These paintings are finished and just drying. The top one is for an upcoming show at the Creative Center in Visalia; Sawtooth with lupine and the snow scene are commissions. The little square is a view of Timber Gap with flowers in the foreground – this is the 3rd time I’ve painted it (but with little changes) because it sells quickly. The 8×10 of Farewell Gap is a wedding gift – unless the parents of the bride decide to keep it! (just kidding, K & T!) Wow! 4 of these 5 are of Mineral King!
A former drawing student and good friend asked me to paint poppies for her entry-way. Because she is also a weaver and a student of the Fibonacci principle, she had definite (and good) ideas about the design. After much discussion, this is what I drew for her:
Scary, hunh? Good this you know that I can draw, or you might be doubting my abilities as an artist after seeing this!
N okayed the sketch, so I put it on the canvas.
Good thing you know I can paint, or you might be really worried at this point! I decided that the 2 flowers on the bottom are too close in size and too evenly placed, so as I applied the second layer of paint, I made slight adjustments.
There are several commissioned paintings that need to be done before the mural begins. This is not one of them – it is a commission, but the commissioner said, “No Hurry”. (music to my ears!) He has a great 16×20″ photo of Sawtooth with Mineral Peak behind it and has been wanting a painting. His vision is a panorama shaped painting on wrapped canvas. I looked up available sizes, and he chose 18×36″. I cropped his photo using brown craft paper and began to outline the shapes in a gray-blue color.
Next, I turned both pieces upside down, changed to a reddish brown, and corrected the shapes. Sounds crazy, but it works! Why? When it is right side up my brain tells my eye “You know what Sawtooth looks like; just draw it!” When it is upside down, my eye says “A little longer here, a little wider there, this is in line with that, that is to the right of this. . .” while my brain says, “Hunh?”
The most important information I needed before beginning the design was the wall dimensions. Those numbers showed me the proportions of the design, and allowed me to see how big the picture needed to be in order to have a human look the right size while standing in front of the mural. I decided 5′-6″ was the average height and found that spot on the scaled down version of the wall. Then I spread out all my photos. After I saw how many there were, I might have had to go into the house for a knitting break and a bit of chocolate. (But I can quit any time I want.)
There were many more than this, but you probably get the idea without having to see them all.
A nice lady (with great taste) bought a poppy painting during the Studio Tour. She requested a lupine painting to go with it. Here you go, Connie! (see you at the Redbud Festival and I promise not to sell it to anyone else first)
Commissions are a great part of an art business. I get to paint knowing the customer is standing there with open arms and a check! It is wonderful to simply paint what floats my boat; it is just as wonderful to paint knowing someone really wants the piece. Here are some of the current projects:
People often confuse the word “consignment” with the word “commission”. May I help? Consignment: agreement to pay a supplier of goods after the goods are sold. Commission: to give an order for or authorize the production of a piece of art. I’d like to add a third word here: “conversation”. It means an exchange of words. I learned a long time ago not to count my chickens before they are hatched, although that is still my greatest talent! (also known as “optimism”) For the first several years of my business, I used to get so excited after someone said he’d like me to do a drawing for him. I was counting eggs, chickens and dollars, forgetting that until money exchanges hands and there are photographs on the table, it was simply c o n v e r s a t i o n. However, it never hurts to think about those conversations and tentatively plan. A lady emailed me to say she’d be coming to the studio during Studio Tour and she hoped I had some paintings of Fiesta ware. I don’t, but have been looking for a reason to paint some. I know that she did not commission me and hasn’t committed to buy anything. That’s okay, because I’m eager to do this subject matter. If I do a good job but it doesn’t suit her, someone else will probably want it! Here are the beginnings of three new paintings (probably best viewed from the back of a fast horse, or perhaps without corrective lenses at this point):
Oh, look! There are 2 Mineral King paintings – what a surprise! 😎
A few months ago, I painted the famous Kaweah Post Office. This is up the north fork of the Kaweah River, and is the smallest operating post office in the United States! Really! The folks who live near it and use it insist that they don’t live in Three Rivers but in Kaweah, and since they do have their own zip code, I suppose it is true. However, the town of Three Rivers claims the Kaweah Post Office as its landmark. Regardless, it is cute as can be and always sells when I paint or draw it. It sold as an 11×14 in November; someone stopped me in the Three Rivers Post Office (Where else for such a request??) last week and asked me to paint it again.
Here it is in its beginning stages.
Here it is a little later. Incidentally, all realistic artists either work from photos or they lie about it. (This is a quote from Jack White, my painting guru)
Ever use a GPS to help you reach a destination? If so, you have experienced what happens each time you choose to go a different route than the Talking Lady instructs. She says “Recalculating, recalculating!” That is exactly what I do with the prioritization of paintings in progress. Have a look at the current list:
How do I prioritize? If there is a paying customer, it goes high on the list. If there is a deadline, it goes high on the list. If it is tiny and I can work on it at The Art Co-op, it gets painted on Thursdays, in order of priority. The “spec” paintings are arranged in order of the shows coming up and how I am guessing (an educated guess of course!) they will sell at particular places. When one or a group gets finished, you know what I do? I recalculate, of course! 😎
a completed Sunny Sequoias in the ongoing series
a completed poppy for an upcoming show (click on to enlarge)
a completed orange for Mr. Ag Property
