Category: Custom Art

Painting in the Cold and Dark

On December 19, the power went off at 7:20. Edison hadn’t bothered to notify us, but judging by the number of boom and utility trucks, we knew it would be a long, cold, dark day. (SO VERY THANKFUL FOR THE WOODSTOVE, THE GENERATOR, AND THE HUSBAND WHO KEEPS IT ALL RUNNING!)

There was a bit of sunshine on the easels for about 2 hours in the morning. With the door open, I was able to make some eensy progress. Since my reference photos for both of these paintings are on my laptop, I needed to be prudent with my screen time. (We don’t run the generator non-stop, and it keeps the fridge and freezer going, which is very far from the painting workshop).

I should be able to paint this without looking at any photos. If the ~~instructions~~ suggestions weren’t to reproduce a specific pencil drawing, I could make up a similar scene. However, in the hopes that the interested party will be happy enough to buy the painting, it is prudent to keep it as close to the drawing as possible.

Tucker stuck with me, not even in the sunshine, just doing the meatloaf to stay warm.

This one is the commission. I want it to be really really good. Really Good. The customer is a delight to work with and not pressuring me at all. I just want to do my best for her.

It helps to see the shapes and proportions more correctly if I turn it all upside down.

I am working from a combination of two photos and the sold painting that the customer wished she had seen first.

SIMPLY HOME ENDS ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29, AT CACHE, 125 SO. B STREET, EXETER, NOON-4.

2025 CALENDARS, STILL AVAILABLE? (LAST TIME I CHECKED, THERE WERE TWO. )

commission oil painting oil paintings

All is Bright

Still not much going on in my little world, other than enjoying some bright sunshine and starting two bright paintings. Winter is mild in Three Rivers and we are usually above the fog. (Do you want to move here? The town is shrinking, so if you don’t mind living in California’s flyover country where there is no Trader Joe’s or universities, you’d be welcome here!)

From my show Simply Home, I got a commission to paint. In spite of having 50 paintings to choose from in the show, someone requested that I paint something that already sold. Yes, I can do this.

Someone else requested that I paint a scene that I drew in pencil about 25 years ago. It was a commission, until I realized that it wasn’t a commission—it was a conversation. Until money changes hands, it is just a conversation, EVEN IF the other person says, “Yes, I definitely want you to paint this”. Because it is a great idea, I know it will sell to someone, so I began the painting.

SIMPLY HOME IS RUNNING OUT OF TIME

**IN THE** **ORCHARD**, **11X14″, $300**

This painting was added to the show after a customer took her painting and left a blank spot on the wall.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29, IS THE LAST DAY TO SEE THE SHOW. 125 SOUTH B STREET, EXETER, NOON-4.

2025 CALENDARS – VERY FEW REMAINING

ONE TWO Calendars (Sold one, found two more!) available here: cabinart.net/store/

Two Boys From Kansas

To show Friend/Customer how color will look on his drawing, I printed it on my unreliable printer and scribbled some color on the copy.

This passed muster (not sure about this term but it has military origins). So, I pulled out my good colored pencils (Polychromos by Faber Castell) and colored the original.

After I scanned it, I realized that I forgot to put color on 33, the number of the engine. So, now it has color there too.

Phew. Finished this very challenging pencil commission in time for Friend/Customer to deliver it for Christmas.

Maybe it is time for a long winter’s nap. . .

SIMPLY HOME RUNS UNTIL DECEMBER 29 AT CACHE.

2025 CALENDARS, AVAILABLE HERE.

commission pencil work drawing pencil drawing

One Hair Width

My friend/customer likes to challenge me. He thinks I can do things with my pencils that I am never sure I have the ability to do. We talk, I sketch, we talk some more, I revise, we talk some more—and that’s all before I begin the drawing.

I’ve shown you some of this in progress, beginning with this messy sketch.

When the very complicated and unforgiving fire truck seemed to be the easiest part, I KNEW I was in for a challenging rest of the drawing.

With time was running out, I set a deadline for finishing, and began on those little boys, working from almost impossible-to-follow photos.

After I had the boys drawn, I scanned it and sent it to Friend/Customer, who said the larger boy looked fine, but he didn’t like “the bend” of the smaller boy, whose head also looked too small.

I wanted to say, “Then why did you send me a photo with him bending?” Instead, I embiggened the little boy’s head and unbent him.

He said it looked good, then texted that Mrs. Customer thought the bigger boy’s cheek looked too chubby. How she could see this is a mystery to me. However, she knows the boys, and I trust her judgement.

The difference between a chubby cheek at this tiny scale is the width of one hair. THIS is the reason that one should never try to draw a face smaller than an egg, and I don’t mean a hummingbird egg. The boys were supposed to be drawn from the back, but the supplied photos show a tiny amount of faces. (Why am I unable to say, “NO, I CANNOT DO THIS!”?)

