Designs on a Museum Wall

I enlarged these designs onto kraft paper, ordered some very large sheets of graphite transfer paper, gathered a few tools, and drove to the Three Rivers Historical Museum. My job bosses had prepped the wall for me, and they also blocked it off in a very serious manner, along with providing a ladder and a couple of tables. (They are TERRIFIC to work for!)

I had previously tested some carbon paper to see if I could transfer through the kraft paper, but had to go searching at Blick Art Materials for some large graphite sheets. There were two to choose from, and instead of accidentally ordering the wrong one, I bought both.

We measured the wall very carefully to mark the center and then figure out where the first design was to go. Then I taped the smallest design up, trying to see through the kraft paper to place it exactly on the mark I made, adjusting it until it was level.

The design was drawn in pencil, so you can’t see it on this photo. I kept the bottom untaped so I could lift it up to place the graphite paper.

MASKING TAPE WOULDN’T STICK TO THE GRAPHITE PAPER!!

The museum came to the rescue with old-fashioned brown masking tape instead of the easy-removing blue type.

This design is called Quail, taken directly from a Yokuts basket design. I used a straight edge and traced over the pencil lines with an obsolete tool from the olden days of phototypesetting that my students and I refer to as a “spatula”. (Too hard to explain.)

Squint hard, and you can see how it landed on the wall.

What next? I’ll show you in two days.

Are All Wall Paintings Murals?

Nope. Some are designs, created for museum displays, by exhibit designers. The Three Rivers History Museum hired a museum designer, an exhibit designer, whatever the title is, to create a Native American exhibit, and they (or is it the Tulare County Historical Society? Or the Mineral King Preservation Society? I should pay more attention!) to execute these designs.

Every new job I take on has an entirely new set of challenges. How does one take this little PDF and turn it into a wall design? These exhibit designers may not have completely thought through the execution phase of the display. However, maybe they do know how to do such a job and just didn’t tell the museum. Maybe it involves equipment and technology that I don’t own.

No problem. I figured it out.

The designer sent it with a ?”=1′-0″ grid over the top.

I turned it to black and white, isolated each group, and printed it. (These samples don’t show the whole designs—just wanted to give you an idea.)

Next, I got some giant kraft paper (looks like brown butcher paper on a great big roll, and if you have ever received a wrapped gift from me, you know what I’m talking about) and laid it out on my drafting table. This was quite a big jump from my normal 11×14″ pencil drawings.

And then, I started measuring and drawing.

It took an entire day.

What next? I had to figure out how to get the patterns on the wall. I’ll show you next week, after our monthly Learned List.

Back to the Easels and the Drawing Table

After several months of no work (i.e. lovely free time at the cabin without deadlines or guilt), work is beginning to trickle back into my days.

First, a pencil commission. (I still love to draw.)

This was the little sketch for the customer to approve or amend.

She made a couple of suggestions, and I scribbled a few notes for further verification.

This is a house I visited. Actually, I visited the people there, but the house really stuck in my memory as very attractive. It will be quite fun to draw.

I worked on the herd of buffalo for the upcoming show at CACHE, called “A Bovine State of Mind”.

It might be finished, but I will wait to sign it until I am completely sure there is nothing left to improve.

I remembered that the Holiday Bazaar in Three Rivers is coming November 18, 2023. This is the Saturday BEFORE Thanksgiving. It is time to think about beefing up my inventory of smaller paintings for this annual boutique at the Remorial Building. (Remorial, liberry, prolly. . . bet you can translate these words).

Yep, messy, but the first layers always are.

It’s great to be producing art again, both with pencils and oil paints!

Oil Painting Comparisons

Let’s compare some oil paintings: a 2006 version reworked, a 2010 painted again, and a painting begun to its midpoint.

I painted this in 2006; my friend (let’s call him Craig, because that is his name) brought it back to me upon my request. I wanted to rework it so that I wouldn’t feel embarrassed for taking his money 17 years ago.

