An 864 Square Inch Oil Painting

The background trees are finished. Hmmm, about 1/3 of 864 square inches = 285. That leaves 589 square inches to paint. Approximately. Careful inches. (Fishing Guy appears to be in need a superhuman orthopedic surgeon.) This photo represents 5 days of painting. 10 more days on this??? Needs drying time. Needs to be varnished and more drying time. Needs to be delivered May 2. Guess I’ll just try not to get distracted by any more yarn paintings or other odd items and see what happens! You all will have to visit the show in Tulare, opening May 5, to see if this Giant Oil Painting made it!!

Product or Process?

Day Four resulted in more trees, brushy material, layers, working back to front, left to right. This left to right and top to bottom is the method I use when drawing with pencils. As a right-hander, it prevents smearing. As a Get-‘er-Dun Chick, I love the efficiency, and when it is finished, I’m in signing position.

Knitters often discuss the topic of Process Versus Product, deciding if we enjoy the process or just desire the finished product. In drawing with pencil, I’m usually 75% Process and 25% Product. I’ve found that in knitting, drawing and painting, the enjoyment of process increases with my skill level. In painting, it depends on the subject, photo quality, paint behavior (or misbehavior), brush obedience (or disobedience), and deadlines. Sometimes deadlines motivate me; other times they “pressurize” me. (My friend/neighbor Charlie says “Don’t pressurize yourself”.) This painting is probably a 50/50 situation of enjoying the process as much as I am looking forward to the finished piece.

P.S. Isn’t this a classic California Sierra scene by a California Artist? 😎

Day Three on Unfinished Painting

This was a rainy day so I couldn’t see well enough for detail painting. It was a good day for just loading on layers of greenery in the background to be finessed later!

Will this painting get finished?

What I really mean is will it be finished in time for the show at the Tulare History Museum, opening May 5. My good friend DJ and I love to discuss business. I asked her to look at the paintings I have for the show to see if she thought it was a good mix. She said it could use one large central point, a grab-’em-and-pull-’em-in kind of painting. We tried on several ideas. The mail came, and there was a large envelope from Kodak. I opened it, showed DJ some of my photos, and she said “THAT’S IT!” She pointed to a pair of photos, asked if I could paint the two together for a large picture. After dithering a bit, I asked Michael if he minded being painted for a show. He liked the idea, so here we go!

This is HUGE for me. 36×24″ is MASSIVE. It feels bigger than a mural, because with oil I layer and layer and layer, and use as much detail as I can manage. Murals use acrylic, and sloppier strokes look tight and careful on a giant scale. Murals are fast compared to this size of oil. Oh-oh, I’m shutting up now or I will talk myself out of trying to finish this! If it is finished, I will tell you but not show it. I want you to come to the show! The opening: Tulare Historical Museum, May 5, 5:30-7:00

And, just in case you may have forgotten, this is a painting of a man fishing in a stream in the Sierra Nevada, in Sequoia National Park, in California. I am a California artist!

Salvage Job

Remember the painting accident a few weeks ago? (Oops, on February 16) I’m trying to salvage things. Here are 3 items that I am getting as a result:

  1. I’m using the canvas frame and some canvas from Mr. Stroben to stretch a new canvas. So far it has involved carefully removing the ruined canvas, finding the piece of new canvas, ironing it flat, laying the ruined canvas on the new and cutting a pattern. Next I have to find the staple gun.
  2. A blog reader named Michelle sent me to a site that had a beautiful tote-bag made of a painting. Hmmmm, I just tossed 2 ragged and stained tote bags. Perhaps it is time to sew a new one using the semi-finished painting of my favorite bridge! I seriously dislike sewing. Knitting is an entirely different process and much more rewarding. But to sew a new tote bag would definitely would be making lemonade out of lemons.
  3. The ruination of the painting caused me to begin a new painting of the bridge. Will it be better? That’s not a question that can be answered, because the first one will never be finished.

If I knew how to draw on a blog entry, I’d make a red arrow and a circle to show you where the rip is. It is a vertical thing in the lower portion, providentially leaving the bridge itself available to be reborn as a tote bag. I asked my very gifted older sister, She-Who-Can-Sew-Anything if she had a pattern for a tote bag. Instead of jumping in with an offer to sew one for me (I am an eternal optimist!), she told me to look on the Web. Sigh.

