Recently Completed

See? I have been working, despite the all the travelogue posts. (It takes more days to show and tell about a trip than the trip actually lasted).

“First Granddaughter” (no, not mine!), 8×10″, pencil, private collection
Mineral King Alpenglow, 6×18″, oil on wrapped canvas, private collection

Little Odd Job of Wildflowers

A friend-collector (collector-friend? friend/collector? How do I call these wonderful folks??) brought me a hand mirror, requesting that I paint wildflowers on the back.

I began with a sketch in colored pencil to see if I was on the same track with her.


When she approved, it was time for oil painting in great detail, my favorite way to paint.

The upper flowers will be wildflowers of Mineral King; the lower ones will be foothill wildflowers.
Green always makes things look better.
More green = more better.
Am I finished? Nope. Friend/Customer requested the leaf or two of a corn lily. I can do that! Besides, I want to do tighter detail on some of the flowers, and more solid greens in the background.
Now it is finished. This method of photographing it on top of the reference photos makes me smile.

More Mineral King in the Studio

I’ve been looking forward to painting in the painting studio/workshop for a few weeks. Going to Sandy Eggo, working on the mural, time in Mineral King – all good things, but still things that prevented painting in the studio. Life is a series of choices and consequences.

Almost finished.
Drying on the table beneath its companion commissioned Mineral King oil paintings.

Painting Mineral King in the Studio

This is a commissioned oil painting of Mineral King. The Friend/Customer wanted a painting to fit a particular space and match some of her other paintings. This magical scene was her decision, and I am happy to comply.

Here we go, step by step.

From the top: the original reference photo, the reference photo that her other painting came from, first layer of the 6×18″ painting, a print of the other time I painted this scene.
What’s going on here? I already like the painting! Normally I just hold my nose (figuratively, not literally) at this stage of a painting.

Maybe something I learned in the plein air painting sessions is improving my studio painting. (Or maybe this is just a magical scene.)

Another Do-Over

These colors aren’t right.
Better!

When I was new to oil painting, I was bound to photos. That is the best way for me to learn – mix the colors to match the photo. Finally, after many years of painting, I have developed the ability and confidence to just make scenes look as good as I am able.

P.S. This is Mineral King, which I am sure you figured out.

Making Arrangements

In the Art World, people who really like an artist and buy more than one piece of art from her are called “collectors”. In my world, I call them “friends”.

A friend who has several of my paintings (and quite a few drawings too) asked me to help her figure out how to arrange them. Since she lives 250 miles away, I did this via the magic of technology.

She sent me a photo so I could see which 4 pieces she had and how she just put them willy-nilly on existing nails. (I won’t show that photo, because of my strong policies of protecting people’s privacy on the World Wide Web.)

I made up these vignettes for her. (Oops, sorry, “vignette” is Art Speak for little illustration.)

She has a favorite arrangement from these. Do you?

It probably depends on the space to be filled. And there are probably many other options too, but I didn’t want to overwhelm her. That would be rude to any friend, especially one who collects my art.

Finishing a Painting in Mineral King

I set up the easel in the backyard of the cabin and worked on the painting from memory and the “visual notes” I had made the day before. That’s what Marty Weekly did, so I figured it must be a good plan.

Wait! He didn’t set up in my backyard; he took it home to finish in his studio. His plan was 2 sessions, using little examples of colors and textures that he placed on the canvas during his plein air session.

Not done.
Done, but not signed. I forgot to bring my signing tool.
The obvious Mineral King solution was to use an old square nail.

It made me happy to look out the window and see a plein air painting that I liked. Being familiar with the scene, having seen Marty’s way of tackling it, and adding the details I love all made the difference in my confidence and ability.

Of course, if it doesn’t sell in about 15 minutes, I will be questioning my confidence and ability.

And there was a third session to paint the edges.

There will be a fourth session to write the title on the back and add a hanging wire.

A fifth session will be after it is dry: scanning the painting.

But wait! There’s more: it will need varnishing.

Mineral King Valley, 11×14″, $300 (+tax – welcome to California)

Painting in Mineral King

After watching Marty Weekly paint, I caught the plein air bug again. I wanted to set up in exactly the same place, same time of day, and attack the same scene, using the methods that Laurel Daniel taught back in April.

Following Marty’s example a little bit, I painted 11×14, which is HUGE for plein air after doing 6×8″ paintings with Laurel.

