Juiced-Up Bridge Painting

My favorite thing to paint is my favorite bridge, the Oak Grove Bridge, also known as the East Fork Bridge. That’s the East Fork of the Kaweah River, 6.5 miles up the Mineral King Road.

I paint it and draw it often. It is beautiful, particularly because it is such an architectural surprise on a narrow, winding mountain road.

This time it is a 10×10″ painting with sort of juiced-up (exaggerated) colors because that is fun to paint and fun to see.

Any questions?

oak grove bridge oil painting

Oh, the price! I don’t know yet, because I think this is really really good and makes me want to rethink pricing by size. So, you may have to wait until the upcoming studio tour to find out. (Is it wrong to like one’s work?)

SOUTH VALLEY ARTISTS’ STUDIO TOUR, March 20, 21 and 22, tickets available for $15 at ARTS VISALIA. You can read about it on this link.

Poppy Painting Worth 1000 Words

I began a 6×18″ painting of a field of poppies and showed it to you with just one pass over the canvas. Then I went silent.

Now I will speak 1000 words worth to you:

Poppies #41

Poppies #41, 6×18″, oil on wrapped canvas, $150

On and Off the Easels

Now that I have boxes of books in my painting studio, there aren’t as many places to hang wet paintings. So, these remain on the easels until they dry.

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This is a 6×18″ panorama type painting of poppy fields after one pass on the canvas.

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Morro Rock

Morro Rock is almost dry. It was dry enough to carry outside to photograph in the abundant sunshine.

Lake Kaweah oil painting

And here is the new and improved Kaweah Lake oil painting. I really got involved in the details. I love detail. Did you know that about this Central California artist? (Please excuse the redundancy – I want to appear in those search engine things so have to be sure to include words that may be sought.) Just so you can appreciate the improvements, here is the first iteration. Yes, I know the lake is REALLY bright. I happen to like it. Do you?

 

Painting Better Now

Lake View VII

Why hasn’t this painting sold? Trail Guy loves it. I thought it was pretty good. Hmmm, let’s study the thing, put it on the easel and get tough.

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This now has better detail in the mountains and a different and brighter color in the water.

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Keep painting, Central California Artist. You’ll get it.

Eagle Trail Painting: Before, During and After

Before: trail

During: IMG_0131

 

After?Eagle Trail

 

I might keep painting over and over and over. This looks better to me, but once it is dry and hanging in the studio or showing somewhere in public, I won’t know for sure.

Also, this isn’t a true and fair comparison because I’m using different cameras. Guess you’ll just have to see it in person to decide. Wait, you can’t see the old one in person, because I painted over it. Trust me on this: it IS better now!

Hey Mr. Google, did you know this is in Mineral King? It is actually the trail to Eagle Lake, Mosquito Lake, and White Chief, but I simply titled it “Eagle Trail”.

I Paint Better Now, Again

A painting called “Eagle Trail” wasn’t sitting right with me. I look at it each time I set up a show or rehang paintings in the studio, and something was just not good enough.

trail

I don’t know what is bothering me.

So, I just began with the upper-most, furthest away parts. As I was taught in one of the classes that I began but dropped part way through (rap music? really?? Couldn’t take it!), the “glazing” method is just repainting, over and over and over.

Here it is after another session on the easel:

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It is a little glossy because it is wet. I’ll keep layering and layering, studying, thinking, trying to paint it more carefully and accurately. When it is dry, it should photograph better. I hope it looks better!

I Paint Better Now

Sometimes progress sneaks up on us incrementally.

I’ve been oil painting since March 8, 2006 (Yes, I remember the date. It was memorable and remarkable and important.)

I pulled out an older painting (haven’t been painting long enough to call anything “old”) that a friend requested. She saw a scratch on the surface, so I said I’d patch it up. When it was time to paint, I realized that an entire area wasn’t good enough for me anymore!

Here is Morro Rock as painted in 2008:

 
Morro Rock

The rock wasn’t good enough for me anymore. I repainted it in 2015.

 

 Morro Rock II

 

Morro Rock II, oil on board, 11×14″, Not For Sale

Yes, the color is different. Last time I photographed it with a camera I no longer own. This time I photographed it with a newer camera, one I bought for Trail Guy so he’ll leave my camera here for me. He preferred the older camera, because it is hateful to try to learn new buttons and switches and digital baloney.

