Three Rivers Museum Mural #2

Do you remember during the last post about the Three Rivers History Museum Mineral King mural that I advised you to stay tuned?

This week we resume our ongoing saga of Mineral King murals.

A man built a cabin facade (sorry, I don’t know how to make the little comma in the air above the “c” in “facade”. . . in case you are confused, it is a French word, and it is pronounced “fuh-SAWD”. It means fake front.)

Where was I?

In the Mineral King Room of the Three Rivers History Museum at the fake cabin front.

Cabin interior facade in Mineral King Room of Three Rivers History Museum
Cabin interior facade in Mineral King Room of Three Rivers History Museum

I bought that window at a garage sale because it is my favorite color and because it is neat-o, but I had no idea of how to use it. It sat in my workshop for 2 years or more, and then it was needed in this “cabin”.

The idea is to feel as if you are inside a cabin, looking at a Mineral King scene through the window.

First, I had to draw it. Wait – first I had to decide what to paint, then I had to put plastic and tape all around so I wouldn’t splatter or spill on the “cabin”.

img_4704Can you see it? That’s okay. You don’t have to. I do. I did. See the 2 photos beneath? These were my guides. I had to be careful to place the peak of Sawtooth where it wouldn’t fall behind one of the “bars” of the window. (I can’t remember what that word is, the wooden things that separate the panes of glass.)

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Woohoo! This is going fast, and I just know it will be easy.

Fall down laughing. . . I forgot an important principle about painting murals. The smaller they are, the longer they take. “Longer” in relative time. Instead of about 1/2 hour per square foot, it is closer to an hour per square foot. This is because I keep detailing and detailing. I hope I remember this the next time I bid a mural job, and I hope I remember this and PACK A LUNCH!

Trail Guy to the rescue – he has kept me from being a starving artist for 30 years now.

This is too long. I’ll continue tomorrow.

 

 

New Mural in Three Rivers, Chapter 3

The Mineral King mural in Three Rivers is in this building.

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This is how the mural looked when I arrived on Day #2. Tower is in place, background sort of finished, trees located.

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In the last post I said it is quiet in the museum. Ahem. Not on Day #2! A cabin facade is getting built behind me, and every hammer blow or power tool is amplified in the empty room with a tile floor. It is going to look great, and on the back wall will be a window with a painted view of something Mineral King.

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On to the day’s work. . .

Trees in place
Trees in place
The tower needs more work
The tower needs more work
Something is wrong with that tower, but I can't see how to fix it in the photo.
Something is wrong with that tower, but I can’t see how to fix it in the photo.

 

Louise called someone who remembers the tower from when it was still standing. He verified that it had 4 legs. But, we couldn't figure out where the 4th one belonged or how those steps worked.
Louise called someone who remembers the tower from when it was still standing. He verified that it had 4 legs. But, we couldn’t figure out where the 4th one belonged or how those steps worked.

The bright sun came in through the skylight and with my strongest magnifier glasses, I figured it out!

First, I painted out that back let in its wrong position.
First, I painted out that back leg from its wrong position.
Then I painted it in the correct position and added the steps.
Then I painted it in the correct position and added the steps. Much better! It is tricky to paint things I’ve never seen, especially when the photos don’t help.
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Now the lower background needs more work, along with the foreground.
Those small trees on the lower left look wrong. The trunks don't belong. They are too complete for their small size. Something is out of whack.
Those small trees on the lower left look wrong. The trunks don’t belong. They are too complete for their small size. Something is out of whack.

After putting growing things in the foreground, I painted off the bottoms of those 2 trees. On Day #3, I will figure this out and finish!

The mural started out sort of easy, but on Day #2 I was just making stuff up without photos to help. That’s not easy at all.

New Mural In Three Rivers, Chapter Two

I may have estimated my time to be longer than anticipated for the new mural at the Three Rivers Museum.. Perhaps the customer will think I am over charging. Guess I’d better moan on and on about how difficult this is.