I forgot my camera, so after painting for about 1-1/2 hours, I went back to the cabin to get it. What a hoot to walk away from a wet painting on an easel with a full palette just sitting out there in the elements. No worries because it was an extraordinary day.

This is how far I got in that first 1-1/2 hour.
It seemed to me that the distant mountains weren’t as pale as one would expect, so I took a black and white photo to check the values. Sure enough, not very pale. But what would you expect when they are only 6.5 miles if you don’t cut any switchbacks? I bet they are really only about 3.5 miles away.
Here is how it looked in color.
Trail Guy showed up and took a few photos of some friends that stopped by to check on the progress. (Yes, they are very tall people.)
See? I was actually there painting in Mineral King.
So was Trail Guy. (That’s my photo face, and yes I do wear dresses in Mineral King and yes I do wear them with my trusty Crocs.)
I like photos like this, showing the painting in the setting. (The clouds will NOT hold still so I have to make them up.)
I quit after about 2-1/2 hours, but, taking another lesson from Marty, I knew I’d work on it the next day.

Enough. Come back tomorrow for finishing the painting.

Watching a Master Paint in Mineral King, Part 4

This is the scene we were viewing.
This is the painting at the end of the afternoon.

Watching Martin “Marty” Weekly paint plein air in Mineral King was a huge privilege and a great learning opportunity. It is one thing to take a workshop in Georgia, where everything is unfamiliar. It is another thing to watch someone paint a landscape that I know very well, so I can understand how decisions are made to include some items and simplify or ignore others.

Here are some of the many things that Marty taught me in the 3 hours we stood there together:

  1. If your brush feels comfortable, try the next size up. (Why? I try to do this so that I get the painting finished in a timely manner, but I think Marty does this so he doesn’t get overly detailed.)
  2. Cobalt blue with white mades a very accurate sky color.
  3. All paintings look terrible in the beginning, even if you are as terrific as Marty Weekly!
  4. Adjust the parts of your painting to suit you and make the best composition possible, while retaining the recognizable characteristics of the scene.
  5. No one finishes on location; almost every plein air painter knows there will be finishing required in the studio.
  6. Turpentine from the hardware store is good enough – no need to pay for overpriced art supply turpentine.
  7. There is a brush cleaner available from the hardware store that will salvage any dried-out brush (I can’t wait to try this!)
  8. Try Permanent Rose instead of Alizarin Crimson for one of the mixing reds. (Why? I have this color, so I will find out!)
The sky can be finished in the studio, along with the various vegetation in the foreground. We talked about Goldenrod, Sage, and Asters, which are all present in September; he made visual reminders. We also talked about the stream, getting at least the lay of the land so there is a sense of the stream.

I am looking forward to seeing the finished painting! Since the intended recipients are friends of mine, I will ask to see a photo, and hope I can show you.

Watching a Master Paint in Mineral King, Part 3

Marty and discussed the weirdly shaped juniper. The light on the edge of it was compelling, and he decided to put it in, but not the same size as it is in real life. The trouble with that scene in real life is that there are 4 trees, all in a line, all the same height and evenly spaced. If it were painted that way, it might look like a sad little orchard rather than a natural scene.

When he added the light on the edge, the tree came alive (not literally on the canvas but you know what I mean, yes?)

We discussed the Honeymoon Cabin. Marty didn’t know what it was, and his wife and I convinced him it was important to include, especially because the painting is to be a wedding gift for a couple who knows Mineral King.

He worked his way down into the lower reaches of the painting, which looked like a daunting amount of real estate to me.

We discussed the snow patch on the side of Vandever, which is important enough to have a name – Bearskin. It is often speculated about during the summers as we wonder how long the snow will last. The addition of Bearskin made it necessary to add the remaining snow right below Farewell Gap. He also added in Falcon Peak, which is really just the headwall of White Chief Canyon (to the right of Vandever).

Marty also did some reshaping and tightening up of the accuracy of some of the shapes. Because he paints in a loose and impressionist style, this surprised me. But, his scenes are always recognizable, so of course he wants the shapes to be correct. We talked about the top of Vandever, which wasn’t visible from where we stood, and I was able to tell him that the top is jagged and it is taller than West Florence on the left side of the gap.

We discussed the vegetation, and he made some visual notes so he would know how to finish things later in his studio.

On Monday, I’ll tell you some of the many things I learned from watching Martin Weekly, master plein air oil painter paint in Mineral King.