More Hard House

Before sending the photo to my friend/customer of the oil painting of her grandparents’ house, I studied it on the computer screen, comparing it to the photo.

The mistakes in perspective and proportion just knocked me sideways.

Some were fixable, some are not. Back on the easel it went with the main problem being the bay window.

My friend didn’t notice any trouble there but asked that window on the balcony to be turned into a sliding screen door, and for some grass to be planted in front of the porch.

After I did those things, I noticed another problem with the balcony and changed the proportions there.

It needs to dry, and I need to figure out when to say when.

And chances are that if you read this far, you are probably yawning and wondering what all the jibber-jabber is about. My friend is very patient, doesn’t understand all my pickiness, and is happy with the painting, now in her possession.

Meanwhile, I will keep working to. . .

. . .make art that people understand about places and things they love for prices that won’t scare them.

(Although sometimes the process scares me.)

 

Last Pencil Commission

This is the last drawing I did with a pre-Christmas deadline. It is a Mineral King cabin, and no, I will not publish the name as this is the World Wide Web and I respect people’s privacy.

It was a joy to draw a cabin that I am familiar with, one that I was able to take all the necessary photos instead of just working with one or two provided photos that were missing a lot of detail.

See these photos? I found them all helpful and necessary. This is my favorite kind of commission, but as you have seen on my blog over the past couple of months, I say yes to many challenging custom art jobs.

I make art that you can understand, of places and things you love, for prices that won’t scare you.

Reluctant Portrait

About 20 years ago I decided to learn how to draw people that can be recognized. This was a business decision: I have a love for architecture, not faces. It was very difficult, but I did quite a few portraits.

Later, I decided that portraits are best left to those who don’t have to sweat bullets in capturing likenesses.

This fall, a portrait came back to haunt me. A man I don’t know emailed me to say I had drawn his dad, and now would I draw his mom.

The request came during a lull in custom jobs, and against my better judgement while ignoring my lack of expertise in this area, I said yes.

He sent me this photo of the drawing of his dad. 

He also sent me several somewhat blurry photos of his mom with a request to put her next to her beloved carved bear. I know this fine lady, and was determined to do a good job. Several of my drawing students also know her, so without telling them who it was, I took the drawing to lessons and showed them.

What a thrill when they said, “That’s [Her Name]!!” (This is the World Wide Web, so I am not publishing the name of the subject.)

Now, I am returning to my policy of no portraits. My students said, “The plaid blouse must have been difficult”. It was easier than her face.

I haven’t heard back, and I hope the family was pleased (and doesn’t have any more members to be pencilized.)

Sanctioned Graffiti

A friend in Three Rivers has a rock in her front yard (well duh, most people in Three Rivers have rocks in their front yards) and for a few years, she has wanted some words painted on the rock. She mentioned it to me and I said, “I can do that!” 

After she explained her idea, I spent time messing around with typestyles, looking for something I could imitate. After experimenting awhile, I realized the only choice was Papyrus, the type that graphic designers love to hate. I love it. What do you expect from an unsophisticated, marginally educated, DBO* from Tulare County?? It was the best choice because it has ragged looking edges, and I was painting on a ragged rough surface.

I forgot to bring my chalk to mark the borders, but was able to scratch in the lines with a rock, then put a first layer down to see if I could control the paint and a brush. 

Yeppers. I can do this. A new brush helped.

Layer layer layer. Watch out for drips.

 Remember to step back and see if it is readable.

My friend wanted it subtle, and liked the light color. I asked if I could add shadows, she was good with that, and we both liked the results.

Voila! Sanctioned graffiti (or sanctified graffiti?) My friend said, “Tell your people that I am thrilled, filled with happiness and joy over this!” I said, “We are ending this year proclaiming the truth.” She said, “Amen”, and we were both quite satisfied.

*Ditch-bank-Okie is supposed to be a pejorative term, but I view it as a compliment.

Cabin Commission in Oil

I met a cabin owner who was interested in a drawing of his cabin. The cabin was closed for the season, which meant the flag wasn’t out, and the shutters were closed over the windows. I took an entire roll of film (JUST KIDDING – I’m not that old fashioned!) and then did this sketch to see if everything important to the cabin owner was included.

His wife asked if I could do the drawing in colored pencil. No, I cannot. Well, I could, but it would take months, and then I might need carpal tunnel surgery. 

So, we decided that an oil painting is the answer. These are really nice people, and they are not in a hurry. That’s good, because I want to do a great job on this, and I have the photos to work from. (Never mind that it was smoky smoky smoky when I took them.)

The proportions aren’t right. I let this dry (for 3 weeks!) while I worked on the jobs with deadlines. Then, I got serious.

This still looks rough. The windows are in place, but will look different when I open the shutters. This stage is still the early layering, getting the canvas covered, the placements and proportions correct.

After another layer or two, I’ll begin the fun phase of “drawing with my paintbrush”. I’m 61 years old and I can paint however I want (as long as the customer likes the results).