It took awhile, but I found the original reference photograph. With limited (ahem, zero, actually) experience in painting scenery back then, I just did my best to match the somewhat gray and faded colors of the photo. I was successful in matching, which is one of the important lessons of learning to paint. However, now I like to substitute brighter colors.

Craig also asked me to repaint a 6×6″ scene that I had originally done in 2010. I was able to convince him to just trade me rather than keep 2 almost identical paintings.

Can you tell which is old and which is new? Probably not, so I’ll tell you: old is on the right, new on the left.

Then I decided to touch up the old so that I can sell it next year, assuming my places of commerce will be open and thriving again.

You probably can’t tell the difference in this photo. That’s okay, because I can and I know it is better now.

Finally, let’s look at a painting in its beginning ugly stages, and then enjoy it after it has been worked on a bit more.

I relayered the sky and clouds, worked on the trees, and began detailing the buffalo. (For some unknown reason, I worked from right to left on the herd, rather than my normal left to right.)

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I love to draw with my paintbrushes.

Another Interruption, This Time for Drawing

 

Once again, we interrupt our broadcast for this drawing.

Ever notice the annoyance of the English language, where a noun and a verb can be exactly the same word? And I didn’t actually mean “broadcast”, because we are in a series of posts about cabin life. This drawing fits the category of cabin life but it isn’t about cabin life; it’s about pencil drawing.

Get on with it, will ya??

An old friend (that seems to be where most of my work comes from, but new friends and young friends are welcome to commission me; even friends I haven’t met yet are welcome here) expressed an interest in a drawing from The Cabins of Wilsonia. 

Alas, it was gone.

We had a few options: 1. Oh well, sorry; 2. Buy another book, Sir, and rip out the page; 3. I can draw it for you again.

My wise friend chose option #3.

Have a look at the original photo that I used.

As always, working from a photo isn’t straightforward copying. Every photo has its indiscernible parts, because real life is messy. 

Because my friend was wanting the drawing from the book, I used that old drawing to help me make decisions. (I didn’t lie: although the original is gone, it’s still on my laptop.)

Then, I thought about it a bit more and decided that I ought to be able to do a better job now. That was 10 years ago, and I was cranking out those 272 (was that really the number??) drawings at a rapid pace. This time, there was no deadline. My friend’s only requirement was specific dimensions to go with another drawing, like a matched set.

Here is the other drawing.

And here is its new partner.

(The difference in darkness has something to do with the computer reproduction, not a change in pencils or pressure on the paper.)

This picnic table appears in the chapter called “Brewer”, which is the name of the road in Wilsonia depicted in that chapter. (I got clever that way.) The funny part is that I could not remember where this photo actually was, and I just put it on Brewer because I thought it looked good with the chaise lounge. 

Apparently my friend thought the same. He has actually had a strong influence over my art career, so this makes sense.

Thank you, DB!

Series Interruption for Painting Update

 

Recently I told an old friend that I have no commissions. He said, “I have one for you”. Many years ago he bought a couple of Mineral King paintings from me. One was when I was very new to painting, and according to Friend, I was reluctant to accept his hard-earned dollars for it. He wanted me to paint the two again, so he could see the difference. 

After he sent me a photo of the two paintings on his Mineral King wall, I asked if he wanted one or both, and what sizes. He chose one, a 6×6″, and it is the newer of the two paintings. However, it is still before I kept good records of completed work. (I started oil painting on March 8, 2006. Yes, I remember the date.)

This is his photo:

I looked through my files of completed oil paintings, and holy guacamole, look how many paintings of this scene I have in my records!

This is the first one, probably from 2006 or 2007, when I was still painting on boards rather than wasting canvas.

This is from 2010.

2013

2014

Can’t tell. . .

  •  . . .if these are painted from the same reference photos or not. I can tell that none of them are the one that Friend owns.
  • . . .if these improve through the years.
  • . . .if the 2023 version will be superior to these.

Excuses

  • It is too hot to paint for very long this time of year
  • When the swamp cooler was roaring in the painting workshop last week, I didn’t hear the plumber arrive, so the gate was closed and he left. I now have to wait AGAIN for him to show. (WHY doesn’t he call first??)
  • I am out of practice.

