Classic Mineral King 2

Because of the short summer season at the Silver City Resort, I need to get the new 18×36″ classic Mineral King painting done quickly. These other paintings can wait a week or two, because I have a big ‘un to git dun.

There were some fabulous days weatherwise, and I knew it was a golden opportunity to paint in comfort.

Hey Tucker! Look at the painting, will you?Thanks, Buddy. I appreciate your opinion and that you took a break with me.

Remaining to be detailed: the 2 large trees, the stream, willows on the right, and rocks. Then I can return to painting the commissioned big tree and other Mineral King paintings. Oh, and finishing the big old country house pencil drawing too. There is also a potential 18×24″ commissioned oil painting, along with FIVE Christmas ornaments in the works. None of those have close deadlines, but it is good to always be ready for the next job that appears.

Classic Mineral King

When people think of Mineral King,  a certain scene usually comes to mind. It is the view of Farewell Gap, looking upstream while standing on the bridge at the end of the road, with the Crowley family cabin and the stream in the foreground. This is the most popular scene that I paint of Mineral King.

Recently a large oil painting of this scene sold at Kaweah Arts.

At the same time, Silver City Resort asked me for a large vertical painting to hang in a highly visible space inside the store/restaurant. Last year a painting of sequoia trees filled that space; this summer it is hanging (for sale, of course) at Kaweah Arts.

Clearly, I need to paint a new large canvas of this classic Mineral King scene.

This is the first time I have painted the scene in these proportions. 

I wonder how quickly I can get it done, because the summer selling season is a short little blip on the calendar.

New Paintings of Mineral King

After delivering oil paintings to the Silver City Resort (AKA Silver City Store), I looked at how many were left and realized that I needed more inventory. This is from the attitude that there will be sales, and they will be plentiful. My outlook stems from good sales last year, in spite of The Virus and The Fires.

Choosing subjects and matching them with sizes and shapes of canvases is always a bit of a guessing game. “A bit”, because obviously, if I have several of Sawtooth, no need to add more. Or if there are plenty of the Honeymoon Cabin, the Crowley cabin, or my favorite bridge (which is actually quite far from Mineral King itself but one cannot get to Mineral King without crossing the Oak Grove Bridge, unless one walks from another part of Sequoia, which is entirely a different topic of conversation for another crowd), then it is time to move into other less popular subjects. Those other subjects are just whimsy on my part. I flip through my photos, look at what has been painted and sold well in the past, look for new approaches to those subjects, and without lingering and overthinking, I make the choices in a real git-‘er-dun manner.

Let’s go!

It appears that I didn’t have enough of the Oak Grove Bridge or the Honeymoon Cabin yet. Maybe, maybe not. I can’t find my crystal ball. Can’t even remember if I ever had one.

What is this?? It is a painting of a juniper along the trail to White Chief. It was a good idea, but not good enough for someone to part with his hard-earned dollars. Thus, it will become something for someone else to part with her hard-earned dollars. (Here at Cabinart, we write an equal-opportunity pronoun blog, but we do not use the plural when referring to the singular, except for the royal “we”.)

As always, these early stages look atrocious. Fear not, Gentle Blog Reader, for your Central California artist will come through for you. After all. . .

. . .I use pencil, oil paint, and murals to make art you can understand, of places and things your love, for prices that won’t scare you.

 

And One More Big Tree

Let’s count the recent Big Tree* paintings: 1. Big Tree Sold at Kaweah Arts 2. Second Big Tree painted and delivered to Kaweah Arts 3. Third Big Tree painted in anticipation of another sale 4. A fourth Big Tree begun as a commissioned oil painting.


Now Big Tree #3 looks too skinny.

*Remember, Big Tree refers to Sequoia Gigantea AKA Redwood

New Big Tree

The first painting that I sold at Kaweah Arts was a 6×18″ oil of a Sequoia tree. Immediately I painted another.

My mama didn’t raise a dummy. This time when the big tree sells, I will have another one ready for delivery to Kaweah Arts. Call me “Butter” because I am on a roll!

Don’t be scared. It will turn out just fine. They always do, except when they don’t, and then I repaint them into something else.

Big Tree, Again

The 6×18″ oil painting of a giant Sequoia, AKA Big Tree, sold at Kaweah Arts, an art consignment shop. When Nancy, the proprietor, let me know, I asked if it was bought by a friend or relative who felt sorry for me. She said that it went home to Wisconsin with a woman who always buys art to commemorate her travels. 

Alrightythen! Looks like a winner of a subject for this store, so I’d better get cracking on another one.

