Working from Photos

It isn’t popular in the artworld to admit that one works from photos. In fact, the closest you’ll get to reading that someone works from photos is “I use them for reference”. Brings to mind something Jack White, my painting inspiration/guru/mentor said – “All realistic painters either work from photos or they lie about it”. Me? I TOTALLY work from photos – if I just use them for reference, it is because the scene was so complicated that I just started making things up!

The other JB and I visited the Buckeye campground in Sequoia National Park over the weekend. There is a mellow little trail that leads to a picturesque footbridge over the main fork of the Kaweah River. (You can read about it in the  January 17 blog post.) When JB saw the view, she burst forth with the declaration, “If you paint that, I will buy it!” Being a hard-nosed business tycoon (snort, guffaw), I said, “Okay, I will show you some sketches first so you can see if you like it and after I paint it, I won’t hold you to buying it.” (Jack White would not be pleased with me for that!)

Here is the main view that JB was so taken with; you can barely see the bridge in the photo! This is why I will have to sketch things in advance of painting – how large can I make the bridge without distorting reality? How much rock, if any, in the foreground is actually necessary? Can I “grow” the river, because in our memories, it is The Main Event?

All these photos will be useful to create a small (“thumbnail” in Artspeak) sketch that will determine what size and where each part should be in proportion to the other parts. If I was carrying a backpack that day, a sketchbook would have been a helpful item. But I am a modern chick who uses a digital camera with tremendous gratitude for the technology.

I’m No Abbey Ryan.

Recently my friend MA sent me some info about painter Abbey Ryan, and I watched a video of her painting. She finishes one painting every day and then sells it for big $ on eBay. It looks so easy.

MA owns these cute little metal birds. She loves these guys, and I understand why!

She asked me to paint one for her on a 6×6″ canvas. I photographed them a bunch of different ways, this angle, that angle, 2 together in different poses, light on this side, light on that side, this one alone, that one alone. Then I deleted the ones that weren’t as appealing, cropped the 4 best ones to a square format, emailed her, and let her choose. She asked for one more angle, so I photographed it that way and sent her favorite along with the new one. She chose the first favorite.

I began mixing the colors while looking at the actual birds. The sun was so bright that I was sure I was getting the colors perfect! Mixing colors is so much fun, and it is sort of magical because of starting out with only 2 blues, 2 reds, a yellow and white.

Finally, it was time to paint. I couldn’t get the angle of light on the bird the way it was in the photo, and the light was too bright to see my computer screen photo well. I moved things all over my work area, and finally decided to just begin. I figured I could try getting MA’s bird finished in one sitting a la Abbey Ryan. I figured wrong. The brush is still not a pencil, no matter how much I practice. Finally I realized that the paint was just smearing around, messing up the colors, and no more progress would be made until it dried. Here is how the little bird looks after one painting session:

Good start, messed up feet, paint all over my hands from holding the canvas!

Odd Jobs

This is a sign for a houseboat. The customer brought me the sign form and I had to design a few choices for her, including a typestyle that she liked. (I didn’t name the boat!) She chose a design that looks as if it is a scene rather than just a strict lettering project. This was a challenge on several fronts – painting on wood, painting on an unusual shape, figuring out how to do lettering without it looking like my own handwriting or looking machine-like. Here is the beginnings of the project:

Here is the finished project:

In case you were wondering, I sort of “bounced” the letters a little for a playful look – with a name like “Fuzzytimes”, it seemed to require a bit of extra playfulness!

Dogwood

My Dad used to refer to this flower as a “fried egg” and it would annoy his Aunt Mary to no end! As a kid, I didn’t understand their low-key teasing; as an adult, I get it. (Isn’t that the case with much of life??) This is a sold piece, but I wanted to share it with you because these flowers are so doggone gorgeous!

Commission

Remember this word? It means “an order for something to be produced such as a work of art”. Indeed! A friend of a long-time customer contacted me with a request to draw a house. The photos came next-day type post and had to be signed for. There were three and they had obviously been peeled from an old album. None of the three had a complete view of the house; two were from the front and one from the side. There was snow, and changes had been made from the 70s photo to the more current one. Have I mentioned lately that I love to draw? I LOVE to draw, and this challenging puzzle was greatly satisfying!

Little Green Apples


Kind of weird how that shadow made a slash through the beginning painting – yeah, I know it is ugly at this stage, but a slash??

If the nice lady with impeccable taste wants a green apple painting, perhaps others of similarly impeccable taste might want a green apple painting. Besides, if I’m going to paint one little green apple, might as well paint three. (and a grape cluster)

Thinking and planning and learning

In a perfect world, an artist would make art with her favorite medium of her favorite subjects when she felt like it. When it was almost finished, people would be clamoring to buy it, and she would rejoice in a sure sale. Dream on, Toots! In reality, if an artist wants to earn a living, she has to make art with the medium that sells best, choose subjects that people love, and be in touch with those people. In addition to making art, an artist has to be able to do a zillion other things. Want cards? Better learn what the best sizes are, where to have them printed, how many to order in quantities that might sell, how to package and where to find the materials, and how to price both resale and retail. Want to teach? Better be able to find, connect with and keep students. (Plus have a place, materials, a plan, and the flexibility of a pre-teen gymnast!) Need more than some paintings, cards and a few students? Better research the world of art and retail to find out what people are buying, gather seeds of information to create something new, practice like crazy, actually make art, and at the same time, learn how to market it. Need places to sell your work? Better get out there and discover shows, shops, galleries and other venues for promoting your work. Want commissions? Better meet people, listen to their wishes, have a price list, know how long it might take and have some samples to show.

Have a look at a recent commissioned piece:

This was fun to paint – new subject, new colors to mix, neat-o square shape, and a happy customer awaits!