Beginning steps

I found two photos to help me get this right.

Ugh. It’s hot and the swamp cooler is roaring, and I want lunch. There is no deadline, so I will paint slowly with many corrective layers.

Done.

Now, we return to our regular broadcast, a series called “Cabin Life”.

Sold in Spring 2023

If you are getting this post in your email, go to the internet and type in jana botkin dot net (type it in computer style, not the way it is written here).

Sales have been slow. I am not defining “spring”, precisely, and it isn’t over yet. However, I am not producing very much: just editing and formatting 2 different books, teaching drawing lessons, communicating occasionally with the folks on 2 different pairs of murals, and wondering if there will be any reason to paint towards selling at the Silver City Store this coming summer.

 

Lest you think I am bored, your Central California artist is never bored. I am yardening, meeting up with an old friend from high school, cleaning out closets and rooms at church, yardening some more, reading, knitting, walking with my neighbor, and yardening (in case you were wondering.)

How I Finished the Oil Painting Commission

My blog seems to be back to normal, so if you are receiving my posts via email and can’t see the photographs, tap here to go to the blog on the internet.

The large oil painting commission has taken quite a bit of thought and time. It feels very important to make it the best I possibly can. This is difficult for a non-perfectionist, whose main drive is to complete projects rather than do things perfectly. However, as a grownup, I am capable of overcoming my natural bent when it is the right thing to do.

I photographed the painting while it was upside down on the easel.

Then I flipped and cropped the photo, enlarged it to fill my computer screen, and studied it.

This is a weird phenomenon, one observed and used by my drawing students and me. Things often look fine until you see a photograph on a phone, camera, or computer screen. Suddenly the flaws appear.

The result of my study session is a red oval around each part that didn’t look quite right.

Then I mixed up the right colors and began making minuscule corrections. My plan was to photograph the corrections for you, but all wet paint was shiny and looked terrible in the photos. So, never mind that plan.

I lifted it off the easel to sign it and saw that the bottom looked terrible.

Then I looked out the painting workshop door and felt happy in spite of the little hitch in my git-along.

 

Here it is on the easel, ready for the official photograph. In spite of looking tiny in this setting, it is way too big for my scanner.

Wait! You haven’t seen the edges yet!

Finally, paint the bottom of the canvas, and the painting is finished. (Still wet)

I think you need to see it in person to truly appreciate this commissioned oil painting of my current favorite scene of Tulare County to paint for the very patient and accommodating Mr. Customer.

 

Finish the Painting, You Slacker!

My blog seems to be back to normal, so if you are receiving my posts via email and can’t see the photographs, tap here to go to the blog on the internet.

For weeks I have been showing bits and pieces of this slowly emerging commissioned oil painting of what I refer to as the best parts of Tulare County.

One day I decided to stop dabbling and just finish it. Then my neighbor texted me, and when I looked up, I saw her across the street. We haven’t talked for awhile, so I went over and pulled weeds with her while catching up. Then there was this, that, and another thing before I remembered the day’s resolution: FINISH THE PAINTING (YOU SLACKER).

Eventually I realized that most of what remained was details, in other words, drawing with my paintbrush, which is my favorite part of painting.

However, there was still some difficulty in diving in, due to the nature of the fakery on the canvas. I wasn’t trusting my own experience to make the hills and groves look believable. 

What’s a Central California artist to do?

Pick up her brushes and begin, that’s what.

Here is the day’s progression of baby steps, tackling one section at a time (without stopping to pull weeds for about 5 hours straight).


The last step was to paint the edges.

After the painting is dry, I will flip it over and study it further. If there is nothing else left to do that will make any improvement, I will sign it, photograph it, and spray-varnish it. I will consult with the very patient Mr. Customer about a title, write it on the back, and pass it along to its new home.

There! That wasn’t so hard, was it? (Says The Slacker with a slight twitch. . .)