Oranging Along

It’s my blog, I’m 58 and I can make up words if I want to. Any questions?

Oh. What does “oranging” mean?

It means painting oranges, although I was just painting greens that day. Because this commission job was for 3 oil paintings in 2 weeks, I had to plan the most efficient method of delivering mostly dry paintings. 

Day one: get the first layer down, all the canvas covered, the basic shapes and colors in place and the edges with one coat.

Day two: Perfect the background greens so that on. . .

Day three: sign on the green area after perfecting the orange area. Finally, put a second layer on the edges, which may or may not show. I don’t know what the framer has in mind and won’t get to see the final product. 

This gives the paintings a week to dry. Would have been better to know about this job sooner, both for more time to work and also for summer’s heat, which makes for quicker drying. They might be a little tacky (in the tactile sense of the word, not the quality of the job.) But, a little pressure is sometimes a good catalyst for action.

Working upside down is helpful both for seeing shapes accurately and for a more comfortable hand position. The finished painting is on the bottom, and it is my guide.
The second painting.
And here is #3. Bet you are wondering if there really are 3 plus the original. . .
Yeppers. Three orange oil paintings with the original sitting alongside on Samson’s shelf.

Speaking of Samson, he is pretty tired. He’s been working the night shift lately. 

I Draw Better Now

Over a year ago, I was at a dinner and ran into someone who had bought a colored pencil drawing of oranges from me in the early 2000s. He mentioned that it was still hanging in his office.

I said, “I draw better now; can I have it back to fix it?”

Yes, I actually said that to a satisfied customer. He was sort of shocked, but he agreed; then, a year passed and I heard nothing.

Last week, one of my drawing students came to class with the original colored pencil drawing. She exercises with the customer’s wife, and I guess the man decided to take me up on my offer.

I’ve learned more about color than I knew back in my days of colored pencil. This is probably a result of learning to oil paint. (Last week I said that growth is good unless one is a cancer cell. . .)

BEFORE: Central California Sunshine, a colored pencil drawing from 2001

AFTER: Central California Sunshine, revised in 2017

Here, let’s look at them small, so they show up on the screen at the same time (depending on your device):

The upper one looks almost finished, the lower one looks finished. The difference is probably too subtle for normal people to notice, but it matters to me.

This drawing is available as a reproduction print, 11×14, $40. One time a potential customer told me she didn’t like it because the light on the orange on the left looked like frost to her. Ever since that time, whenever someone buys a print, I add color to it. It is time consuming, and it has made me wish to get the original back so I could fix it.

THANK YOU, DENNIS AND PATTY, for a chance to redeem my reputation!

Testing a Coloring Book

Designing coloring books involves drawing, my favorite thing. Coloring the pages is for other people to do.

But, I got curious. So, I gave it a try in the ag coloring book, Heart of Agriculture: Celebrating Tulare County Farm Bureau’s First 100 years.

This is as far as I got on the title page. I filled the letters in with blues, because there is very little blue in agriculture unless you drive a New Holland Tractor. (Cats are yellow, Massey-Ferguson are red, John Deere are green: I don’t know about Kubota or Mahindra or International Harvesters.) Couldn’t decide on the cow – dairy? beef? Reddish? Black Angus?

And this is the beginning of the citrus page, one of my favorite designs in the book. I don’t know why I started at the bottom of the page. Look – more blue! It makes the yellows and oranges look brighter.

This stuff is time-consuming. I think it is probably the most fun for people who don’t draw or paint (or knit). It would be a fun group activity – a bunch of friends sharing conversation, ideas and colored pencils or markers. A bowl of M&Ms would be appropriate too. . . dark chocolate, if I’m there.

You can get the Heart of Ag coloring book at the Three Rivers Mercantile, Rosemary & Thyme or the Mural Gallery in Exeter, or on my website here. And, of course, if you see me around somewhere, I almost always have some in the trunk of my car, along with many of the other books I’ve published. (coloring books and The Cabins of Wilsonia)

Painting While I Am Waiting

While I am waiting for photographs from which to paint a commission of a house, I have to paint something.

