Conversion to Winter

A friend from down south (that means Southern California or “Socal”) called to see if I could paint sequoias in snow for his company to use for their holiday card this year. (Companies aren’t allowed to send Christmas cards anymore.) We discussed sizes, timelines, and designs. After those preliminary decisions were made, I sent this sketch for approval.

The sketch vanished into the atmosphere, and another sketch of different proportions was requested. I sent this, but knew it wasn’t as good as the 18×36″ proportioned one, so I sent the first one again. (Did it vanish because I had the audacity to write the words “Merry Christmas”? Don’t be a conspiracist!!)Then the requested time frame to receive the finished painting shrunk. People who don’t paint don’t know how long it takes for oil to dry; people who do paint don’t really know either but realize it isn’t an overnight situation. People who live in cities don’t know how long it takes for giant blank canvases to get shipped; people who don’t live in cities don’t really know either, but understand that time must be built in for snafus.

So, I looked at the 18×36″ painting of sequoias on the easel that was set aside because I have commissions, which always take precedence over the paintings I do to build up my inventory.Necessity is the mother of invention and being innovative is part of living rurally. I decided that this unfinished summer scene could be converted to winter, because there isn’t enough time to wait for a new canvas to arrive.

White is the slowest drying oil paint color, so this will need a few days before the detail begins.

Yippee skippee, I can do this!! (Why didn’t I think to add on a rush charge? Does anyone out there want to be my business manager? secretary? coach?)

 

New Custom Oil Painting

Because I can’t start painting on the mural until afternoon, I can work on a new custom oil painting in the morning.

This is for a friend of mine. This house belonged to her grandparents, and she doesn’t have many photos other than the ones taken after the house changed owners. So, I am working from mediocre photos and verbal instructions from my friend/customer. Tain’t easy, but we can do this.

One Done, Another Begun

Phew! We got this one. The customer is happy and I am too! This is the scanned view so you can better see the details. Actually, I feel a bit proud of being able to combine all these different pictures into one GIANT collage, one that pleases both the customer and me. I might need a nap now.

But no! No naps for this artist. I have begun the next commissioned pencil drawing of a cabin. This one will be a gift (not from me but from the customer to his friend) so I won’t say much more about it for now.

Adjusting and Advancing

I did it again – worked with a customer until she was happy with the sketch, and then after doing the drawing (well, not completely finishing), she wasn’t entirely happy with the results.

This is my fault because when I saw there was a problem, I made an unauthorized change to try to fix it. Instead, I should have gone to her first and said, “I think there is a balance problem here”. But if I had said that and she liked it, would she have felt stupid? It is a good policy to never lead a customer into feeling stupid. 

She made a suggestion, I countered it by proposing an additional adjustment, and then I warned her that erasing may leave a shadow. She was okay with that, so I feel good about our combined decision. 

Here is the before:

This is the after:

 I am once again awaiting her approval in case there are more adjustments. More will be revealed in the fullness of time.

One Bite at a Time

Or, if you read Anne Lamott, one bird at a time*. That’s the way I will accomplish this large complicated custom pencil drawing.

My large paper has more texture than I am used to. This will mean adding more layers than usual.
As a right-hander, there is less smearing if I work top to bottom, left to right. (This isn’t smeared all over the center – it is the shadow cast by my magnifying light.)

The paper’s texture means that smearing is more of a problem than usual, so I cover it with tissue paper for protection whenever I leave the studio.

As with many of my projects, I start out wondering if I have bitten off more than I can chew. Once I see a little progress, my confidence returns, and pretty soon I start really enjoying the project. This one is no different; each segment gives a sense of accomplishment, so instead of thinking that the end is far away, I get to experience many little endings.

*Anne Lamott wrote a book about writing called Bird By Bird.

 

It’s Complicated

I have learned to draw from photos on my laptop instead of mediocre prints from my mediocre printer on mediocre paper and instead of waiting for high quality prints from Shutterfly. This means I can enlarge on the screen for understanding the detail more. This also means I can’t measure. Everything is a mixed bag.

The complicated custom collage drawing began with these photos, and even more.

Then I began laying it out on the giant piece of paper, using the approved sketch as my map. 14×18″ is a lot of real estate to cover with the point of a pencil.

Can you see the lines on the paper? “Just barely” is the answer I am looking for.

This is a big job, a complicated one, but I, your Central California artist am up for the task.

Custom Complicated Collage

When a group of words begin with the same letter, it’s called “alliteration”. Did you know that? Do you care?

The owner of this cabin has hired me to draw a 14×18″ collage that incorporates many different views and pieces of her unique and well-designed place.

After several versions, this is the one that pleases her the most.

Can you use the word “mayonnaise” in a sentence?

How about this: “Man-aze a lotta stuff in ‘at pitcher!” (Say it out loud; you will get it in a minute.)

In addition to messing around with words, I do love to draw. Good thing, eh?

Finished Pencil Drawing Two

Two pencil drawings of one boat – one truly beautiful boat, called a Chris Craft. These are quite a Thing, maybe the Rolls Royce or the Harley Davidson of the water. (I just made that up and hope I didn’t insult anyone or any brand here.)

Can I drive?? Is that what it is called to run a boat? Or is “pilot” the correct verb?