And thus we conclude our tour through paintings of Tulare County, better than before. I think one must see the paintings in person to properly appreciate the subtle improvements
Now if you will please excuse me, I have a commissioned pencil drawing to begin.
Tomorrow: Pennsylvania Dog in Pencil
While at the Redbud Festival, there was plenty of time to sit and study my paintings. I put on my mental critic hat, and made a list of adjustments that would improve my paintings.
Whaddya think about the improvements on these typical Tulare County scenes? Betcha you can’t even tell the differences.
Tomorrow: More Better Than Befores
Sometimes I write things about Tulare County that sound rude; they are simply the truth.
However, in addition to the fact that we are all fat, poor, undereducated, and have bad air, we have SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK!
So, I paint Sequoia trees. Every time I go to Sequoia, which we simply refer to as “The Park”, I look for good trees to photograph. Then, I paint from the photos. As time passes and the experiences mount up, I am more able to make up trees. The photos guide me, but then I just pants it. (Did you know that “pants” can be a verb?”)
And remember, here in Tulare County we are fat, diabetic, uneducated, unemployed, and without a Trader Joe’s, although we now have an Aldi’s and a Sprouts. . . moving up in the world.
P.S. All three Sequoia oil paintings are available to view and to purchase at Kaweah Arts in Three Rivers, now located in The Dome, just downstream from Reimer’s Candies.
Tomorrow: Better Than Before
Eight WHAT on the easels?
So glad you asked! Eight oil paintings of Mineral King are on my easels. Sometimes they are on a table, sometimes they are in my hands while I paint.
After putting a base coat on the canvases to bury the white, I painted skies on all eight.
Three are the same scene, the most popular Mineral King subject of the Crowley family cabin in front of Farewell Gap. And now that the skies are in and I am seeing it on the computer, it is apparent that West Florence peak (the left side of Farewell Gap) on the 10×10″ painting isn’t high enough. That will be an easy fix.
Are you counting and recounting and wondering if I have forgotten basic arithmetic?
Here are the other two. I started them awhile ago but set them aside to paint some redwood trees.
Here are the redwood trees, in case you have forgotten. Or maybe you needed a reminder that Sequoia gigantea is the same as redwood. (We also call them The Big Trees around here in basic low-brow Tulare County type language.)
I wanted to show off my Sequoia gigantea paintings. Just a little. It might be called “marketing” or “advertising”, possibly even “bragging”.
After the Redbud Festival, it took awhile to rearrange everything in the studio and the painting workshop. I returned many of the paintings to Kaweah Arts, but not all that I had “borrowed”.
While sitting in my booth at the Redbud Festival, I had a lot of time to assess my paintings. I made lists of what to change, correct, or improve on eight of them.
It didn’t take long to do those little improvements. I’m not showing you the before and after because they are too wet to scan; besides, why would it be advantageous to point out all my errors? It was just a small matter of darken this, lighten that, brighten something else, add a branch or two, adjust some color for greater realism or to make it more appealing.
Feeling much better about those “old” paintings, I returned to the small sequoia paintings. The goal is to complete enough so that Kaweah Arts has some back stock. So far, sequoia paintings are the most popular subject, and I am happy to keep producing them.
Next, I will return to painting pieces for the Silver City Store (on the Mineral King road, four miles below the actual Mineral King valley) to sell this summer. I have great high hopes, because the resort was closed last summer, along with the entire area. However, the road will be under reconstruction and there will be some closures. In theory, it will open for Memorial weekend. In reality, we shall see what they actually choose to do. There is supposed to be a schedule, but it changes almost daily.
I’m running a one-person factory of oil paintings of scenes local to Tulare County
Well, not exactly regular, because it involved gathering paintings from Kaweah Arts and pricing them for the Redbud Festival. But that is all part of the business of art in the life of your Central California Artist.
I started 3 new sequoia paintings so that Kaweah Arts has back stock.
Then it was time to drive to Kaweah Arts to collect paintings that might sell at the Redbud Festival. I gathered all except one, because it was hanging on a hanger that I couldn’t figure out how to operate.
I piled all the paintings according to size and attached price stickers. No matter how I do this, they don’t stay on. I did it anyway, because someone(s) else would be minding my booth for me on Sunday and I wanted it to be easy for them. Sunday mornings at the Redbud Festival have historically very low attendance, but it would be wrong to leave my booth unattended while I attended to my responsibilities at church.
This doesn’t look like very many, does it? There are about 30 here, stacked on the desk.
Something happens when I am seeing them all together and studying them up close and in good light: suddenly, none of them look quite good enough. Sigh. I hate that.
It was a beautiful day, and I worked with the studio door open.
Then I painted some more until it was time to set up for Redbud.
The plan was to get all the structures in place and then take the paintings and other merchandise on Saturday morning. It was so very windy that we just unloaded the display pieces and headed home. I didn’t take any photos of the wind for you.
About the paintings: if I mix up and paint each color across three paintings at once, it goes a bit faster. It’s a continual struggle to not spend too much time on paintings, because the prices have to be sensible for the tourists, and the stores keep 30%. I often hear that my prices are “too low”, but it is good to be realistic about Tulare County. Besides. . .
“Old and Improved” is a bit more accurate than “New and Improved”. If something is new, how can it be an improvement??
Here are three more paintings that I have made better than before. In the time since I first painted these, I have gotten better at painting. (“Better” means “better in my opinion”.)
This is Sunny Sequoias, 18×36″.
This is Big & Tall, also 18×36″.
Oak Grove Bridge #28, 24×30″
I wonder what I will think of these “improvements” in another 5 or 10 years. Chances are you can’t see the differences, compounded by the photographic variances.
Oh well, you can just rest assured that I am working hard at making my fall show at CACHE be the best it can be, showing off the beauty of Tulare County to the utmost of my ability.
As I study some of my paintings and live with them, I see ways to make them better. So, I touch them up to improve them.
Just another peek into the work of a Tulare County artist, bumbling along here in Central California. Sometimes you just can’t tell on a computer screen because they photographed differently. Guess you’ll just have to trust me.
After getting some input from a smart and honest artist friend, I tackled this one again. It is much better, but it needs to hang around for a bit before I decide if it is good enough to sign.
This painting of the Honeymoon Cabin has been with me for three years, and I have wondered how to improve it. When in doubt, add details. . . it might not be the best solution, but it is my default position.
In addition to adding details, I refined some edges and brightened some colors. Now I really like it (but it is still for sale.) The improvements will be more visible when it is dry and photographed with more care. At 18×36″, it is way too big for the scanner.
It was hot in the painting workshop, which meant mosquitos. I put a vase of lemon geranium (it has “citronella” in the official name) by the easel, but supplemented its weak efforts with repellent. (Sigh. Scratching bites anyway.) Summer’s coming, and the painting studio isn’t very comfortable in the summer. That’s why I poured it on all winter and spring.
In addition to the heat and the mosquitos, I had the added bonus of listening to Pippin growl over a dead gopher and then crunch it for awhile. Nice job, you fantastic hunter! He has two jobs in life: be cute, and keep gophers from wrecking the yard.
Yes, I know it is still April. Before I left for Texas, I painted this view of the Mineral King valley as it looks from the Timber Gap trail in September. The first layer was done a few days earlier, but I didn’t take any pictures.
I left it wet on the easel to put branches and greenery on the tree and sign it after I get back home.
Tomorrow: Things I Learned in April.