Redbud Festival is coming, May 7-8, so I need paintings to sell. Small paintings, bright paintings: these sell well.

Sounds like fruit and poppies to me.

IMG_2659

This is 6×6″ and went fairly quickly. Now, a little citrus art. Orange oil paintings are always popular.

IMG_2660

That first poppy was fun. I’ll do another.

poppy oil painting

If 2 poppies are good, 3 poppies will be great!

IMG_2663

An orange oil painting, 3 poppy oil paintings, but no photos yet. Stay tuned. . .

Fruity

Remember seeing these commissioned oil paintings in progress?

1546 Orange 124

1547 Grapes VIII

1548 Pom 47

The customer was very happy and asked for more!

Remember these three commissioned oil paintings?

1545 Orange #123

1544 Pomegranate #46

1543 Lemon #19

This customer was also very happy and asked for more!

Here they are in their infancy.

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commissioned oil paintings

And here they are finished: detailed to the nth degree, signed, scanned, and now with varnish drying!

Peach Plum Tammie's Plum

 

As a Central California artist, I have access to wonderful fresh fruit. Every one of these was painted from photos that I took while the fruit was on the tree or of fruit that came from a friend’s packing house. 

Taste The Arts

 

Blooming Oranges #2, 8×8″, oil on wrapped canvas, $125

Taste The Arts

Saturday, October 11, 2014

11 AM – 5 PM

Downtown Visalia 

 

Taste the Arts is the name of a street fair type event in Visalia. It is very extensive, with lots of opportunities to try different methods of making art. There will be demonstrations in  spray paint, stenciling and murals, along with lots of artists exhibiting and selling their work.

Here is their link: Taste The Arts

I participated in an early version of this show about 2 years ago. The Arts Consortium is the most organized group I’ve ever had the privilege of working with, and I expect this event to be great!

Fall Shows Ahead

Last year I couldn’t do any shows in the fall because I spent the entire year drawing for The Cabins of Wilsonia (WHEN WILL IT BE HERE???)

This year I am painting again, because paintings sell best at shows. Truthfully, cards, tee shirts, and calendars sell best, but if one is an artist, one needs pure art to set the stage, provide the atmosphere, supplement and be a backdrop for the small stuff.

Here are paintings in progress:

The raven is for an upcoming show for which I lack information. The oranges are in progress.

My favorite bridge in progress on this 10×10″ canvas because I love to paint this. The rocks are always challenging, as are the arches. Each time I am sure that I am making a dog’s breakfast of the scene. Each time I persist, and then I almost break my arm patting myself vigorously on the back.

The beginnings of another Mineral King scene and some pumpkins that I have been reluctant to finish for about the past 6 years. If someone said, “I love that and want to buy it!” – that might light my fire to finally finish it.

Earning a living as an artist, particularly in a rural place like Tulare County (3rd least educated and 13th poorest county in the state) is a balancing act. It would be just grand to be able to paint anything I want and have a large population base from which to find the buyer. The reality is that I paint what people want because that is the way to please customers.

Even so, I continue to repaint my favorite bridge and oranges. Over and over and over. . .

What Else Would You Expect a California Artist to Paint?

As a Central California artist, there are certain subjects that dominate my painting life.

If you have read this blog for any amount of time, I bet you can guess.

If you are new to this blog, welcome! You don’t have to guess because I am about to show you.

These two 11x 14″ paintings, citrus (or oranges, if you prefer) and poppies (or poppies and lupine) are drying on the wall in my painting workshop. I think the poppies painting wants more foliage. I could ask it, but instead, I’ll ask you. My chances of hearing something useful are better coming from you.

The commenting process on this blog is annoying. I think if you comment, it will tell you it didn’t go through. This is because it lands in a spam folder and then I have to “moderate” the comment.

Anyone want to try?

Thanks!

Disproportionately Influenced by California Citrus

 

In conclusion, this is a California artist, disproportionately influenced (inspired, perhaps?) by citrus. Today I am probably out in an orange grove with my cousins, looking for Washington navels that may still be hanging in the center of the trees. Or perhaps we are inhaling the remaining scent of orange blossoms.