That tiny adjustment was accepted. Friend/Customer asked if I was going to put anything on the lower third of the drawing, and I replied, “Nah, I’m gonna quit and sign it now.” (Of course I was just kidding around, but wanted to poke at him for putting me through this stressful, make-it-up, mind-reading exercise.)

The grasses and wildflowers were also very challenging, because I had no photo for this completely fabricated scene. It was a large piece of real estate to cover with the tiny point of a pencil, but being the professional that I am, I soldiered on. When everything was planted and landscaped, I scanned the drawing yet again and sent it for approval.

The next plan is to print this out and experiment with color. I will put red on the firetruck, yellow on the sunflowers, and something on the boys’ tee shirts, most likely blue. Friend/Customer asked if I could do it on a copy first so that they can approve this non-erasable addition before it goes onto the original.

If the practice piece passes muster, I will add the colors. Then I might just go have a cigarette.* Stay tuned. . .

SIMPLY HOME

The show hangs until December 29. You can see the show at CACHE in Exeter, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, because as you know, everything looks better in person. The hours are posted on CACHE’s website. (Scroll down to see the hours.)

2025 CALENDARS AVAILABLE

Available here, $25 each, or at CACHE, or if you see me around with a handful in Fernando’s trunk.

*Take it easy. . . I’ve never smoked in my life and never will.

commission pencil work drawing pencil drawing

Some Yardening, Some Walking, Some Drawing

(And I made cookies that morning too.)

TODAY OUR POWER WILL BE OUT FOR THE BULK OF THE DAY, SO IF YOU ORDER A CALENDAR, EMAIL ME, OR COMMENT ON THIS POST, YOU WON’T BE GETTING A RESPONSE UNTIL THE EVENING OR TOMORROW.

FIRST, 2025 CALENDARS. Available HERE.

YARDENING

I decided to dig the sweet potatoes that have been growing for around 6-8 months, if you count the time I started them In the kitchen window last spring. One sent its roots outside of the gopher basket, and of course that’s exactly where my shovel went. I put my wizened aged hand in the second photo so you can see how big they got. Last year they were about the size of my thumb, so I determined if this year wasn’t a decent crop, I wouldn’t bother again. “Decent”? That’s pretty subjective, considering this is the produce of about 10 plants. (Thank a farmer, if you know one. Without them, we’d be pretty hungry.)

Someone was watching from above.

My paperwhites bloom in December. Three Rivers doesn’t experience very much winter weather.

WALKING IN THREE RIVERS

Such a beautiful day required a walk. This sycamore is magnificent! A friend told me it had the largest leaves she’d ever seen on a sycamore; we figured out that she only sees the ones that grow in town, not the natives which are old and have lived by a source of water for decades (centuries??)

DRAWING IN PENCIL

Finally, I got myself into the studio to inch ahead on this very challenging commissioned pencil drawing. That “vending machine” was potentially going to keep me awake at night if I didn’t get it figured out. It may not be recognizable to a fireman, but that’s as “right” as it is going to be. (The paper is white; it looks gray because I used the phone under low light conditions to take this photo.)

I worked a bit harder on the two little boys, size, location, and shapes. Ditto for the sunflowers. I don’t know Kansas wildflowers, but I know that the state wildflower is a sunflower. If I can fake a vending machine on the side of a firetruck, I should be able to handle sunflowers. (No, it’s not a vending machine; that’s how it appeared to my ignorant self.)

SIMPLY HOME

The show hangs until December 29 at CACHE in Exeter. Their hours are Friday 1:30-4, Saturday 10-4, Sunday noon-4. It includes about 50 paintings, 3 original pencil drawings, calendars, cards, coloring books, The Cabins of Wilsonia books, and a few pencil reproduction prints.

commission pencil work drawing pencil drawing Three Rivers

You Want Me to Draw WHAT??

Good thing that you (and my customers) know that I know how to draw, or this rough sketch would cause everyone to back away slowly, wondering how I could call myself an artist.

This is a compilation, a conglomerate, a composite, of unrelated photos, following the ideas and instructions of a customer/friend with an interesting request. We have worked well together in the past; he answers all my questions thoroughly, tells me the truth, and I persist until he lets me know that I have gotten it.

When I started drawing on big girl paper. I was nervous, so I started with the sky, moving forward to the distant landscape, and then, as detailed and difficult as it is, the firetruck was still preferable to the little boys.

It has a section in the middle of the side that looks like a vending machine. WHAT?? That part can just sit quietly until I have no choice but to tackle it. It often behooves me to procrastinate on difficult sections, because . . . you know what I am going to say. . . say it with me. . . “MORE WILL BE REVEALED!”

The most difficult aspect of this type of drawing is figuring out what sizes the various parts need to be in relation to each other.

Each day that I work on this, I text the day’s progress to the customers. The reasons are so they know I’m working and tell me that I am doing a good job.

