Because my friend liked this little rough sketch enough to mention framing it, it seemed prudent to improve it. I do have a professional reputation to consider, since word-of-mouth is my strongest marketing method.
So, I spent a little time polishing the sketch. This time I photographed it with a ruler so he could see how small it is.
He asked if I had started the real drawing yet. I replied that I was about to start, but first I had to squash a spider. My studio is really out there on the edge of civilization. (Please be impressed by my pioneering spirit.)
With that nasty little job finished, I began the real drawing.
I started the 11×14″ drawing on Strathmore Bristol Smooth 400 series paper WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING AT ANY REFERENCE PHOTOS!
Looks like a nothing-burger at this stage. Good thing that you all know I know how to draw.
I love making custom art for people, especially for friends, ESPECIALLY of orange groves, and ESPECIALLY in pencil.
Using pencils, oil paint, and murals to make art that you can understand, of places and things you love, for prices that won’t scare you.
A friend saw it and wondered if I could draw a similar scene in pencil, this time adding in two little girls. Because I love to draw, love to draw and paint orange groves, and really like my friend, I said yes.
Ahem. There isn’t a photo of the two little girls from the back, walking together holding hands, because one doesn’t even walk yet.
My friend sent me photos of the girls as they look now. Then I went to The Duck (search engine DuckDuckGo) to see if I could find helpful photos.
From those photos, I did this little sketch.
Good thing my friend knows that I know how to draw. He was very taken with the sketch, so I think this idea will work, IF I CAN DRAW TWO LITTLE GIRLS THAT I CANNOT SEE!
No pressure or any undue stress.
Just shut up and pick up your pencils, Central California Artist.
Writing notes is now a rarity; people switched to phone calls, then email, and finally texting, where punctuation, complete sentences, and spelled out words are an oddity. (“The word is ‘before’, not B4. Around here we speak English, not Bingo.”)
Consider these reasons for writing:
It makes people feel good.
No one has ever cherished an email or a text.
Mail is fun.
You can practice your writing skills.
You can practice your penmanship.
It gives our wonderful postal carriers purpose.
It makes gratitude tangible.
You can use my notecards.
Sometimes people will email a response or even write a note back to you.
It acknowledges the fact that someone did something for you that wasn’t required.
When I first started my art business, notecards quickly became a huge part. Packaging the cards was sometimes a family project, with my parents (I had 2 parents back then) and a few friends pitching in (most moved away—can you blame them?)
The packages had 2 each of 5 designs, and they sold for $5 a package.
Times have changed. (Duh, I know.)
Now packages have 4 designs, all the same, for $10. Further, I make no profit if I sell them wholesale, so I only sell them directly or have a few stores with the cards on consignment.
Visalia Landmarks (missing one picture—I think it was End of the Trail)
Before I started my art business, notecards were a side hustle. I worked in a print shop, so it was easy to get cards printed. The printshop was in Visalia, so it was easy to distribute card packages to a variety of stores.
Tulare County Landmarks covered Lindsay, Visalia, Exeter, Porterville, and Tulare
Times change. Email came along and people gradually lost the habit of writing notes by hand. Some people still buy cards, mostly from me in person or on the internet, because almost all the shops that sold my cards have closed.
Backcountry Structures
Instead of variety packs, I began packaging the cards with all the same design. This eliminated the need for a label on the top or an insert showing the pictures inside. Instead of having to print 500 or 1000 cards of each design in order to hold costs down, it is now possible to print 100 (or even fewer) at a time.
Sequoia National Park (missing a picture – what was it??)
The printing process is now computerized instead of mechanical. I email my designs to a local printer and only go there in person to pick up the finished product. Other designs get sent via the World Wide Web to some unknown printer in some unknown location, and I can order as few as 10 of a design.
California Missions – missing San Juan Bautista and San Luis Rey
Instead of selling them resale, I now allow a handful of trusted places to sell them on consignment. Although consignment is a nuisance, it is better than not having them in the public eye. Consignment is the only method that makes cents, because my costs are too high to make a profit selling them wholesale. (“Sense”, I know—couldn’t resist.)
Kings Canyon National Park (missing a picture—what was it?)