P.S. Because this is the World Wide Web, I am not showing the photos in order to protect the cabin owners’ privacy.

Big Sigh of Relief

After finishing the commissions with tight deadlines, I went back to the ones without a timeframe. 

First, the most difficult one, the Hard House. 

It needed some tightening up, and 2 baskets of fuchsias. But I decided it needed something more. There had been a birch tree in the front yard, but I didn’t want it to cover the gable end. So, branches coming from the left seemed to be the right approach.

The photo had a palm tree in the distance, and that seemed to be a helpful addition to all the empty sky on the right.

The edges are painted, it is signed, and now it needs to dry for awhile. It is too big for my scanner, so when it is dry, I’ll carry it out into the sunshine for a proper photograph.

Big deep sigh of relief.

Now, will I learn to turn down jobs with inadequate photos?

Probably not. Challenges are how one can increase in skill, and I like the idea of getting paid for the practice.

Turns out the sigh of relief was premature. To be continued as I bumble along in order to keep. . .

. . .making art people understand of places and things they love at prices that won’t scare them.

 

 

Christmas Cabin Surprise

A friend asked me to draw this cabin, another one that didn’t survive the wildfires. Her photos were fairly inadequate, but my confidence in making up things is growing. This is due to experience, both with cabins, and knowing that most people don’t observe detail to the degree that I do when drawing.

The front door of a place is the most important feature, and this one is hidden by the dual trees. I asked my friend if I could remove those trees and if she could describe the front door. She said yes to both.

When custom art jobs are tricky, meaning when there aren’t adequate photos, a sketch is often helpful.  This one has an unusual roof shape on the left gable end, and a surprisingly wide chimney, along with steps that were hidden behind the tree that I removed.

The sketch was approved, so I did the drawing. 

 

Mural, Final Day

I could have titled this “Mural, Day Thirteen” because I am not superstitious; however what if someone reading my blog is superstitious? Where in the world did that fear of #13 originate? Never mind, we have a mural to see.

After staring at this photo for awhile, I made a list of things to fix.

My plan was to go in the morning for the bright sunlight so that I could really see details. The parts I wanted to fix were small enough that the direct sun drying paint too quickly was only going to be a nuisance rather than a hindrance.

Alas, I was trapped at home for 3 hours. Southern California Edison is very proactive about replacing wobbly poles and cutting interfering trees.

I still made it to St. Anthony’s with bright sunshine on the wall.

An employee was present and asked me what was left to do. It was a good chance to articulate the parts that were not quite right and to cement the idea that they needed a bit of polishing. He was surprised by all my criticisms, and we had a good conversation in which he told me about a book titled “Beauty Will Save the World”. He said that the premise of the book is that people want to get rich in order to protect themselves from ugliness! That was an entirely new concept to me, and it certainly makes sense. 

Working all over the mural meant lots of ladder moving and climbing.

A partial list of what needed to be fixed: more branches above, 2 trees were too narrow at the top, one of the big trees was lacking in texture and was too red, more ferns at the base, and many more things too boring to burden you with.

The shade moved quickly, and it went from tee shirt weather to jacket time in very short order.

Most of the changes are too small to see in this format and probably could have been skipped, but that’s not the way I work.

You can see that the too-red tree is calmed down and has more texture now, but I will need to return to photograph it in bright sunlight.

I lay on the ground to sign, and as careful as I tried to be, my brush bounced all over the stucco. Thanks to my friend Jon, I was spared writing “www” before my web address. He recently taught me that “www is so last year”. I depend on my friends to haul me forward on those important trends.

Thank you for following along with my sequoia mural at St. Anthony’s Retreat (Santa Teresita Youth Center) in Three Rivers. No new murals are planned at this time, but I am always interested because:

I make art you can understand of things and places you love for prices that won’t scare you. 

Mural, Day Twelve

The last time I worked on the mural was about 2 weeks ago. Trail Guy stopped by and took this photo. This mural is one of the least social I’ve painted, other than the ones at my house. Now you have proof that I worked on it.

I thought I would be able to finish the mural yesterday. Instead, I held back a little, with the intention of spending time today really studying it, making the little improvements that make me proud to put my name on the mural. I am more motivated to finish things than to perfect them, so this is a matter of professional discipline.

It has been a few weeks since I was at the mural and there are quite a few leaves on the ground. Doesn’t matter – just an observation. This photo was taken with a phone rather than a camera.

I wonder why the camera’s pictures are more dull than the phone. 

I stood there a bit, studying the mural, trying to remember what I had planned to do next.

That’s right – too much empty sky.

Over the archway too – too empty.

Better.

This is how it looked at the end of the painting session yesterday. I will study this photo and make some notes to take with me today.

Winter Cabin

This cabin burned. I don’t know where it was or who owned it. The customer provided the photo and requested the drawing as a gift for the cabin owner. I haven’t heard the outcome. I feel fairly confident that the cabin owner won’t know about me or my blog.

P.S. If you recognize this cabin, shhhhh. It is meant to be a surprise.