Gotta See it in Person

The old Kaweah Colony blacksmith shop went away in a flood in 1997. I remember that flood because we were house hunting in Three Rivers during that time. It was interesting to drive around and see washouts and high water marks, but I wasn’t aware of the Kaweah Colony blacksmith shop. 

I’ve been painting from this old photo.

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The background is invisible in the photo, but that’s no excuse for leaving part of a painting blank. This necessitated a field trip.

These photos look like a mess but show me how to fill in the missing parts. Sort of. Real life is so messy. Scenery often involves tangled gray, green and brown matter.

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These photos weren’t enough. For one thing, I was in the wrong location. When I went back to the right place, my camera battery was dead, so I did a sketch. It wasn’t complete enough, because the tree to the right of the building remained a mystery. I can see the trunk and main branches, but what are the leaves doing??

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It was raining the afternoon I needed to know. I went anyway. This time I took 2 cameras and an extra battery and a parka.

Here is the tree, missing a few branches. Can’t see the leaves because there aren’t any, but I can tell it is an oak, and I get an idea of the tangled gray, green and brown shapes behind it.
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These are the 2 sycamores to the left of the shop. These photos helped immensely with detail. All the photos taken in the rain helped. 

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Finally, I think I may be finished with this commissioned oil painting. I sent this photo to the commissioner (doesn’t that sound official? The man actually owns a tire shop or 2. . . I wonder if he’d like being referred to as “Commissioner”.) 

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I hope The Commissioner thinks I am finished. If not, I’ll make the adjustments that he requests. That’s how commissioned oil painting works. But, maybe he’s gotta see it in person too. (I KNOW “gotta” isn’t a word, just like “prolly” isn’t, but sometimes a writer’s gotta say what she’s gotta say.)

Simple

Painting the Oak Grove Bridge is anything but simple. After two more hours on the current oil painting of my favorite bridge, it looks like this:

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I spend a ton of time sorting out the shapes under the bridge. No one really knows or cares if they are exactly right, so I’m not sure why I spend so much time on them. I think it is so everything will fit. What if I leave out an important rock?

The colors and textures don’t matter at this stage. I just concentrate on getting the proportions and angles right, and try to get close in values (the darks and lights).

Seeing those rocks and parts of water is tricky. The shrubs keep growing and obstructing the views. The water is reflective, so it appears as simply white in places on the photo. 

I’ve stood on the bridge and stared at the rocks and water, and it seems completely different from what is in the photo. I might be a bit simple.

This doesn’t have to be perfect, just believable. I’ve drawn and painted the Oak Grove Bridge so many times that it seems I ought to be able to stop using photos. I can’t. It is possible that I am a bit simple.

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Since I find this destructive creature perpetually amusing, I must be a bit simple.

On the Easels

Samson is eager to participate.
Samson is eager to participate. He is the opposite of helpful. I have commissioned oil paintings to do, and no one requested Samson’s paw prints.
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All the colors look different in the bright morning sunlight.
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Good progress today on the hill behind, the sycamore bark, the background trees and the wood on the shed. It will need about 3 more layers of ever-increasing detail. Leaves on the trees will improve this painting, hiding awkward spaces. When in doubt, add a leaf. (Ask Adam and Eve about this.)
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The Sequoia tree paintings are finished and drying.  The 2 upper paintings look overexposed because of the bright light coming in the window, not because I painted them with wimpy colors. (I know you were dying to know but are too polite to comment.)
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This painting of the Oak Grove Bridge has been waiting patiently for some attention for almost a month while I painted another mural in the museum and attended to a whole mess of administrative tasks.
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Now the background above the bridge is looking good. It might even be finished. When I began the background below the bridge, I had to readjust the arches. That’s fine; I have plenty of practice. It is part of the fun of painting the Oak Grove Bridge.
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At the end of the day it is dark outside and dark in the painting workshop. That, and the Ott light, accounts for the bluish coloring to this photo.

3 Mineral King Paintings in Progress

I’ve been inching along (more accurately, “layering along”) on the 3 largish Mineral King paintings. With colder temperatures, the oil just isn’t drying quickly enough to make much progess.

Here is Farewell Gap with a few more layers.

Here is White Chief with a few more layers:

And here is Sawtooth with a new sky:

Growing Sequoias With Paint

Ever heard of growing Sequoia trees with paint? It’s figurative, not literal. Unlike the new (wrong) use of the word “literal”, I mean that I am figuratively growing trees. As in a figure of speech. . .

Please excuse the detour. Words mean things, and sometimes people need to be reminded, although I believe my blog readers are exceptional people, exceptionally smart and aware of reality. Otherwise, why would you all choose to read a blog by a realist? img_4986

This one is finished. It needs to dry, get scanned, varnished and added to inventory on my website. I can’t remember the title (Sequoia Number Something or Sunny Sequoias Number Something) and can’t turn it over to check the title while it is this wet. img_4988

Yikes. This is so ugly with only its first layer. You can see I have begun on the left side, which also happens to be farthest away.

