Cat Commission Collage

A customer has asked me to draw 2 cats, each one as a kitten and as an adult cat.

Have I ever mentioned that I might maybe perhaps just may have a teensy bit of a Cat Disorder? Ahem. Probably not. But still. . . 

The customer sent me the photographs of his cats, and I worked out some sketches for him to choose from.

Cats sketch
Sketches of cats for pencil drawing commission

He said I was making it hard on him, but eventually decided that C was the best choice.

Of course “C” is the right choice for a Cats Collage Commission.

So, it was with great pleasure that I began this drawing. I will try to get it finished in a timely manner instead of spending endless amounts of time on it, dragging it out because I do love cats.

But I’m fine. No disorders here, nosiree Bob.

Cats 1
Commissioned pencil drawing of cats

Cabin Commission Completed

That would be “commissioned pencil drawing of a Wilsonia cabin completed”, but that title was stupid-long.

This drawing is 12×16″, and chock full of details. (What does “chock full” mean??)

It has been a couple of weeks since you saw the progression, so let’s review.

First, the sketches so the customer could choose the angle. Then, some revisions, which don’t appear in these sketches.

2 other sketches

Next, I began the drawing, working from top to bottom and left to right. That is because I am right-handed, and don’t want to drag my hand across the piece as I’m working it. If I have to revisit an area on the left, I rest my hand on a piece of paper to protect the other parts from smearing.

cabin drawing

The customers wanted their water wheel added, which didn’t show in the sketch. It was tiny, but it is there!

pencil drawing of cabin

I spent a week on this, refining, darkening, figuring out what was in the shadows, sharpening up edges so the cabin would pop out from the background, experimenting with ways to make the forest look better than just scribbles. You’d think I’d have that figured out after drawing the entire book The Cabins of Wilsonia, but it never comes easy.

And at the end of a  week of very concentrated drawing, here is the final result.

Jungwirth

The customers were very happy, and that is always my goal, so I am very happy too.

Happy, happy, happy.

November is the Busiest Month

Happy Birthday, Shirley Goodness!

November is the busiest month of the year for my little art business called “Cabinart”.

This is a long post and it might make you tired. Better grab some coffee before settling in.

Here’s a little sampling for you.

IMG_1940

Friday a.m. was a meeting with our state assemblyman, Jim Patterson. It was at the Gateway Restaurant, which is just upstream of the Gateway Bridge. That bridge is the bigger brother of my favorite bridge (three arches instead of one), so of course I had to attend the meeting near it. It was sort of a family reunion to visit the Gateway Bridge; wouldn’t you agree?

IMG_1942

I got home with a little time to work on these signs. You can see the evidence of a minor paint accident.

IMG_1949 Then it was time to head over to the Remorial Building to set up for the Holiday Bazaar. “Remorial” is how we say “Memorial” at our house. We learned it from our neighbor when she was about 6 years old.

IMG_1952 IMG_1953 IMG_1957 IMG_1958

The show was a booming success on Saturday. You can see it was a gorgeous day in Three Rivers for this annual event.

I got home in time to shove everything into the workshop and studio and head to church for the annual Harvest Festival. Details aren’t relevant to the content of this blog, but suffice it to say that the overlap of dates really kept me running.

While shoving things into the workshop, I was reminded of work that awaits.

IMG_1935 IMG_1922

These paintings were drying in the house by the wood stove. They need to be ready for the next boutique in 2 weeks.

IMG_1933

Meanwhile, a commissioned pencil drawing is ready to be started.

Cats sketch

(The customer chose C. He already knows I can draw, so no one needs to call a veterinarian for these kitties.)

And, this is first time I have painted olives. These are commissioned oil paintings, as are the oranges. I think the olives are so beautiful that I ordered a 24×24″ canvas and plan to do a large painting of olives when things calm down a bit.

IMG_1928

It won’t be this exact arrangement. Instead, after the other 5 paintings are finished, I will figure out the best parts of each and make a new design.

Meanwhile, I might need to go lie down for a bit.

NOPE. This is the harvest season, and during harvest, farmers don’t climb out of their pick-ups and go home for a nap. I am a farmer’s daughter, and I can and will push through. What’s more, I am really enjoying this season.

Is there any other job in the world with this much variety and activity and autonomy and chance for creativity?

P.S. Thanksgiving is coming quickly, I’m planning for an oil painting workshop for my advanced drawing students, have jury duty soon, am looking for a date to schedule private drawing lessons for 2 busy girls, got another commissioned pencil drawing to design and complete in time for the customer to have framed before Christmas, and practice for the church’s Christmas musical is heating up. (No, I don’t sing – I can read music, listen, and push buttons, so I run the sound board.) Also been asked to participate in a skit (I said no), judge an art contest (said yes, but keeping it anonymous) and go shopping for Operation Christmas Shoebox (just took the easy way out and wrote a check.) No nap for this little gray duck. Please pass the chocolate (the darker, the better.)

