Painting Three Rivers

Did you think I forgot these paintings? Not a chance; I have a little bazaar coming on November 19 in Three Rivers and need some appropriate merchandise (besides just 2023 calendars and cards and coloring books.)

Did I think you forgot them? Not gonna let you forget—don’t worry your pretty little head about that.

One:

(Please, do not sing about this.)

It is now finished, drying, and awaiting a scan so you can see the colors more accurately. The title is Alta Peak/Moro Rock View. (Yes, I know it is brilliant and clever and original.)

Two:

Just a bunch of yellow grass couldn’t possibly take that long, could it?

Yes, it could and it is. It isn’t titled yet. Perhaps “Yellow Grass and Live Oaks” would be appropriately creative and original. . .

Three:

Mixing colors for this one has been fun. My paintings tend to be all greens, grays, and browns, or nothing but orange (poppies and oranges, over and over).

How about calling it “Three Indian Grindholes on the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River in Three Rivers at Sunset”?

Nope. It is only an 8×10″ oil painting, so there isn’t enough room on the back of the canvas to write all that.

Part of the business of art is coming up with good titles. I’ve got some thinking to do.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Laurie!

 

Making Three Improvements

Improvements

I brought home the paintings from Silver City that didn’t sell over the summer. My good friend helped me evaluate them honestly. I need the opinions of honest good friends, regular people rather than Educated Artist Type people, because regular people are my customers.

First:

Remember this?

I redid it like this:

Immediately someone said, “I want that!” However, I know her pretty well, and she is a talker and a dreamer. It ain’t a sale until money exchanges hands, and no money exchanged hands. So, I added a flag.

I’m certain that was the missing element.

Second:

Why didn’t this sweet little 6×6″ of aspens along the Nature Trail sell?

Because it didn’t have wildflowers!! (After this photo, I repaired the big red blob and changed my signature back to white).

Three:

Why do I still have this little painting of alpenglow on Vandever?

Because it wants brighter colors and more detail, of course.

The business of art requires honesty, realistic looks at sales and what customers want.

P.S. They’ll look better when scanned, and even better in real life.

 

Painting As If I Have a Deadline

After finishing three more 5×7″ oranges on easels, they sold within days. The director of the Mural Gallery asked for more, so I set up an assembly line to get the first layer on the panels.

That was sloppy business. I prefer to work with exact, tight, precision, so I moved back into this 8×10″ painting of a typical Three Rivers scene, and got serious about making it as accurate as possible.

Then I got a call from a man for whom I had done an odd job this summer. He has a deer, which has faded from the sun, and wondered if I could freshen it up. He was able to provide a photo of it when it was new, which will help me get this done right. I said yes, and then we had to figure out how in the world I would charge him for this odd job. He told me what he paid for it initially, we figured out how much he was willing to spend, I told him how many hours that would cover, and then we made a plan. I will paint one side only, keeping track of my hours, and if there is enough time and money left in the budget, I’ll paint the backside. If not, I’ll just paint the backside plain brown, no detail. 

The cats aren’t a fan of this guest in their safe room. I expect they will adjust soon.

Whatcha doing, Central California Artist?

Messy beginnings

All my paintings begin this way. It no longer causes me distress, that continual uncertainty about my skills. With approximately 1300 paintings (not counting murals) completed since 2006 and most of those sold, I am learning to just flow with the mess. 

Planning

With the Holiday Bazaar happening soon (Saturday, November 19, Three Rivers Veterans Memorial Building, 9-4), I needed to take inventory and plan. I counted up the number of available paintings by subject, tallied them by size, and came up with a plan. 

Three Rivers subjects are in the shortest supply. 8×10 and similar sizes are the most likely to sell at a one day bazaar here in town. So, two 8×10″s, one 8×8″, and a 6×18″. (Priced at $125, $100, and $165)

Chop chop and hubba hubba

I went quickly through my photos, going on “gut instinct” rather than evaluating to the same degree that I evaluated sizes and subjects, and without hesitating, assigned inventory numbers and titles, wired the backs for hanging, and started painting.

Cover that canvas

Take a break for drying

These will turn out just fine. Most paintings do. If not, I will just add more layers or turn them into Sequoia tree oil paintings. It’s just the business of art.

Sold in August, September, and October

Sequoia, citrus, Mineral King. . . all the usual subjects one would expect from an artist in Tulare County. However, I have heard Morro Bay referred to as “Visalia West”, so maybe the beach scene is Tulare Countyish. (I wish). The pomegranate is colored pencil, something I haven’t tried or sold in many years.

I try to show this in sizes that are proportionately relative to one another here; closies count.

Just because, here are links to previous posts of Sold art.

Sold in Summer

Sold in April and May

Sold in February and March

Painting in Order to Sell

Farewell at Dusk, 10×30″, oil on wrapped canvas, $500

There is an ongoing topic among artists about whether or not it is right to paint in order to sell. In general, the two schools of thought are:

  1. Do Your Own Thing And Express Yourself And If Nothing Sells At Least You Haven’t Sold Your Soul
  2. You Are In Business So You Had Best Please The Customers And Be Grateful They Like Your Work Enough To Part With Their Hard-Earned Dollars

It is clear that I belong in School #2.

Paint it out

Sometimes I paint something because I love it, and then I have to paint it out because no one in the local market of buyers agrees. The recent conversion of a river scene to sequoia trees is a prime example.