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I think it could use another layer of detail, but it will have to wait until it is dryer. “Dryer”? Isn’t that a machine for drying clothes? Maybe I mean “more dry”. Anyone know a good editor??

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And this one is also ugly with only a first layer. I’m learning not to despair after only one pass over the canvas. It has only taken 10-1/2 years of painting to understand that ugly happens for a much longer amount of time than the fun part.

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Layer by layer. . . this one will also need more detailing and some color correcting.

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Here are all three, progressively more complete as you see them from upper to lower.

 

 

Sequoia Oil Painting in Progress

I returned to painting Sequoia trees while I waited for more information on the Kaweah blacksmith shop and for it to dry a bit.

After helping the color bullies my advanced drawing students with their paintings of Sequoia trees, I wanted to paint my own. 

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This was the first time I have painted since we got Samson. (painting these the same day I began the Kaweah blacksmith shop). He was very busy, but didn’t attack my feet or the paint brush, or tip over the turpentine, or run across the palette.

I got this far:

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Helping my drawing students with their Sequoia oil paintings helped me with mine.

Thank you, Color Bullies, Advanced Drawing Students!

Forgive Us Our Trespasses

Sometimes when I need to get photos or see stuff, I trespass. Been doing it my whole life, I confess. Forgive me my trespasses. . .

Are these the same two sycamores as in the sepia photo from 1996?
Are these the same two sycamores as in the sepia photo from 1996?
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These 2 sycamores have more space between them, but is was 20 years ago when this was taken.

Recently I went trespassing up the North Fork of the Kaweah, looking for the site where the Kaweah blacksmith shop sat. I have a photo from 1996, but the flood of 1997 probably changed the scene. Besides removing the blacksmith shop, it probably changed the route of the river there.

Why does it matter if I have a photo? Because I can’t tell if there are hills behind or if the river should show a bit or what to fill in with between the sycamore trees. If I can’t see it, I can’t paint it. Very well, that is.

Empty canvas, upside down photo.
Empty canvas, upside down photo.
No thanks, Samson, I don't need any help. Doesn't he look sweet? He isn't.
No thanks, Samson, I don’t need any help. Doesn’t he look sweet? He isn’t.
Building a painting probably isn't as scary as making sausage, but it certainly is daunting.
Building a painting probably isn’t as scary as making sausage, but it certainly is daunting. Hard to believe that things begin this rough, but yeppers, that’s the way I paint.

New Oil Painting With Help

One of the benefits of participating in bazaars, boutiques and festivals is that I meet new people. Sometimes this results in commissions or new drawing students. The Senior League Holiday Bazaar brought me this new oil painting commission.

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Photo from customer’s phone

Oh boy, there’s a challenge! When the customer explained that he had taken this photo in the Three Rivers History Museum, I knew I’d receive some good help.

I emailed Museum Man, who promptly removed the photo from the frame, scanned it at a high resolution and emailed it to me!

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The customer told me about this little building. It was the blacksmith shop for the Kaweah Colony, and it was on property that he now owns. In 1997, a flood took it away.

We discussed colors, and he and his wife decided it would suit them better in full color rather than sepia tones. They chose the fall season, which seems right based on all the sycamore leaves on the ground.

To be continued. . .

Color Bullies, Part 2

My advanced drawing students successfully bullied me into 2 oil painting workshops. We had a great time!

A rebel set aside her Sequoia painting that she began last week. This is of the Tetons from a photo she took. I painted the scene first so it would be a little easier for her. (I had the assignment of copying an “Old Master” during the 1/2 semester of painting I took at the local junior college – copying is a good way to learn.)

A rebel set aside her Sequoia tree to finish a painting of the Tetons that she began last year.

We had an overachiever who worked on 2 paintings at the same time.

An overachiever worked on 2 paintings at the same time.

Good job, E! You get an A for sure. No rebelling, one painting at a time.

Good job, E. You get an A for sure!

Turned out that two painters did choose the same scene. We put them side by side, and learned that the one on the left could benefit from stronger colors and more contrast, and the one on the right could benefit from more detail. Interesting exercise! (They look different in real life than on the screen because I had to mess with the photo because it didn’t look right because. . . . on and on and on. Never mind.)

Two painters ended up working on the same scene.

At the end of our session, it turns out that we had two rebels and five Sequoia trees. Yes, that is a cat, but the cat painter is actually drawing a Sequoia tree in pencil these days.

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None of these paintings are finished. They need more layers, more details, some color corrections, edges of canvas painted, signatures, and varnish.

This probably means there will be another painting session ahead.