He Liked It!

The Commissioner and Mrs. Commissioner were very happy with their commissioned oil painting of the Kaweah Blacksmith Shop.

This little building used to be up the North Fork of the Kaweah where the Kaweah Colony was. The flood of 1997 took it away, and in recent years, The Commissioner and his wife bought the property and began learning about it. 

He liked this one too. This pencil and colored pencil drawing has a story to it, several stories, really.

I drew this from some photos taken at a friend’s farm yard north of Sacramento. The tires were taller than I am, and my friend said it is quite A Thing when one needs to be changed.

The piece in the Madera Ag Art Show got 1st place in Equipment and Machinery, but it didn’t sell. I showed it around for awhile and finally just put it in my studio. Classic example of what I like not resonating with the general public. . . sigh.

When I was scrolling through old emails looking for Mrs. Commissioner’s name because I forgot it (rude), I found an email from 2007 mentioning the fact that The Commissioner might be interested in this piece. There was no way I was going to call a stranger to ask if he wanted to buy a drawing, even a 1st place one. Not happening!

He is no longer a stranger, he remembered the woman who suggested that I show this to him (she died in a skydiving accident, so you can see what a memorable person she was), and he has very good reason to want this drawing.

That reason will remain a secret, because I am not in the habit of revealing personal information about my customers. I may be rude enough to forget important people’s names, but I have my limits on rudeness.

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”.) 

Kaweah Colony Blacksmith Shop

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.

Two Oil Painting Commissions

When there is work to be done, I’d rather get it done than postpone it. Someone has described people like me as “precrastinators” rather than procrastinators.

Commission #1 – Kaweah Colony blacksmith shop

This mess on canvas is becoming the Kaweah Colony’s blacksmith shop. The background doesn’t show in the photo, so I went to the site where it used to be until the flood of 1997 took it out.  The camera battery was dead, so I drew the shape of the background hill on tissue paper laid over the photo.

img_4979The customer requested autumn coloring. I’ll figure it out. . . layer by layer.
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Commission #2 – Oak Grove Bridge

Some folks bought this painting of the Oak Grove Bridge as a gift. #1576 Oak Grove Bridge XVI

They decided they want one for themselves, so I am painting another one. This is the painting on the cover of the sold out 2017 calendar. I saved one for myself, something I haven’t always done in the past. Good thing, because it is helping me, along with the photo, of course.

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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. . .

Painting on a Bungee Cord

 

No, my painting isn’t suspended from a bridge. It just returned to me for a minor detail.

back again

Mrs. Customer asked if I would put the tiny white lines in the windows because her husband wanted them there. I sighed, and said, “I was hoping you wouldn’t notice!” Then I told her to smack her husband with the back of her hand for me. After that, I added the little lines.

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I like happy customers, and didn’t mind at all once it stopped being 108 degrees out. The swamp cooler in the painting workshop can’t cope with that sort of temperature.

Neither can I.

P.S. I may have added a few more details, brightened up a rock or two, straightened an edge, added a blade of grass. . . 

 

 

More Paintings in Place

“Painting” singular, in place, is more accurate. Yesterday I showed you paintings hanging in friends’ homes, friends who collect my art specifically, or collect the art of local artists in general. Some buy it because they love my work and then they become friends, some buy it because they love me.

It’s nice to be loved, and it is nice to have my work loved.

Now, the reason for today’s post:

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After: IMG_2856

Beautiful room, pretty cool painting!IMG_2858

There was a photo of me standing on the hearth next to the painting, but I looked fat, wrinkled, and slightly overwrought. So, we’ll settle for the painting in place.

This is the commissioned oil painting of a Three Rivers home. It was privilege to be chosen to paint this. It was a little bit too hard for me, but it is good to be challenged and to push through the difficulties. The homeowners were a delight to work with.

Thank you, C & S!!

Three Rivers House Commission, Finished?

Is the oil painting commission of a Three Rivers house finished yet?

These are some close photos of detail that I added to the painting.

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Step back a bit for the whole view, including the beginning of sycamore leaves. “The beginning” meaning the start of the leafing out of the tree. When all these other things are in bloom, the sycamore is barely showing. That’s why we can peek through its branches and see poppies on the hillsides.

IMG_2803Now I have turned it on its side so I can paint both the bottom and the top of the canvas.

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Am I finished with this painting? Is the painting finished with me?

Time will tell. . . that’s how my dad used to say it. I like “more will be revealed in the fullness of time”.

And if I am finished, then it needs a signature, a really good official photo, and a coat of spray varnish.