I chose the photo with a more extreme angle of peering upward into the tree, but then just started making up things. After painting too many redwood trees to count, I feel fairly confident just winging it.*

It isn’t finished. More sky should be showing among the upper foliage, the ground is not right, the grasses along the bottom are too even, and the tree itself needs more detail and contrast.

*Apparently this rogue knitter and rogue baker is becoming a rogue oil painter too.

Big Trees in Order

After posting about Seven Big Tree Oil Paintings, it seemed like a good idea to figure out when I painted which one so I could see them in order and decide if I am improving or going the other direction. So, here they are in order.

2012
2012, a little later
2013
2013, a little later 
2017 (a gap of 4 years?!)
2018
2021 (a 3 year gap?!)

Interesting – I think the 2 best are the first and the last. So much depends on the quality of the photo, and I don’t have very many to choose from that show the entire tree. But there is also the color variance from photo to photo and tree to tree. As I gain confidence, which happens with experience, I am able to just figure out what colors please me rather than feeling bound to the photo.

If you want a tree like this, the size is 6×18″, the price $165 (plus tax if you live in California). Of course there are larger canvas sizes available (smaller too, but those are for younger eyes and fingers more agile than mine at manipulating paintbrushes). Remember, 

I make art you can understand, of places and things you love, for prices that won’t scare you.

(I hope $165 isn’t scary).

Seven Big Tree Oil Paintings

Sequoias, Big Trees, Redwoods. Since discovering the 6×18″ canvas size, I have painted redwoods on them seven times.

You can see that sometimes I used the same photo. I don’t know if these are shown here in the order painted, but I know for sure the last one is the most recent (and still quite wet at the time of this writing). I happen to like it best, which is a good sign that my skills have improved.

P.S. These trees are in Tulare County, right here in California’s flyover country. They are something about which we can feel good. There are many things about which we can feel good here, but if you know someone who wants to move here, go ahead and remind them that we are fat, uneducated, and poor. Oh, and there is high unemployment, bad air, and no Trader Joe’s either.

P.S. It costs a fortune to have a transplant, and while insurance covers much, there is much more that it does not cover. If you feel generous and inclined to help my friend, Rachelle, this is the best way to do so: HelpHopeLive.Org

Growing a Big Tree

The Big Trees, AKA Redwoods, AKA Sequoia Gigantea, take centuries to achieve their height and girth. Nay, millennia! In my painting workshop, they take about 2 days to 2 months, depending on the size of the canvas. 

Orange groves were holding my interest more than Big Trees for awhile. But, this is an art BUSINESS, and it is prudent to paint what people want to buy. So, I returned to this painting. Here are the steps of growth.

The tree is unnamed, based on a photo of a named tree, but not followed exactly. Why not? Because the colors were a bit dull and the details were obscured either by poor light or branches. Exactness is required in architecture, portraiture, and some landscapture. 

I made that last word up so it would match.

Big Tree, 6×18″, oil on wrapped canvas, $165 plus the dreaded state sales tax (which most likely will be wasted but it is one of the prices we pay for living in the Golden State.)

Usual disclaimer that all my paintings look better in person.

P.S. It costs a fortune to have a transplant, and while insurance covers much, there is much more that it does not cover. If you feel generous and inclined to help my friend, Rachelle, this is the best way to do so: HelpHopeLive.Org

Distracted and Dabbling

The sold paintings and drawings are delivered, and the rest are back in my studio and workshop. The paintings I hope to sell at the Silver City Store are all ready to go, but it isn’t quite time to deliver. The only commission I had is completed and delivered. There are a couple of phone calls I could make to shake up some work, but I am distracted by other things in life.

I had a reunion with a friend from 6th or 7th grade. We met at Hartland Camp, and reunited about 5 years ago, now getting together when we can figure out a way.

Then. Scary.
Now. Possibly scarier.

Do deer eat rhododendrons? They appeared on a Deer Resistant List, so I planted one. I hope our deer read that list.

Meanwhile, I fixed the arch on the painting of the Oak Grove Bridge that has hung in a County administration building for a couple of years, and then at Arts Visalia, where I noticed that the arch wasn’t all it could be. The problem was noticed by one of my drawing students and I at the same time. She wanted to know why I was so hard on her as she drew an arched bridge but then I was casual in my own approach. (My students and I are very honest with each other because this is the best way to learn; if you want compliments on your art, show your mom.)

And I fiddled around with my giant painting that combines scenes from both Orange Cove and Lemon Cove – to be titled “Citrus Cove”, perhaps. For some reason, this feels too hard, so I am just jumping all over the canvas. (No, not literally.)

P.S. It costs a fortune to have a transplant, and while insurance covers much, there is much that it does not cover. If you feel generous and inclined to help my friend, Rachelle, this is the best way to do so: HelpHopeLive.Org