(When my drawing students want to draw things this difficult, I say no. When they persist, I am convinced they hate me.)

SIMPLY HOME

2025 CALENDAR, AVAILABLE HERE. $25

commission pencil work drawing pencil drawing

Hard Drawing and Painting Hard

Last week I did some sketching and designing for a very difficult pencil commission. It is breaking a hard and fast rule that I have set for myself, but I can’t figure out how to say no and still help the customer. It’s too scary to show you right now. . . more will be revealed. . .

Then I painted hard. How hard?

I painted so hard that my brush snapped. That’s a first for me in 18 years of painting.

These two paintings got moved into the house near the wood stove to dry. There’s more to be done on both, but I am spending my week working on my presentation for How To Draw.

IMPORTANT

Tuesday, November 12, 6:30-7:30, I will give a demo/talk called How To Draw at CACHE. Contact me if you are interested, because seating is limited and there is one more spot.

SIMPLY HOME

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.

CACHE CACHE gallery commission pencil drawing oil paintings

Navels in the Orchard

Navels in the Orchard is actually just navels on canvas, another oil painting of Tulare County citrus.

I painted the details working from the back to the front, which means first I painted the items which are the farthest away from the viewer.

Usually I wait until the painting is dry to photograph it. But look at the weather —the sun wasn’t shining, making the wet parts sparkle.

citrus art citrus oil painting citrus painting oil paintings orange art orange grove Tulare County art

Fix ’em Up, Make ’em Better Than Before

Yesterday I told you that the paintings retrieved from Silver City will be heading to Exeter’s Mural Gallery, which reopens September 19 (TOMORROW!) after a summer-long renovation. (I don’t think they have a website, but their physical address is 121 So. E Street (next door to the former Wildflower Cafe, at the edge of Mixter Park, home of Exeter’s first giant outdoor mural.)

These 5×7 oil paintings on panels got freshened up and will be sold with little easels. I didn’t photograph the process out of respect for my readers who have no interest in miniscule improvements to paintings.

And here is a table full of Mineral King paintings. I painted them quickly, in order to hustle them up the hill for the usually excellent selling month of August at the Silver City Resort. Alas, we had a thunderstorm which caused a lightning strike which began the Coffeepot fire on August 3. So, I brought them home.

They aren’t terrible, but I studied each one and found at least one thing to improve. I started at the bottom left, and here is a photo for comparison. Prolly a useless exercise for you to discern what got improved, but here goes anyway.

And now the entire table-full has been renovated.

You’ll just have to trust me that they are all a little bit better than before. By the end of the day, the light has changed significantly enough that they look different in photos, whether or not they’ve been retouched.

Now they must dry and I must rescan them in order to have a good record of each painting, because OF COURSE they will sell.

Mineral King oil paintings pencil drawing

Getting Ready for Simply Home

The amount of work to prepare for a solo show is astonishing. I’m so thankful that I was given an entire year to get ready for Simply Home at CACHE, opening October 19, 4:30-6:30 PM.

Here is the list of the most recent show prep activities:

Name the show (Simply Home)
Make a list of all the paintings, their sizes, titles, and prices. (52 oil paintings!)
Verify that the prices were consistent by sizing. (tedious)
Ask the gallery lots of questions about contracts, opening reception, second reception, events to keep people coming back, whether or not to bring pieces that were in private collections (nope, all must be for sale).
Answer questions about labeling (No, I don’t want my name on every label, and why must each one state “oil” when they are all oil, and is the size really necessary for people who are standing in front of the paintings?? I made my wishes known but left the final decisions to the gallerists.)
Decide if I want piano or guitar music at the opening—PIANO, ALWAYS!! (too bad—the pianist is already scheduled)
Make sure the pieces are correctly titled on the backs, with correct inventory numbers. This is always crucial with my paintings when there is so much repetition in subject matter. (i.e., was that Giant Sequoia, Big Tree, Two Big, Redwood Trees, Giant Sequoia XI, Redwood Tree VI. . .?)
Think about how to advertise drawing lessons at the show, and which pencil pieces to use as an enticement to sign up on the waiting list for lessons. (Might use a few of my students’ drawings on the poster)
Begin designing a poster for the lessons after asking the Mineral King Preservation Society where they have such items printed. (Signtime in Visalia)

After all this thinking, I made a list of the next things to do for the show. It is quite boring. I needed something productive to do that didn’t require decisions, so I vacuumed the painting workshop (dust, feathers, cat hair, spiders, spider webs) and reupholstered my painting chair with duct tape. I work in a classy joint.

I also cleaned my studio because a guest of honor was coming for a working visit. Because the studio is feeling neglected, I started a colored pencil drawing just for fun. Weird, drawing for fun.

The color looks a bit weird here because it was smoky out. So, what’s new? It’s late summer in Three Rivers and that’s normal.