Cabin Commission Continued

Thank you, Veterans. You probably didn’t want to go, probably didn’t like being there, maybe questioned why, but you did it so we didn’t have to. Thank you! (including, especially, Cousin Bruce)

I would have said “Wilsonia Cabin Commission”, but I liked 3 Cs in a row in the title.

pencil drawing of cabin

When you compare this to yesterday’s work, you can see that it is inching forward to the right. You can also see that some of the shadows have been darkened. If you are really focused, you might detect that some of the edges are sharper and see that there is more detail on individual rocks and more pencil on the ground.

The right edge of this image is dark and fuzzy because this drawing is 12×16 and doesn’t fit very well on the scanner. Inquiring minds need to know these things.

 

Pencil Commission of Wilsonia Cabin

For over a year, a pencil commission of a Wilsonia cabin has been waiting for decisions to be made by the cabin owners. I too have been waiting. And waiting and waiting and waiting.

2 other sketches

We finally got together in person and discussed some details. They chose a view, chose a size, and paid a deposit.

I got a little ahead of myself in this commission. Normally the customer decides the size, pays 1/2 down, and then I take the photos and do the sketches. For several reasons, I didn’t do this one in the right order, which made me nervous. In the past, when the steps get out of sequence, I usually do a bunch of work for free. Then, the customer just flakes away, because he has no monetary commitment, or as in today’s vernacular, “no skin in the game”.

Not these folks. I persisted, we finally connected, and now this drawing is in progress!

cabin drawing

Lots of fuzzy background trees – my hope is to add interest (and distract from all the vagueness) by adding that closer branch.

Lots and lots of little details too. I was relieved they didn’t want all the signs, the 2 bridges, the bird house, the bird bath, the wind chimes, the plaque, etc. The water wheel and wishing well were fiddly enough.

As a right-hander, I work from top to bottom, left to right. This minimizes the smearing from my hand dragging across the piece as I draw.

 

 

Fruity

Remember seeing these commissioned oil paintings in progress?

1546 Orange 124

1547 Grapes VIII

1548 Pom 47

The customer was very happy and asked for more!

Remember these three commissioned oil paintings?

1545 Orange #123

1544 Pomegranate #46

1543 Lemon #19

This customer was also very happy and asked for more!

Here they are in their infancy.

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commissioned oil paintings

And here they are finished: detailed to the nth degree, signed, scanned, and now with varnish drying!

Peach Plum Tammie's Plum

 

As a Central California artist, I have access to wonderful fresh fruit. Every one of these was painted from photos that I took while the fruit was on the tree or of fruit that came from a friend’s packing house. 

Kaweah Post Office Fundraising

The Kaweah Post Office is one of our only landmark structures in Three Rivers. I am working to help meet the insurance deductible to rebuild it because a big limb from a valley oak tree smashed the roof. (We are quite rural – perhaps a bear was in the tree eating acorns and caused the limb to break . . . I wasn’t there, but it could have happened that way!)

There is an auction on eBay to sell my painting of the Post Office; I will split the proceeds with them. (I gotta earn something here, dear readers – selling art is how I make my living!) It ends tomorrow, Friday, October 9, at noon. See it by clicking this link.

A nice man named Chuck told me he wants to participate with $200, but he just doesn’t shop on eBay. No worries, Chuck. I understand those types of boundaries, because I don’t play on Facebook.

So, I offered to repaint it for him for $100 and give $100 to the Post Office (that size normally sells for $150.)

Chuck upped his donation to $150 to the Post Office, so I got busy immediately. Here is how it looked after the first session on the canvas.

Kaweah P.O.

Normally, I don’t draw the image in pencil first. Instead, I block it out with my paint brush and correct the proportions with each successive layer of paint.

Because I will show Chuck a photo of the progress once a week on this blog, I wanted it to look better at each stage than paintings usually do. If he saw my normal sloppy way of beginning, he might get scared and withdraw his offer!

Thank you, Chuck (and don’t be scared!)

 

 

Drawing a Cabin

My business is called “Cabinart” because when I began, I lived in a cabin and I drew people’s cabins.

I still live in a cabin part time and I still draw cabins. When someone pays me to draw a specific cabin, that is a commission.

A friend asked me to draw a cabin that he borrows as a gift for the owner. I asked for specifics, and he said, “Do the voodoo that only you do so well”, or something equally unusual. He is an unusual person – no one like him in the world, and I think he is a treasure.

Sorry. Distracted by thoughts of my funny clever friend.

I drew it.

friend's cabin 1

Not enough pizazz. Let’s add some color.

friend's cabin 2

Still not quite good enough.

friend's cabin 3

Nice. Commissioned pencil drawing of a cabin.