A Short Painting Session, 3 Photos of 2 Paintings

I was able to slip another hour or two of painting into my other responsibilities.

Using the leftover blue and gray sky colors, I mixed a bit more Distant Mountain Blues and Grays in order to detail the mountains on two paintings. Both of these paintings feature Moro Rock and Alta Peak, standard landmarks seen from many places in Three Rivers.

The colors look a bit off in this photo, so I carried it outside. Then the colors looked very wrong. Nope, this is not being painted for Disneyland’s Small World (and please do NOT start singing.)

This view of Alta Peak and Moro Rock is from Kaweah Lake in early winter. In this scene, the lake is low (and behind the viewer) and there is some snow in the mountains because winter hasn’t begun in earnest.

It appears that winter has begun in earnest early this year!

My colored pencil artist friend from Kansas, Carrie Lewis, requested a guest post for her blog on last Saturday, so I wrote of my experiment using colored pencils in Mineral King, A Plein-Air Experiment.

2 Photos of 4 Paintings in Progress

November is my busiest month, workwise. Commissions, selling the 2023 calendar, the Holiday Bazaar, supplying the places that sell my work, planning for some (maybe) murals, working with an author as we close in on a 5-year project* together (he is writing, I’m editing)  . . . 

So, I paint when I can fit it in, mostly in 1-3 hour sessions. 

It is necessary to be efficient in these sessions, so I do things like mix up some sky colors and then do just the skies on all four paintings of Three Rivers scenery.


But then I couldn’t stop listening to a certain song, so I kept hitting repeat and painted some mountains. It was a logical next step because I was able to mix those sky colors into Distant Mountain Blue (but not too distant).

I’d like to put a lot more detail into these mountains, and probably want to put as much detail as possible in the entire  picture. But for now, it is time to stop playing the song over and over and over. . . .

*The project began when the writer asked me for some illustrations in September 2017.  Here are three posts about those illustrations. One, Two, Three.

Whatcha doing, Central California Artist?

Messy beginnings

All my paintings begin this way. It no longer causes me distress, that continual uncertainty about my skills. With approximately 1300 paintings (not counting murals) completed since 2006 and most of those sold, I am learning to just flow with the mess. 

Planning

With the Holiday Bazaar happening soon (Saturday, November 19, Three Rivers Veterans Memorial Building, 9-4), I needed to take inventory and plan. I counted up the number of available paintings by subject, tallied them by size, and came up with a plan. 

Three Rivers subjects are in the shortest supply. 8×10 and similar sizes are the most likely to sell at a one day bazaar here in town. So, two 8×10″s, one 8×8″, and a 6×18″. (Priced at $125, $100, and $165)

Chop chop and hubba hubba

I went quickly through my photos, going on “gut instinct” rather than evaluating to the same degree that I evaluated sizes and subjects, and without hesitating, assigned inventory numbers and titles, wired the backs for hanging, and started painting.

Cover that canvas

Take a break for drying

These will turn out just fine. Most paintings do. If not, I will just add more layers or turn them into Sequoia tree oil paintings. It’s just the business of art.

Sold in August, September, and October

Sequoia, citrus, Mineral King. . . all the usual subjects one would expect from an artist in Tulare County. However, I have heard Morro Bay referred to as “Visalia West”, so maybe the beach scene is Tulare Countyish. (I wish). The pomegranate is colored pencil, something I haven’t tried or sold in many years.

I try to show this in sizes that are proportionately relative to one another here; closies count.

Just because, here are links to previous posts of Sold art.

Sold in Summer

Sold in April and May

Sold in February and March

Painting in Order to Sell

Farewell at Dusk, 10×30″, oil on wrapped canvas, $500

There is an ongoing topic among artists about whether or not it is right to paint in order to sell. In general, the two schools of thought are:

  1. Do Your Own Thing And Express Yourself And If Nothing Sells At Least You Haven’t Sold Your Soul
  2. You Are In Business So You Had Best Please The Customers And Be Grateful They Like Your Work Enough To Part With Their Hard-Earned Dollars

It is clear that I belong in School #2.

Paint it out

Sometimes I paint something because I love it, and then I have to paint it out because no one in the local market of buyers agrees. The recent conversion of a river scene to sequoia trees is a prime example.

Paint it again

Sometimes I paint something that sells, so I paint it again and it sells again, and so on and so forth. Here is a recent example of that situation. Six times? Seven? I lost count. Because it was so popular, I painted the most recent version in hopes of selling it at the Silver City Store this summer. (Nope. . . is it waiting for you?)

Sawtooth Near Sunnypoint IX, 12×24″, oil on wrapped canvas, $550

Paint what I love

And the best of all is when I paint something just because I want to, and then it sells. But sometimes that feels disappointing because I wanted to keep it. (So what’s the problem? Just paint it again!)

Paint it better

Sometimes I paint something, it doesn’t sell, and then I have to figure out why not. I did that with this painting of redwood and dogwood, and it sold very quickly after the do-over. (I was tempted to name it Red Dog but knew that was a loser from a marketing standpoint.)

The challenge with every scene, but particularly those I’ve painted many times is to make it the absolute best I can every time. No auto-pilot, no “phoning it in”, no sleep-painting. Focus, focus, focus. 

As I often tell Nancy of Kaweah Arts, “I came here to earn a living, and I’d rather repaint a scene that bores me than be a waitress.” 

The best way to not be bored while repainting a popular scene is to continually challenge myself to find a way to make it the best I can. Because. . .