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I left you hanging on this cliff yesterday. Moan, moan, this is sooo hard.
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Trying to match the terrain and not sure what to do with the lower edges, since I have no photo of a scene that no longer exists. I’ve sketched in the tower and the trunks of a few trees to see if we like the placement and the size.
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Let’s have a straight on view so you can appreciate the difficulty of this task.
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This is a photo of the top of Empire so I can see the configuration. If you show up in person, I can point to where the tram towers were. And these are my paint colors used so far. Doesn’t this look really difficult??
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Just bumbling along. At this stage, it seemed time to add the needles on the red firs. Did you know those were red firs? I bet you thought they were Sequoias. This is why I get paid The Big Bucks. . . I know this stuff.
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This is how the mural looked when I left for the day on Monday.
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No, THIS is how it looked when I left for the day. I hope it is how it looks when I return next.

All that moaning about difficulty was fake. This might be the easiest location I have ever painted in. Indoors, consistent temperature, consistent light, very few interruptions, no trucks roaring by, and much can be reached without even climbing on the ladders.

Let’s have another look at Samson. He’s waiting for me to get home from work.

Samson
Samson

New Mural in Three Rivers

Yesterday I began a new mural in the Three Rivers Museum’s new Mineral King Room. The internet was on vacation, so you get to see the beginnings today.

This is the only photo I have of the Three Rivers Museum. Paul Bunyon doesn’t belong here, except that Carroll Barnes of Three Rivers carved him from a Sequoia.

Paul Bunyon in Three Rivers at the museum.
Paul Bunyon in Three Rivers at the museum.
blank wall
Blank wall in the Mineral King room designed by Gary Cort and built by Pete Crandall.
outline, ready to paint
The first step is to find the edges of the mural and mask it for painting. This is 5 feet wide by 7 feet high.
sky
The sky is the first thing, because I almost always paint what is farthest away first.
sketchy sketch
How’s this for a sketchy sketch as a guide for the mural? Yeah, I know. It’s sketchy.
wrong gray
I mixed up Purple Mountains Majesty, plus a basic gray. It was the wrong color of gray – not enough contrast to PMM.
better gray
Better gray to complement Purple Mountains Majesty. (Why, yes, I did make up my own paint color name! Thank you for noticing!)
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Now we’re cooking with gas.

What am I painting? So glad you asked. This is the upper reaches of Empire Mountain, which contains multiple mines. There was a tram with a cable running on towers to carry buckets of ore from the mines down to the stamp mill. I will paint a tram tower in the front. You can see the beginnings of it tomorrow.

Meanwhile, would you like to say hello to Samson?

Samson
Samson

Final Fall Visit to Mineral King

Yesterday morning at 8:30 a.m. Trail Guy was reading the weather, and together we faced the unpleasant reality that we might be closing our Mineral King cabin during a rain shower if we waited until the weekend. So, by a little after 9, we were in the Botmobile heading up the hill to git-‘er-dun.

Rather than go on and on about what it is like to close the cabin for the season, let’s just all revel in the beauty that yesterday provided.

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Next week I begin a mural. I’ll show you step by step but may not be posting until the end of the day so you can see each day’s work.

Save

Save

Save

Mineral King From My Pencils

Why didn’t I choose to finish one of those other drawings?

I dunno. Sometimes I just don’t wanna. (Why doesn’t my boss fire me??)

This picture grabbed my attention because it is in Mineral King (White Chief, at the very top end of the trail). It also was appealing because of the reeds and grasses in the foreground, and the reflective quality of the water. It fits the theme of Tulare County, although I doubt many people have actually been to this spot. There was no particular spot that called for color.

White Chief, Mineral King
White Chief, Mineral King

Hard Water in Mineral King

This is Tulare County, pencil drawing, from Mineral King. It is Spring Creek. It could be anywhere. If I have this at a show and someone says, “Oh! Is that Yosemite?!”, then my answer will be, “If you would like it to be Yosemite, then it is Yosemite for you”.