It takes a lot of time checking the inventory, restocking and trying to keep track of what has sold, what has and hasn’t been paid for, making and remaking lists for the vendors. Sometimes a vendor puts a sticker on with the sales tax, sometimes a sticker without the tax. When they decide a certain design isn’t selling, I replace it with another design and then have to repackage the cards with irrelevant stickers. It isn’t horrible, but it certainly isn’t profitable either.
Sequoia National Park—something is missing but I don’t know what it isSpecial Mineral King set as a fundraiser for the Mineral King Preservation SocietyMineral King—what was the 5th picture?
When I see all these sold pieces, both pencil drawings and oil paintings, I am astonished. Trail Guy and I loaded up “Images of Home” into the back of his pick-’em-up truck, and it felt as if I was taking home MORE than I hung at the show.
That feeling slapped me upside the confidence, making me want to paint over everything that didn’t sell and pull the drawings from the frames and shred them. Ridiculous. Several of the sold pieces happened outside of the show (all those repaints), and each time something sold, I replaced it with a new piece.
So, having put to rest the foolishness of wanting to destroy my remaining work, let’s resume yesterday’s triumphant post of art that sold in December, shall we?
Upon further reflection, I am realizing that several of these sold earlier in the fall but I didn’t show you. That brings December down to a more believable number of sales.
The year started in a somewhat ignominious manner with tech troubles. That stuff is quite alarming, upsetting, and interruptive. I combat this by reviewing all the sales in the previous month (necessary to pay for all the tech repairs, and I am sorry to report that no fat lady has sung yet).
I had sales through Kaweah Arts, the Mural Gallery, Exeter’s Courthouse Gallery, along with commissions. All is not lost – let’s rejoice together!
BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE! Tune in tomorrow, same Bat time, same Bat channel.
Mrs. Customer (of the indoor murals) said to Mr. Customer, “I think you should sign up for Jana’s drawing lessons”. Mr. Customer said, “I would be too embarrassed”.
I said, “Many people have that worry; the reason for lessons is to learn to draw. No one knows how before they take lessons; everyone starts out the same. My students are all very kind and encouraging.”
Every bit of that is totally true.
One day a drawing student said she didn’t know what to draw next. She was wearing her normal black high-top sneakers, and the late afternoon sunlight was coming in the doors of the gallery. We put her shoes in the light and photographed them with her phone from many angles. Now she is drawing her shoes, and we are wishing we had stuffed the laces inside rather than having to sort out all the loops and droops.
The first step is to figure out what to draw; the second step is to get a printed photo. Yes, you can draw off your phone, but it is easier to work from paper, which is a fixed size. You can see that she is enlarging the shoes on the drawing, which is an important way to learn to see proportionally.
Do you want to learn to draw? You can. The only people who don’t learn are the ones who quit too soon. Not everyone enjoys the process, not everyone enjoys everything. (I can’t stand sports.)
The opening reception to my solo show, “Images of Home” at Exeter’s Courthouse Gallery was amazingly well attended. No one was counting, but I think there were at least 100 people, and everyone did NOT come at once. It was most totally excellent!
This is the first thing you see when you step into the entryway.
This is what you see when you step into the gallery.
Here is a comfortable corner for contemplation.
These three pencil drawings of Mineral King look just right on this wall. (How would they look all together on a wall in your home?)
Sold!
These are still available.
This child was too cute to not photograph. (Her mom gave permission).
There were a few opportunities to photograph people in the gallery, but that wasn’t my real mission.
Sold!
Sold!
Sold!
Sold!
Sold twice!
Sold four times!
Yeppers, you read that right. I have to order some canvases, and then get painting. If someone expressed disappointment at having missed out on a painting, I simply said, “I can paint it again for you”. (Do other artists do this??)
After thinking over the title Heart of Rural Tulare County, I wasn’t satisfied.
I looked at the original coloring book, Heart of the Hills, and realized that this one needed to be Heart of the County.
That’s the ticket! My Shadow Consultant agreed, after suggesting a couple of tiny adjustments.
The idea to do this came quickly, and the retail places that sell my work want it in time for Christmas. That’s why most of the drawings are gleaned from the previous coloring books, compiling them into a broad portrait of the county’s rural places. I thought you might need to know that. It is sort of like buying a “Best of” album from your favorite music group, and then you either say, “Oh I love this song” or “Wait, I already have this”.
Like all the previous coloring books, each page has a tiny hidden heart.
Not all the changes are bad. Now it costs the same whether I print a pencil drawing or one with a bit of color.