Anyway, I paint better now and wanted you to see the difference so we can be happy together about this thing called “growth”.

Do-Over and other juvenile expressions

When you were a kid, did you sometimes allow do-overs on the playground? You know, you go to serve the volleyball, the class clown belches your name so you drop the ball instead of hitting it, and you get a do-over because it wasn’t fair?

I began a painting of pumpkins several years ago. It was to be a gift for someone who did me a favor, but the favor went south and the friendship did too. I couldn’t bring myself to finish it. I tried and tried to disassociate the painting from the incident, but every time I looked at it, I felt yucky.

Wow, this is a juvenile sounding post. “Do over” and “yucky”. Wonder what’s gonna sneak out next?

A customer requested a painting of Sawtooth after she saw my cards with that scene. I am always willing to paint something again, so I thought “Do-over? Sure!”

When I went into my canvas stash, I saw that dreaded pumpkin painting. Hmmmm, I wonder. . . Then, I couldn’t find the photo. No problem, because it was part of the first calendar of paintings I had printed (the 2013 calendar).

Look! Something weird is happening to those unfinished pumpkins!

Isn’t that weird?

I think it worked! The colors will be a bit brighter on this second version of Sawtooth because I am working from the printed version, which has exaggerated colors. I think it is funner this way.

There! Got in another juvenile expression!

When this dries, I will detail the branches in the foreground.

P.S. Sawtooth is the name of a prominent peak in Mineral King, the part of Sequoia National Park in the southern Sierra Nevada where I spend the most time.

More Secret Oil Painting Workshop

Here are more photos and commentary from the secret oil painting workshop that I gave for my advanced drawing students.  There are perquisites to taking drawing lessons – I lend photos, do scanning and photoshop prep for turning drawings into cards, and give secret oil painting workshops, among other benefits.

We decided that the fruit on the left must be a pluot. This painter was not happy with her painting but the rest of the group thinks it is a fantastic first layer, because IT IS!!

This painter photographed the Tetons while on a road trip. I borrowed a photo to paint from, then lent her my painting because often it is just easier to work from other people’s paintings than a photo or live scene.

This one looks a little weird because the paint was so wet that it really caught the flash on the camera. This painter is very brave – I suggested just picking one pomegranate to paint, and she chose to do all three. This is the first time in at least 40 years that she has oil painted, and this painting will be gorgeous!

This painter is used to extremely detailed pencil drawings and is a little doubtful that her orange will look good. She really dislikes the color of the shadow side of the orange, so next time we will mix something that pleases her.

Oil painting is a ton of work, so I want my students to be very happy with the results. I also have told them that anyone who doesn’t like her painting or can’t finish it can pass it to me and I will complete it for her.

See? Perqs!

Secret Oil Painting Workshop

That’s right – SECRET oil painting workshop! I’ve only been an oil painter since March 8, 2006, learning by guess and by golly on my own, experimenting and bumbling along, taking and quitting a couple of classes, reading up, asking questions of other painters, watching some videos. What I know, which is precious little, I am willing to share, but only with my drawing students.

Why only them?

I know my students’ abilities and their individual methods of learning, and they know my abilities and style of teaching. The secret oil painting workshop is just for those who are interested (Duh) and for those who are comfortable enough with their drawing skills and the terms we use and techniques we practice.

Because I don’t give drawing lessons in December, we have several Tuesdays to work with. We will do two, but the dates don’t matter, because it is a Secret painting workshop. Two days are necessary because of the slow drying time involved with oil paints, and besides that, it is hard to focus on a project for enough hours to get ‘er dun.

There were 7 students, and at one point I said, “I FEEL LIKE A WAITRESS WITH TOO MANY TABLES!” Lovely people, each one, and a privilege to share what I know about painting. So often I have to say, “I don’t know but I’ve heard you can do this, that or another thing.” Just bumbling along together, and look what we achieved!

After seeing the photo on the digital camera, this painter commented, “I like my wrist”.

We thought this painter had cut out a photo of a lemon and decoupaged it onto a black canvas! Then she began enlarging it, and next week will be adding some sort of a shadow or something in addition to deepening the colors. Next year I will probably be taking painting lessons from her.

The pomegranate looks distorted because of the angle of the camera. The Sequoias need another layer or two and the orange just wants one more layer. Can you tell my students borrow my photos? 😎

To be continued tomorrow. . .