Category: commissions

Whole Lotta Oak Grove Bridges

Whole lotta bridges going on around here. All the Oak Grove Bridge, of course. 2 paintings, a calendar, 2 photos.

Samson was busy with other things (thank you, GE for babysitting) so I tackled the bridge again. This time I started over, working from back to front and top to bottom. This layering and layering and layering is called “glazing” in Artspeak.

The lower right corner is a mess. Real life is very messy. Most scenery is messed up with sticks, dried stuff, dead branches. . . and we don’t notice because we look past it to the good parts.

You can see the lower right edge of the photo is a mess, a tangled mess.

It isn’t finished here because I just flat don’t know what to do.

So, for now I’ll stop and just think about all the versions and how I’ve handled this corner in previous renditions.

Because I’m feeling more confident about the 11×14 commissioned oil painting of the Oak Grove Bridge, I decided to pull out the 24×30″ version from last year. I tackled it the same way – starting over in the farthest places, working forward.

Just like with murals, the larger, the easier.

Weird.

Particularly Challenging Challenge

Oil painting is a real challenge at times. Getting the colors right in addition to the darks, lights, textures, shapes and proportions, along with seeing what is really there instead of what I think might be there plus adding and subtracting whatever is necessary to enhance the scene . . . it is just hard.

Then along comes a new challenge. This oil painting commission of the Oak Grove Bridge may take longer than any other previous oil painting. Let the photos suffice, although none were taken while claws and teeth were attached to my painting (or photographing) hand. In all the wrestling, a button got pushed on the camera that made the colors more vivid than normal. I’m surprised nothing got broken or accidentally painted or dropped.

While this Bengal bitey-boy-beast, AKA Samson, took a rest, I was able to work on the rocks beneath the bridge a bit, and also located the posts on the bridge itself. The customers didn’t give me a deadline, and they say, “No hurry” each time I see them.

Good thing.

commission oil painting Oak Grove Bridge oil paintings

He Liked It!

The Commissioner and Mrs. Commissioner were very happy with their commissioned oil painting of the Kaweah Blacksmith Shop.

This little building used to be up the North Fork of the Kaweah where the Kaweah Colony was. The flood of 1997 took it away, and in recent years, The Commissioner and his wife bought the property and began learning about it.

He liked this one too. This pencil and colored pencil drawing has a story to it, several stories, really.

I drew this from some photos taken at a friend’s farm yard north of Sacramento. The tires were taller than I am, and my friend said it is quite A Thing when one needs to be changed.

The piece in the Madera Ag Art Show got 1st place in Equipment and Machinery, but it didn’t sell. I showed it around for awhile and finally just put it in my studio. Classic example of what I like not resonating with the general public. . . sigh.

When I was scrolling through old emails looking for Mrs. Commissioner’s name because I forgot it (rude), I found an email from 2007 mentioning the fact that The Commissioner might be interested in this piece. There was no way I was going to call a stranger to ask if he wanted to buy a drawing, even a 1st place one. Not happening!

He is no longer a stranger, he remembered the woman who suggested that I show this to him (she died in a skydiving accident, so you can see what a memorable person she was), and he has very good reason to want this drawing.

That reason will remain a secret, because I am not in the habit of revealing personal information about my customers. I may be rude enough to forget important people’s names, but I have my limits on rudeness.

commission oil painting oil paintings pencil drawing Three Rivers

Painting My Favorite Bridge

My favorite bridge is the Oak Grove Bridge on the Mineral King Road. I’d link you to previous posts about it, but things aren’t working very well on my website right now. Besides, I already talk too much and take up too much of your time. Current “wisdom” on blogging is to only post once a week. My head would blow up if I did that.

Here is the gradual, incremental, snail-paced evolution of a messy canvas into a commissioned oil painting.

Thanks for stopping by and listening and looking.

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!

Samson wanted to help.

I wonder if he got any white paint on the tree?

Gotta See it in Person

The old Kaweah Colony blacksmith shop went away in a flood in 1997. I remember that flood because we were house hunting in Three Rivers during that time. It was interesting to drive around and see washouts and high water marks, but I wasn’t aware of the Kaweah Colony blacksmith shop.

I’ve been painting from this old photo.

kaw_col_blacksmith_shop

The background is invisible in the photo, but that’s no excuse for leaving part of a painting blank. This necessitated a field trip.

These photos look like a mess but show me how to fill in the missing parts. Sort of. Real life is so messy. Scenery often involves tangled gray, green and brown matter.

These photos weren’t enough. For one thing, I was in the wrong location. When I went back to the right place, my camera battery was dead, so I did a sketch. It wasn’t complete enough, because the tree to the right of the building remained a mystery. I can see the trunk and main branches, but what are the leaves doing??

It was raining the afternoon I needed to know. I went anyway. This time I took 2 cameras and an extra battery and a parka.

Here is the tree, missing a few branches. Can’t see the leaves because there aren’t any, but I can tell it is an oak, and I get an idea of the tangled gray, green and brown shapes behind it.

These are the 2 sycamores to the left of the shop. These photos helped immensely with detail. All the photos taken in the rain helped.

Finally, I think I may be finished with this commissioned oil painting. I sent this photo to the commissioner (doesn’t that sound official? The man actually owns a tire shop or 2. . . I wonder if he’d like being referred to as “Commissioner”.)