Style

#11 in the series “Thoughtful Thursdays”

Several months ago, I showed a few of my paintings to a gallery owner.  For the first time in my five year and three weeks painting career, I was told that my paintings don’t have enough detail, that they look as if done plein air. That is French for “on site”, which also translates into “I’m painting as fast as possible because the light won’t hold still and I can’t possibly be careful at this crazy pace”.

This description shocked me, because I love detail! Pencil and the detail possible with that humble instrument have held my attention since 6th grade. I’ve even been accused of “drawing” with a paintbrush. How could someone possibly think my paintings are lacking in detail?

I strive for accuracy in my paintings. My favorite way to paint is to add layer after layer until every last blade of grass is visible. This degree of thoroughness is virtually impossible to attain, both with my emerging (a polite way of saying novice) skills and the need to finish a painting in a timely manner.

The most commonly known and identifiable styles of art are abstract, realism, surrealism, impressionism, primitive. Abstract does not show recognizable objects and is also called “non-objective” art. (Thank you, Captain Obvious!) On the opposite end is realism, which shows things as they appear in real life. Surrealism presents strange subjects as if they were real. Impressionism is lacking in detail because it is all about color and light: I remember how to identify this style because it looks as if the painter didn’t have time to truly study his subject but needed to leave the right impression. Primitive art is childlike with no visible understanding of perspective or proportion.

In addition to level of detail and texture of paint, style is also defined by subject matter and the use of light and color.  A Vermeer is recognizable by the subject of a woman at a task near a window using primary colors and a certain quality of light. Monet was known for his water lilies, Van Gogh was known for his irises and sunflowers, and Botkin is known for her oranges!

One of the reasons it is important to establish a style is to receive commissions. This happens when one’s style is recognizable and consistent. If an artist is tinkering with many styles, a potential customer won’t know if a technique can be duplicated or if it was a fluke.

As I achieve greater proficiency with paint, brushes, and canvas, I’m hoping that my true style emerges. I’m hoping for the detail of Rockwell with the light of Vermeer and the brilliance of Bierstadt!  When my paintings are as consistently recognizable as my pencil drawings, I will know that my style has been established.

California Artist

That’s me. All these years I have considered myself a Tulare County artist. Google agrees with me on this. But, more people search for California artist than for Tulare County artist. Silly me, I thought if I were to call myself a California artist that I would have to portray the Golden Gate bridge, Yosemite, and Malibu. But look at what I have been drawing and painting for years:

Sequoia trees – those only grow in California!

Navel Oranges – hello, California!

The state flower of California is the California Poppy!

In conclusion, I have decided that I am a California Artist. What do you all think??

Oops

Have a look at this painting:

Say what? Wasn’t this painting of the bridge much further along? Indeed it was.

It was sitting on a tabletop easel on that round white table, just as you see it in this photo. I put another painting on the folding easel (the one with aspen trees) and set it in front of the round table to begin painting. As I reached back to tighten the bolts to prevent it from falling backward, WHAM! it fell backward. The top of the easel ripped a long tear into the bridge painting on the easel behind it. Lots of thoughts went through my mind, sort of like they do when you see a Mustang headed directly for your driver’s side door at 60 mph and know you are toast. Here are some of the thoughts:

  1. Canvas can’t be repaired.
  2. That was the expensive thick 18×24 canvas.
  3. I love painting that bridge.
  4. This isn’t really happening.
  5. I should have seen that coming.
  6. Maybe I got that expensive canvas on sale.
  7. Good thing I like painting that bridge.
  8. Good thing it was only 1/2 finished and not 75% finished.

Perhaps all those thoughts weren’t there as the easel was collapsing, but they were there shortly afterward. The odd thing is that I didn’t swear or even feel upset. I just took the wire off the back, got another (thinner, less-expensive) 18×24 canvas unwrapped and applied the wire to the back. Then I started painting again.

After it began to soak in that I had just knocked my finish time for all these paintings back by a large amount of time, I retreated to the studio and took refuge in my pencils.