On Wednesday, I left you with this cliff hanger of a picture:
This is the next view:
And this is how it looked when it was getting a little too dark to see out in the painting workshop.
Now it is time to show the customer before I do any more detail work. That large tree on the right needs more work, and I’m a little fuzzy about the foreground. The photos don’t offer much help. I also want to add lines to indicate shingles on the roof.
More will be revealed in the fullness of time. . .
This is how it looked the last time we discussed the back country cabin in Kings Canyon National Park.
“We discussed”? Who is this we? Um, well, me. I thought it looked sort of fakey with just 2 thunderheads.
No worries. The sky dried enough that I could add more. And notice the added detail to the face of the cabin. This is so fun to paint!
See the corner detail? Log cabins have very busy and intricate corners. This little part took a long time to figure out what I was seeing, and how to make the light be correct. In the photos, there are people in the way and they cast shadows. I have to figure out which shadows are from them, and then eliminate those shadows, along with figuring out what should be showing behind the people.
That’s why I get paid the big bucks.
Hahaha, heheheh. . . hooey, that was a good one! 😎
The sky isn’t dry yet, so I went to work on the trees and began on the cabin. Couldn’t wait –Â I am “cabinart”, after all!
These details are going to be FUN!
As a studio painter, I work from photos. There is a ton of pressure out there in ArtWorld to paint plein air, which might be French for “on location”. There is a ton of embarrassment out there in ArtWorld about painting from photos, because it usually garners a lot of derision and sneering and condescension.
One of my painting mentors (virtual – we have corresponded but never met) Jack White has said, “All realistic painters either work from photos or they lie about it.”
I try to NEVER lie. You can count on finding the truth here, although I do minimize the ugliness as much as possible. This blog is supposed to be fun, informative and entertaining, not edgy, rude or shocking.
Now, let’s move on to the point of this post, which is to discuss the difficulties of a commissioned oil painting of a place I love here in Three Rivers.
I did a commissioned oil painting for my amazing friend Barbara. It was a composite of several photos – her house, all the lavender in bloom, and hills behind. There is no place to stand to see this actual view, so I worked from several photos.
 Being the generous and thoughtful person that she is, Barbara gave away this painting. Then she asked me for another just like it.
Instead of looking at my computer screen and attempting to copy this painting, I pulled out my photos again. This is because I don’t think the computer reproduction is very accurate, and because I like to work from the original source. And, I hope I paint better now so will be able to do an improved version of this. (Ever hopeful, always wanting to improve, ever optimistic, this California artist!)
Either I’ve lost some of my photos, or I’ve lost my ability to paint from them or I’m losing my mind.
This is one of the hardest things I’ve attempted in awhile! I’ve been messing around with the proportions, studying the photos, staring at the painting, looking at the version on the computer, and not making any progress.
Why is this so hard?? What is my problem??
Finally, after wasting an inordinate amount of time just staring and thinking, I decided to go outside and look at the actual hills.
I took my camera for a walk so I could fully see the end of the house that we want in this painting. I need to see the proportions of the windows to the shutters to the wall space on either end and in the middle.Â
Nothing is solved, but now I have even more pictures to study.
Commissions are an important component of earning a living with art. Some artists love them, some do them while figuratively holding their noses, and some artists flat out refuse. I fall somewhere between the first 2 types of artists, because it depends on both the idea and the customer.
While I worked with Lisa on her commissioned oil painting of the Lake House last fall, I did some thinking about commissions. It is so tricky to work long distance, using photos, email and an occasional phone call. Words mean things, and relying on words to explain an unseen thing is tricky.
Three Rivers commissioned oil painting
There are several elements at work in this type of art-making endeavor:
The Ideas: Those who know what they want, and those who are not sure, and those who keep editing.
The Customers: Those who can communicate and those who cannot.
Hmmm, that makes 3 x 2 = 6 possible commission customers
1. Knows what she wants and can explain it – The easiest!
2. Not sure what she wants but can explain as she figures it out. . . keep talking, because eventually we will arrive. (Hi Lisa! We did it!!)
3. Keeps editing and can explain each new idea – keep talking, but my prices are really too low for this type of continual editing and changing. Construction companies call these “Change Orders” which means they charge each time a customer orders a change.
4. Knows and cannot communicate – yikes.
5. Isn’t sure and cannot communicate –Â Sorry, Toots, I am unable to be of any assistance here.
6. Doesn’t have an idea and cannot communicate – Fuhgeddaboutit.
It all comes down to communication.
The painting above was painted for a customer in the #1 category, except that she isn’t far away. She wants another just like it. That will be fun, and I will add the personal challenge of just like it only better.
P.S. I see it is time to update my commissioned oil painting page because I have put commissioned paintings on the sold page instead of where they belong! Where are My People? I need People for this stuff!
Two of these have been shipped and one has been retrieved in person.
PHEW!! Â We did it, Lisa!!
Lisa’s Lake House is completed – signed, varnished, photographed and titled correctly as “Hjartebo”.
Now it sits in the painting workshop so I can follow it while working on the duplicate paintings for Lisa’s sisters. You’d think I’d have this completely memorized, but my visual memory is not quite that developed. I could work from the photos of the painting, but the color matching would be off.
Hang on, Lisa, I’m painting as fast as the weather, the light, drawing lessons, developing a 2014 calendar and The Cabins of Wilsonia will allow!
Yesterday I said I’d tell you what is happening with all the duplication and triplication and multiplication of Lisa’s Lake House (which has now been titled “Hjartebo”, but there are 2 dots over the a and I can’t find the key for that on the computer. It means “place of love” in Swedish. Remember, this is in Minnesota.)Â
Lisa has two sisters! That’s what’s going on here. I started the 16×12 for one sister (it will be surprise but she doesn’t know about me, so it’s cool, no worries). Then the other sister requested a 20×16. Since the decisions have all been made, this shouldn’t be as painstaking.
I don’t mean I will be sloppy. It is just that I will be able to get things right the first time.
Am I finished?? I am not finished until I sign, and I don’t sign until the customer is happy. Is Lisa happy? More will be revealed. . .
I am happy. I am really happy! Â The hollyhocks and day lilies took out the Big Red Square feel of the painting, softened the edges, and livened it up. Lisa requested the chimney in spite of the fact that it does not show from this angle. That’s fine – I am her hired paintbrush, her humble servant. We also figured out how to put in the sailboat, once we figured out where the horizon line really belonged. Would you believe this lake is 3-1/2 miles wide?? That boat is waaaay out there!
Are you wondering what is going on with all this multiplication? Duplication? Triplication??
Tell you tomorrow!
And finally, it is beginning to look detailed! There will be an extended drying session, because the shadows on the house are all wet. The next step is hollyhocks, lilies and geraniums, and they will go over the house, so it cannot be wet when I add those.
In addition to seeing Lisa’s Lake House, you can see I have several unfinished paintings and that I have painted the trim in the workshop a lovely teal. What you can’t see is that I poured teal paint on the floor while moving those telephone wires around. I think teal and brown are a beautiful combination, so the spots on the floor look okay to me. It’s a workshop, not a living room! (although sometimes it feels as if I live there. . .)
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? I just turned my back for a sec, and look what happened on the easels! I think I’ll go lie down for a bit, maybe take an aspirin or find some chocolate.