You’ve seen most of these photos before. I am showing them again so you can see them all on the same page in order of progression on this painting. Besides, it will help me to see them all together because then I will know I have actually accomplished something.
A few more details (including the flag and porch railing), painting the edges, signing, and then maybe this will be finished.
Before sending the photo to my friend/customer of the oil painting of her grandparents’ house, I studied it on the computer screen, comparing it to the photo.
The mistakes in perspective and proportion just knocked me sideways.
Some were fixable, some are not. Back on the easel it went with the main problem being the bay window.
My friend didn’t notice any trouble there but asked that window on the balcony to be turned into a sliding screen door, and for some grass to be planted in front of the porch.
After I did those things, I noticed another problem with the balcony and changed the proportions there.
It needs to dry, and I need to figure out when to say when.
And chances are that if you read this far, you are probably yawning and wondering what all the jibber-jabber is about. My friend is very patient, doesn’t understand all my pickiness, and is happy with the painting, now in her possession.
Meanwhile, I will keep working to. . .
(Although sometimes the process scares me.)
First, the sky, then the roof, and next, the details that I can see.
Greenery helps. 
I’ll keep working at the details that I can see, then move to the parts that I have to make up, and finally, I’ll ask my Customer/Friend to help me understand the parts that she remembers.
Then, I’ll tighten up the details and correct the color and who knows? Whatever it takes to make it look the best I can make it. I can do this! (Like the Little Engine That Could – “I think I can, I think I can. . .”)
Ran out of daylight to paint during the last session. Hence, the darker photo.
Because I can’t start painting on the mural until afternoon, I can work on a new custom oil painting in the morning.
This is for a friend of mine. This house belonged to her grandparents, and she doesn’t have many photos other than the ones taken after the house changed owners. So, I am working from mediocre photos and verbal instructions from my friend/customer. Tain’t easy, but we can do this.
Not me. I’m never moving again, being deeply traumatized by leaving Lemon Cove and moving 14 miles east to Three Rivers almost 22 years ago.
A friend of a friend is leaving California. My friend would like to give her friend a little something as a token of our native state. Her idea was perfect – a 2×2″ painting of a poppy, the state flower.
Back when I thought I was ordering a dozen 2×2″ canvases to give them a try, I ordered a dozen packages of 10 each. It has taken awhile, but they are now all used up.
I was relieved to find a poinsettia which could be converted to a poppy.
It needs to dry, then it can sit on a cute little easel for the friend of a friend who is leaving California.
I think she deserves a medal of bravery for making such a huge change.
Nothing here is completed, just inching along, a few hours on one project, move on to the next, and finish up each day with some drawing time in the air-conditioned studio as opposed to the swamp-cooled painting workshop.
Baby steps.
Reminder: “commission” is Art Speak for a custom piece of art. Here are two in progress:
No matter how often I paint the Oak Grove Bridge, it challenges my ability to draw with a paintbrush. Drawing with a paintbrush is something that is sneered at in the Art World, but I am hard-pressed to imagine how one of those loosey-goosey painters would handle this subject.
I sent this photo to my customer, and he declared me to be finished. He was actually nicer than that – he said, “As I said before, you are the best!” Aw shucks, thank you, DB. You are a dream customer.
The giant circle continues to develop. The surface of smooth plywood with several base coats of paint is different than canvas and will take multiple layers to cover. That’s fine, because I can get tighter and better with each layer. This is my preferred method of painting, fix, fix, fix some more, and fix again, called “glazing” in Art Speak. That is how I painted the bridge commission.
My customer the citrus grower asked if the trees would be darker, because I sent a photo taken earlier than this one. Then I took this photo, and because the paint is wet here, it is reflective so it still looks pale. I kept painting, and then sent this photo:
I love this subject matter just as much as the Oak Grove Bridge and am quite happy about getting to spend many hours making it look as good as possible.
I stopped by the Silver City Store to check my paintings and encountered an old friend on the deck. He said how much he liked my bridge painting in the store. 
I went inside to do inventory and couldn’t find the bridge, so came back out and asked, “Did you say you ‘like’ the bridge or that you ‘bought’ it?”
He said that he “liked” it, and I told him it had sold. He was disappointed, so I offered to paint it again for him, and he said yes.
Wow. If only every sale was that easy. I went home and immediately began painting, because the Oak Grove Bridge is my favorite subject. (If you have been following this blog for awhile, then you already knew that. If you would like to see more, put “Oak Grove Bridge” in the search bar of the blog and it will give you a stack of old posts to read or to just look at photos, paintings and drawings of the bridge.)
Ooh. As soon as I saw the bottom photo here, I saw some things to correct on the painting.
The green looks a bit uneven because it is wet. Those tiny white letters were challenging, nay, CHALLENGING!
The two sided A-frame mural (sign? what is this thing?) needed a few touch-ups.
In case you are wondering, yes, I can name all the flowers. They are all foothill flowers, not in my wildflower book Wildflowers of Mineral King: Common Names.
Other than getting the quail as close to reality as possible, this side was just lots of scribbling in brownish yellows and yellowish browns.
Back to the coat of arms painting, an odd job of an oil painting commission.
I mixed and applied the correct green, along with a strong purple for the bottom ribbon. (It will need some detailing).
Then I mixed and applied a more golden yellow and a stronger blue.
The edges are a little weak, but the entire piece will get black outlines. This is a simple painting, but there is very little forgiveness with strong colors each abutting other strong clean colors. It requires a lot of drying time in between layers.