Paint it again

Sometimes I paint something that sells, so I paint it again and it sells again, and so on and so forth. Here is a recent example of that situation. Six times? Seven? I lost count. Because it was so popular, I painted the most recent version in hopes of selling it at the Silver City Store this summer. (Nope. . . is it waiting for you?)

Sawtooth Near Sunnypoint IX, 12×24″, oil on wrapped canvas, $550

Paint what I love

And the best of all is when I paint something just because I want to, and then it sells. But sometimes that feels disappointing because I wanted to keep it. (So what’s the problem? Just paint it again!)

Paint it better

Sometimes I paint something, it doesn’t sell, and then I have to figure out why not. I did that with this painting of redwood and dogwood, and it sold very quickly after the do-over. (I was tempted to name it Red Dog but knew that was a loser from a marketing standpoint.)

The challenge with every scene, but particularly those I’ve painted many times is to make it the absolute best I can every time. No auto-pilot, no “phoning it in”, no sleep-painting. Focus, focus, focus. 

As I often tell Nancy of Kaweah Arts, “I came here to earn a living, and I’d rather repaint a scene that bores me than be a waitress.” 

The best way to not be bored while repainting a popular scene is to continually challenge myself to find a way to make it the best I can. Because. . .

I use pencil, oil paint, and murals to make art that people can understand of places and things they (not me) love, for prices that won’t scare them (but allow me to continue eating).

Facelift, Figuratively Speaking.

The heat backed off a little and two places that sell my work requested more. 

I started with the river painting do-over. It sat on an easel with its buddy non-selling river painting. . .and got a facelift. . .…but we will wait until the bruising subsides and the stitches get removed.

I mean we will wait until it is dry enough to be scanned before doing an actual comparison.

And a Final List in a Week of Lists

List Lady, that’s me. They help me think and prioritize. (I like charts too… doesn’t everyone?)

This list is all the things that I can do instead of making lists when this very busy week is in my rearview mirror (figuratively speaking).

  1. Fix the oil painting of the North Fork of the Kaweah River with Blossom Peak(s) in the distance.
  2. Paint a new oil painting of pumpkins, titled “Unspiced #2” as a replacement for the painting “Unspiced” which I feel confident will sell. (Yeah, yeah, I know, I told you this already.)
  3. Paint out another river picture that has been hanging around too long. I believe this one is still here because very few of the visitors to Three Rivers and Kaweah Arts recognize this view of the river. (It’s not because the boulders sort of resemble potatoes, but thank you for your thoughtful input.) I plan to use the canvas for another Sequoia tree painting, because that is what the bulk of the passers-through our area want to see.
  4. Paint a few more Sequoia trees for Kaweah Arts.
  5. Design and bid 2 more murals, this time for a new building in Visalia called The Loft or The Artist Loft or Loft for Artists. (Notice how the word “loft” ceases to sound correct after a bit of repetition?) That bid proposal has a deadline of December 11, but I have a few very strong ideas and have to figure out if I need to paint the scenes to scale for my submissions or if I should use existing paintings that are somewhat proportionally correct.
  6. Relearn how to write blog posts without resorting to lazy listicles.

Waiting. . . and Making Lists

Today is a peek into the life of a professional artist. A working artist. A self-employed artist. A rogue, solo, maverick artist. Something.

So many jobs on hold. Time for a listicle:

  1. Finished a commissioned drawing but the customer isn’t ready for it.
  2. Framed a drawing requested by a business to use in a display, but the proprietor hasn’t told me when she’ll be there to receive it.*
  3. Been chosen to supply art for a new office building but the Committee hasn’t made its decisions yet.
  4. Been asked to paint a mural but the Asker hasn’t returned my calls.
  5. Sketched a few ideas for that mural but since the Asker hasn’t told me the budget, I don’t know how big to make the mural.
  6. Designed and bid 3 murals for a large project and waiting to hear if my ideas and prices are acceptable.
  7. Ready to paint a replacement in anticipation of selling something from Falling into Winter at Exeter’s Art Gallery and Museum (formerly known as The Courthouse Gallery). I’m certain this one will sell. (6×12″, Unspiced, $125)

*UPDATE: THE DRAWING OF THE GATEWAY BRIDGE IS NOW ON DISPLAY AT THE THREE RIVERS HISTORICAL MUSEUM.

Projects Pending in a Lazy Listicle

If you can’t see the photos, go here: cabinart.net/blog.

Today’s post of pending projects comes in the form of a Lazy List. This is because A. Many details are unknown; therefore B. Details cannot be revealed yet, and C. I am busy!

  1. A cabin sign (this has been pending for awhile because I was gone and it is too hot to paint and several other excuses which no one wants to hear)
  2. Drawing lessons resume September 6
  3. A mural on a bathroom at a county park
  4. Some drawings for a new county building
  5. A mural on a county library
  6. A group show at Exeter’s Courthouse Gallery and Museum titled Falling into Winter means I need to round up some appropriate pieces

Quick, I need to find a photo to reward you for completing this list.

I agree with this sheep about today’s blog in terms of excitement.

What a rude set of photos. Kittens make everything better, and they keep their tongues in their mouths too.

After tomorrow’s monthly Learned List, I will be quiet for about a week. Let not your hearts be troubled.