Spring Creek, Mineral King
Spring Creek, Mineral King

Let the record reflect that YES, DRAWING WATER IS HARD!! (Tee hee hee, perhaps the title of this piece should be “Hard Water”.)

One Last Trip to White Chief

White Chief is my favorite short hike in Mineral King. Last Friday I showed you a few photos of the last weekend in Mineral King. Today you get the rest.

Three main things were occupying my time this summer: a trip to Israel, designing more coloring books, and training for a walking half-marathon. When I went to Mineral King, I wanted to sit, knit and split (wood).

However, I went to White Chief three times. Here is how it looked on the third trip.

MIneral King
Mineral King Valley
Crabtree cabin ruins
Crabtree cabin ruins
When I told my sister that my daypack is 30 years old, she asked if I had ever washed it. Hmmm, good idea. Now look how bright the red is!
When I told my sister that my daypack is 30 years old, she asked if I had ever washed it. Hmmm, good idea. Now look how bright the red is!
Isn't everything better with friends?
Isn’t everything better with friends?
Trail Guy snuck around a back way to surprise us.
Trail Guy snuck around a back way to surprise us.
How did you get here??
How did you get here?? Where did you come from??
Happiness is being surprised by Trail Guy!
Happiness is being surprised by Trail Guy!
Whoa - what's wrong with this girl??
Whoa – what’s wrong with this girl??
White Chief canyon
White Chief canyon
2 striped rocks - weird
2 striped rocks – weird
Little rock with granite stripe
Little rock with granite stripe
Bigger granite rock with white (marble? limestone?) stripe
Bigger granite rock with white (marble? limestone?) stripe
Final flash of color - look at this patch of penstemmon!
Final flash of color – look at this patch of penstemmon!
Victory dance in the ferns
Victory dance in the ferns
Sawtooth as it appeared on the drive home
Sawtooth as it appeared on the drive home

 

One More Mineral King Oil Painting?

These Mineral King oil paintings seem to be reproducing while I have my back turned. Maybe I should have left the light on, or maybe I should not have taken that road trip.

Ha. Don’t I wish they just reproduced on their own.

This is the one that was on my easel when I started the series about the most popular scene in Mineral King.

Farewell Gap #24, 11x14, oil on wrapped canvas, $250
Farewell Gap #24, 11×14, oil on wrapped canvas, sold

Yes, I realize there is a numbering problem. How can this be #24 when I have shown you 32 other versions?

Life’s full of unknowns, unsolved mysteries, and other conundrums.
If the plural of medium is media, shouldn’t the plural of conundrum be “conundra”? English is weird, but I still prefer it to Artspeak.

The Last Oil Paintings in Mineral King

“Last” is one of those many faceted English words. Here it means the most recent Farewell Gap, Mineral King oil paintings.

4x4" - wow that was tiny!
4×4″ – wow that was tiny!
Farewell Gap XIX - wait, does this mean #19? Are there 2 of this number??
Farewell Gap XIX – wait, does this mean #19? Are there 2 of this number??
An unnumbered Farewell Gap oil painting
An unnumbered Farewell Gap oil painting
Another unnumbered Farewell Gap painting
Another unnumbered Farewell Gap painting
Farewell Gap XVIII - notice the red fir on the left has shrunk.
Farewell Gap XVIII – notice the red fir on the left has shrunk.
Farewell Gap IXX - does this mean #19??
Farewell Gap IXX – does this mean #19??
Farewell Gap XX
Farewell Gap XX
Farewell Gap XX - hmmm, haven't we had that number already? And how did the fir tree grow back?
Farewell Gap XX – hmmm, haven’t we had that number already? And how did the fir tree grow back?
Farewell Gap XXIII, and the fir is tall because I like it that way, so there.
Farewell Gap XXIII, and the fir is tall because I like it that way, so there.

There are more depictions of Farewell Gap, on murals, in pencil and in 2 coloring books (drawn in ink). However, in the interest of relieving monotony, I won’t continue this theme in other media. (Did you know that “media” is the plural of “medium”? “Medium” when it means material used for making art, not the size of my clothing.)