Kaweah Colony Blacksmith Shop

I hope The Commissioner thinks I am finished. If not, I’ll make the adjustments that he requests. That’s how commissioned oil painting works. But, maybe he’s gotta see it in person too. (I KNOW “gotta” isn’t a word, just like “prolly” isn’t, but sometimes a writer’s gotta say what she’s gotta say.)

commission oil painting oil paintings Three Rivers

Simple

Painting the Oak Grove Bridge is anything but simple. After two more hours on the current oil painting of my favorite bridge, it looks like this:

I spend a ton of time sorting out the shapes under the bridge. No one really knows or cares if they are exactly right, so I’m not sure why I spend so much time on them. I think it is so everything will fit. What if I leave out an important rock?

The colors and textures don’t matter at this stage. I just concentrate on getting the proportions and angles right, and try to get close in values (the darks and lights).

Seeing those rocks and parts of water is tricky. The shrubs keep growing and obstructing the views. The water is reflective, so it appears as simply white in places on the photo.

I’ve stood on the bridge and stared at the rocks and water, and it seems completely different from what is in the photo. I might be a bit simple.

This doesn’t have to be perfect, just believable. I’ve drawn and painted the Oak Grove Bridge so many times that it seems I ought to be able to stop using photos. I can’t. It is possible that I am a bit simple.

Since I find this destructive creature perpetually amusing, I must be a bit simple.

commission oil painting Oak Grove Bridge oil paintings

Two Oil Painting Commissions

When there is work to be done, I’d rather get it done than postpone it. Someone has described people like me as “precrastinators” rather than procrastinators.

Commission #1 – Kaweah Colony blacksmith shop

This mess on canvas is becoming the Kaweah Colony’s blacksmith shop. The background doesn’t show in the photo, so I went to the site where it used to be until the flood of 1997 took it out. The camera battery was dead, so I drew the shape of the background hill on tissue paper laid over the photo.

The customer requested autumn coloring. I’ll figure it out. . . layer by layer.

Commission #2 – Oak Grove Bridge

Some folks bought this painting of the Oak Grove Bridge as a gift. #1576 Oak Grove Bridge XVI

They decided they want one for themselves, so I am painting another one. This is the painting on the cover of the sold out 2017 calendar. I saved one for myself, something I haven’t always done in the past. Good thing, because it is helping me, along with the photo, of course.

Save

commission oil painting Oak Grove Bridge oil paintings

Forgive Us Our Trespasses

Sometimes when I need to get photos or see stuff, I trespass. Been doing it my whole life, I confess. Forgive me my trespasses. . .

Are these the same two sycamores as in the sepia photo from 1996?

kaw_col_blacksmith_shop — These 2 sycamores have more space between them, but is was 20 years ago when this was taken.

Recently I went trespassing up the North Fork of the Kaweah, looking for the site where the Kaweah blacksmith shop sat. I have a photo from 1996, but the flood of 1997 probably changed the scene. Besides removing the blacksmith shop, it probably changed the route of the river there.

Why does it matter if I have a photo? Because I can’t tell if there are hills behind or if the river should show a bit or what to fill in with between the sycamore trees. If I can’t see it, I can’t paint it. Very well, that is.

No thanks, Samson, I don't need any help. Doesn't he look sweet? He isn't. — No thanks, Samson, I don’t need any help. Doesn’t he look sweet? He isn’t.

Building a painting probably isn't as scary as making sausage, but it certainly is daunting. — Building a painting probably isn’t as scary as making sausage, but it certainly is daunting. Hard to believe that things begin this rough, but yeppers, that’s the way I paint.

commission oil painting oil paintings

New Oil Painting With Help

One of the benefits of participating in bazaars, boutiques and festivals is that I meet new people. Sometimes this results in commissions or new drawing students. The Senior League Holiday Bazaar brought me this new oil painting commission.

Oh boy, there’s a challenge! When the customer explained that he had taken this photo in the Three Rivers History Museum, I knew I’d receive some good help.

I emailed Museum Man, who promptly removed the photo from the frame, scanned it at a high resolution and emailed it to me!

kaw_col_blacksmith_shop

The customer told me about this little building. It was the blacksmith shop for the Kaweah Colony, and it was on property that he now owns. In 1997, a flood took it away.

We discussed colors, and he and his wife decided it would suit them better in full color rather than sepia tones. They chose the fall season, which seems right based on all the sycamore leaves on the ground.

To be continued. . .

commission oil painting oil paintings Three Rivers

More About Fruit and Nuts

I paint a lot of fruit. I don’t paint very many nuts.

I drew walnuts a few years ago (feels like 5 years, probably is 10).

with_please

Wow. That’s pretty good, if I do say so myself! And I do. I LOVE to draw. However, drawings need frames, and oil paintings sell better than pencil. Sometimes I ask my boss if I can draw, and she says I can after I finish all my work. Sigh.

A couple of years ago (feels like 2, must be 4), a friend commissioned me to do some 2×2″ paintings of all the best selling produce in California. Maybe it wasn’t the best selling – maybe it was the crops that California produces the most of.

nuts Those are the only paintings I’ve ever done of nuts – a walnut on the upper left and almonds on the upper right.

Pretty cool idea, eh?

oil paintings