I use pencil, oil paint, and murals to make art that people can understand of places and things they (not me) love, for prices that won’t scare them (but allow me to continue eating).

Oranges in Oil

We are in fall, and oranges are a winter crop. But I have to keep a little ahead of the seasons with my paintings so that I am ready when the customers are.

The aloof Jackson jumped down after briefly inspecting my work. 

After finishing the two Kaweah Post Office do-overs, I returned to some oranges.

A customer/friend (If your friends won’t do business with you, who will?) bought a 5×7″ oil painting of oranges that sat on a mini easel, then emailed me to ask for a second one. These will be gifts for two of his family members at Christmas, so I could paint the same scene again or make something compatible.

I painted a new scene twice, then did a third one. All of these will go to the Mural Gallery in Exeter, and my customer/friend can choose the one he prefers. I hope he chooses one of the ones I painted twice (“one of the ones”?? Someone find me an editor!) or else there will be twin paintings at the Mural Gallery.

Started one on a board.

Started two more on canvas panels.

Finished all three, now drying, waiting to be scanned.Done, done, and done. (except for the scanning part)

Oranges are a HUGE crop in Tulare County and a great seller for me. At one time I thought I wanted to grow them; now I am quite happy to simply paint them.

 

Cool Enough To Paint the Kaweah Post Office

(I don’t mean that I painted the building.) I am referring to the weather in my painting workshop, equipped with a fairly adequate swamp cooler, unless it is over 95 and/or humid.

Every year people say, “It has been such a hot summer!” as if that is news. Every summer in Tulare County is a hot one. My theory is that if it starts mild, you pay in September and October. This is the real world, muchachos, and you are in it.

Kaweah Arts had two oil painting versions of the Kaweah Post Office for sale. This is a quaint little old building three miles up the North Fork of the Kaweah River, which, until recently, was the smallest operating post office in the United States. Alas, it sold, and the new owner closed it. It is still cute and quaint, so I didn’t paint out the images on those canvases.

However, I decided that I could do a better job.

BEFORE:

One would think that I could just make this up without a photo after painting it about 20 times (if you count the do-overs, it is probably more). One might be right, but one isn’t going to know, because I won’t be attempting it AND I might not need to paint it any more. 

DURING:

BEFORE:

 

DURING:

These are hard to photograph while on the easels. When they are dry, I’ll scan them for you (and for my records, of course.)

This is a first for the aloof Jackson. He has never inspected my work before.

 

Drawing on the Side

What does “drawing on the side” mean? Is that like salad dressing on the side?

In this case, it means that I have a pencil drawing in progress that I keep with my drawing lessons supplies. That way, if I get to lessons early or if no one shows up for class (REALLY?? Yeppers, it has happened), there is something I can work on instead of just knitting.

You thought what? That I would play on my phone? If you thought that, you don’t know me very well.

The back tree needs to be darker and there is a little patch of unfinished background.

No rush. It isn’t a commissioned pencil drawing. It is just a way to A. indulge my love of drawing, B. show my students a piece in progress, C. give them a chance to evaluate my work because we must tell one another the truth, and I want to know if they have been paying attention, D. be productive in otherwise empty time.

Custom Art Means Accepting Commissions

I accepted the job of painting a custom sign for a cabin owner. This is a larger version of one that I did 10 years ago, one that fell apart from being out in the weather.

He asked me in July, and the summer got hot, as summers do in Tulare County. Because he wasn’t in a hurry (bless you, Mr. Customer!), I just piddled along, and then stopped for a few weeks when it was just too hot in the painting workshop. 

Suddenly, the heat quit, so I returned to the project.

It is a little bit too hard for me, so there is a fair amount of thinking, trying, erasing, waiting, and trying again. Here are the steps.

I am working from the old sign and don’t remember what the source was for this Norse god of winter, named Ullr.

I changed the border color from yellow to a more pleasing yellowish green.

A little bit at a time, because this is just difficult.

What is so hard? Seeing the proportions correctly, getting the oil paint and brushes to behave, figuring out where to place the border decor.

This time I will include some wildflowers. Mr. Customer and I discussed lupine, so there is more thinking involved in size and placements.

Finally, I am happy with the results, as is the easy-going customer.

P.S. Recently someone else asked me to paint another strange and unique sign, with blurry and uncertain reference photos and calligraphy. This time I had the good sense to turn down the job. An artist has got to know her limitations.

Unspiced Pumpkins for Falling Into Winter

Falling Into Winter is the name of an upcoming juried show at Exeter’s Courthouse Gallery and Museum. I have many pieces that fit the theme, but most are colored pencil and need framing. This would probably be a poor monetary decision, knowing that oil paintings sell better than pencil or colored pencil drawings. 

Pumpkins are a fun subject, and people like them. They also like to make fun of pumpkin spice, but secretly love it. 

These are plain pumpkins, not spiced up. I painted them on a 6×12″ canvas in order to keep the price low enough to tempt an impulse buyer. 

They went on the canvas quickly, but this isn’t good enough yet.

Better.

A little more detailing.

Finally, I wrapped the pumpkins and background color around the edges and signed the painting.

HEY! I think I will call the painting “Unspiced”.

Now, if I only had a pumpkin spice latte, all would feel complete in my little world.

NEWS FLASH: Cold brew pumpkin spice from the big S coffee store is muy fabuloso. (Nope, not gonna advertise for them here. . . you can probably figure out who I am talking about.)