the back wins because of the Giant Sequoia behind it (not the General) and because of the stone chimney.

I didn’t know there was a Big Stump Trail. It was recommended as a possible source of coloring book pictures.

The trail was fun for this group of visitors from France.

I need to see the stump without all the people, and since it is no longer wasting film to take many photos, I take as many as I want.24,000 may be a bit of a load on my laptop, but I keep reminding myself that I don’t download movies or games, so it will be fine.

This vertical version of the view would work in the coloring book, but I don’t like it. It could be a nice meadow with deer and wildflowers, but I don’t like it. It’s sort of like a graveyard, and I don’t like it.

kingsCynPanoramicJana2004s — Documentation of documentation. (Thanks, GEP!)

coloring book Sequoia Sequoia National park Wilsonia

Heart of Exeter Coloring Book

Heart of Exeter, Coloring Book, is here, available through my website and at 3 stores in Exeter, California.

The cover of the next "Heart of" series of local coloring books for grown-ups. — The cover of the latest “Heart of” series of local coloring books for grown-ups.

Took some fiddling around, but I figured out how to put it and Trail of Promises on the website.

Go to the For Sale tab on the top menu; when you hover over it, it drops down into another menu. One of the choices there is “Books”. You can hover over Books, and see “Coloring Books”, and then under that, finally, thought it would never show up, is Heart of Exeter.

Maybe I should have People to do that computer stuff so I can just draw. Maybe those People would be the ones to deliver to stores, fill the online orders, package and run things to the Post Office, reorder supplies, pull weeds and vacuum the studio. Oh, and answer the phone and bring me lunch too. (Don’t forget to wash my brushes!!)

Yep. Just as likely a bluejay will drive a Prius.

Back to reality: here are a couple of the interior pages in the new coloring book.

14E Rocky Hill

4E antique

Heart of Exeter, Coloring Book, $15, available here

Sequoia Art Show Details

Would you like to spend an hour or so in air conditioning, looking at art of Sequoia National Park, drinking wine and noshing on “or derves”? (You don’t really expect me to spell that word, do you?)

Bridge at Lodgepole2 On Sunday, August 7, 2-4 p.m., Courthouse Gallery in Exeter, 125 South B Street, you can do exactly that.

At least four artists will be participating: Nadi Spencer, Shirley Keller, Anne Brantingham, and me. There might be others, but life is full of unknowns.

Sequoia, particularly Mineral King, has been my main subject for many years, and I am ready to share those pieces in a fine gallery. At last count, I had TWENTY-ONE pieces to show, both oil paintings and pencil drawings!

I’ll bring coloring books – Heart of the Hills, and Heart of Mineral King. Exeter and Sequoia coloring books won’t be ready yet. . . that will give the colorists among the crowd something to anticipate after the post-show letdown, if they are prone to such emotional swings, and assuming there will be “a crowd”.

I hope you will be there too. I’d hate to get all gussied up and and then have to hang out by myself. (I have a somewhat hassle-some new haircut.)

Save

Sequoia art show

Stick A Fork In It Because It Is DONE!

What’s done, you ask?

The design phase and computer prep of the Exeter coloring book.

The name probably will not come as a surprise.

Heart of Exeter

It isn’t yet on my website or actually even ordered from the printer. But it is ready, I am ready, and I hope you are too!

exeter coloring book heart of exeter

What’s Old?

Our guide in Israel told us of being on Highway One in California and seeing a sign that said “historic site”. They pulled off to see it, and laughed their heads off when they learned it was a 200 year old lighthouse. He said, “That’s like 15 minutes in our country!”

capernaum — The remains of the synagogue in Capernaum where Jesus taught – over 2000 years old.

This is what passes for historic in my world. It is a drawing for the upcoming adult coloring book of Exeter. This is not 2000 years old, or even 200 years old. But, it’s what we’ve got around here.

old Exeter

It needs the border and my signature, and I think I might have scanned it a little crooked. Lots more to draw – I was off work for 2 weeks, and there are coloring books to be created, quickly, before the fad’s 15 minutes of relevance wear off.

15 minutes, 200 years, 2000 years. . . what’s old?

Color Added to Commissioned Pencil Drawing

Coloring books will be available again on July 1, 2016. You may order, but it will involve a wait.

I’ve added colored pencil to the commissioned pencil (graphite?) drawing that commemorates a beautiful place on a beautiful day with a beautiful friend.

Ahhhhh. . . .

Outstanding idea, my creative Found Friend!

LB finished

commission pencil work drawing pencil drawing

Wherein I Join Trail Guy on a Mineral King Hike

White Chief as it appears in the coloring book "Hear t of Mineral King" — White Chief as it appears in the coloring book “Heart of Mineral King”

Coloring books will be available again on July 1, 2016. You may order, but it will involve a wait. Thank you for your patience.

Mineral King — Languid Ladies in the foreground; Chihuahua Creek in the distance. I don’t think this has flowed for the past 4 summers, and Trail Guy thinks it will last through the whole month of June this year.

Mineral King Trail — Steps on a trail look friendly and helpful to me. Trail crew builders accuse step-builders of “making monuments to themselves”. Thank you, Monument Makers.

This is sort of a boring photo of Indian Paintbrush, (red), Western Wallflower (yellow), and a bit of Larkspur (sort of bluish). I just got a little excited to see the 3 primary colors all together.

We saw 2 of these mylar helium balloons. Partiers down in the valley (not Mineral King, but the San Joaquin Valley) don’t realize that when they let go of the strings of their balloons, they are littering.

This tree is not a failure. It is a juniper, and it is Trail Guy’s favorite tree. It is a sign that the steepest part of the trail to White Chief is over. It is still steep, just not the steepest part.

Here is an example of Phlox in all the variations of its whitish-purplish-pinkish glory.

Hello White Chief! The peak is square topped and this is where you first see a glimpse of the canyon, which our 2 new trail friends called “enchanting”. (Hi Dean and Dave!)

Not Trail Guy. He’s not getting wet with his high-tech poncho. He sort of looked like Moses, if he had pulled his arms out of the garbage bag and held his walking stick like a staff.

Mineral King Mineral King photography

Inspirational

The morning light is inspirational.

What does “inspirational” actually mean?

Something that inspires. . . this light, this cat, together they inspire me to take photos.

Wait a minute here! I’m supposed to be inspired to make art.

Does this mess inspire you? It is an honest look at my drawing table while I am working on a coloring book.

The beautiful light and my sweet kitty inspire me to record the moment. The ideas in my head inspire me to draw. (My new friend Dan inspires me to blog when I am tempted to skip a day.)

Hi Perkins. Thank you for 17 years of loyal companionship, you Gopher Fiend.

Why I Am Not Painting the Oak Grove Bridge

Because I am painting 5 little paintings of Farewell Gap/Mineral King.
Because I am working on a new coloring book!!

Anyone want to guess the subject?

It is time for me to reorder Heart of the Hills, my original coloring book, AGAIN.

It is time for me to reorder Heart of Mineral King. WHAT?? I’ve only had it one week!

Hurry, hurry, step right up, order your copy today!

mineral king coloring book — Heart of Mineral King coloring book, $12

coloring book Mineral King

Category: coloring book

Heart of Exeter, Coloring Book, $15, available here

Heart of Exeter