Making a Cabin Scene

Happy Birthday, Shirley!!

Making a cabin scene is different from just making a scene.

A cabin owner requested a painting of her cabin as a gift for her husband. (He only looks at the blog when it is about Mineral King AND she forwards the link to him, so I’m not ruining any surprises here.) She wants it to include a view that normally doesn’t show with the cabin, and requested a square format.

Because this is a little difficult, all this mind-reading, designing, and putting together things that aren’t normally together, I didn’t make a scene but began with sketches.

If you recognize this cabin, SHHHHH, IT IS A SURPRISE!!

She asked for square, so I showed her two squares plus a 6×18″  and this cabin painting; she agreed with me about this size and shape working well for her idea.

I thought I was out of this size of canvas, so I ordered some more. After they arrived and I was putting them away, I saw that I already had some that size. Someone around here could use an assistant, or perhaps a better administrator. Oh well. . . they won’t go to waste.

Will this fit?
Yeppers, it fits, so get some paint on this canvas!

They all start ugly. No need to be afraid for me or the painting or the customer or the husband. No one will need to make a scene. (But wait! Is this creative??)

Starting with what I know, I put paint on Farewell Gap in the distance.
The trees are next. They are just a mass of greens with some variation in the values (ArtSpeak for lights and darks).

A risk of this sort of photo-combining is that the 2 photos might have the light coming from 2 different sources. Would the customer or the viewer notice? I might be able to cheat, but it might bug me forever. So I began reworking the color on the mountains, because it is easier than figuring out how the cabin shadows could be reversed. I pushed more paint around until my fingers got cold and my efforts felt ineffective. This is far enough for now.

Realizing the problem of conflicting light sources almost caused me to make a scene, but that would have only served to upset Tucker and Scout.

Grapes, Again

Is watching grapes get painted about the same as watching paint dry on a fence?

Don’t answer that!

Outlining the grapes first seemed like the right approach.
I wanted to start filling them in before the outlines were finished, but restrained myself.
Sometimes it is easier to support my hand in a different position. Besides, to draw a circle, it is best to be on the inside of the circle.
I filled them in from top to bottom, and for the most part, I just ignored the photo. And grapes come in all sorts of shades of purple, violet, red-violet, greenish purple (gurple), so no matter what I do within those boundaries, it will be believable.
And kept rotating the canvas as I went.

When this is dryer, I will add brighter sunshine on the edges of some of the grapes. That contrast is what made me go for my camera when I saw these grapes.

And now it is dryer, and I am finished! Looks better right side up, yes?

Remember to contact me if you bought a 2019 calendar in person – if you bought it through the website, I have your info already.

Growing Some Grapes

A dear friend bought some little fruit paintings for her dining room a couple of years ago.

She decided that another painting would look good on the other side of the window. I agreed.

We discussed the options, and she thought grapes would be good there. I told her that grapes are crazy hard, so we discussed another option, maybe a collage, but the design process made grapes sound pretty good. She and I have been friends since about 5th grade, and I am willing to do crazy hard for her. Crazy hard in painting beats crazy hard in design right now. . . don’t know why, but that’s the way it is.

The pink line is just a weird thing that my computer does some times – it is not part of the painting.

 

Remember to contact me if you bought a 2019 calendar in person – if you bought it through the website, I have your info already.

Building a Store

As we last saw it.

Until I began this painting, I never noticed that the sign above the door is not centered.

Now there are chairs on the porch and geraniums in the window boxes.

And now, it is finished! Next, I’ll sign it, paint the edges, wait for it to dry, scan or photograph it, varnish it, wait for it to dry again, and then mail it.

Turned on the Swamp Cooler

What sort of stupid-sounding blog post title is that?

An honest one. I paint better when I am not overheated, and in spite of the calendar having turned to autumn, the swamp cooler in the painting workshop is still in use. I painted better this session than the last one because I was more comfortable.

Yuck, it is hot in here.
Much better, thanks, and yourself?

Several of these still need a signature. That is easier when the paint is dry.

 

In Progress, Pencil and Oil

It was still hot last week. I painted awhile in the workshop but didn’t turn on the swamp cooler. Probably should have. Painted slowly, quit early.

Layering the background.
More layers on the store and foreground.
The camellia is coming along nicely, and when this layer is dry, I’ll add the tiny details.

The lemons might be finished.

I retreated to the studio and turned on the air conditioner. While listening to interviews with the very smart and entertaining Mike Rowe, I began this pencil commission.

I love to draw.

Drawing #1 of the Silver City gas pump is now under way.

Another Oil Commission Begun

A friend of Trail Guy’s family has been in touch with me via email, and we have been enjoying our correspondence. She recently decided to commission me for an oil painting and 2 pencil drawings, all related to the Silver City Store*. After a great deal of communicating, sending photos, clarifying, and just discussing things, it was time to begin.

First, the oil painting. The oldest photo we could find was from 1985. It is later than her time there, but certainly closer in appearance than how it looks today.

Good thing that she knows I can paint, because the beginning always looks very rough. This will take many layers because of the vast amount of detail.

*The Silver City Store is 4 miles below the Mineral King valley. People stay in nice chalets, smaller store cabins, or in private cabins, and they stop there for burgers, pie and (we hope) for oil paintings.

New Beginning

Isn’t that title redundant? Probably. Every time I begin, it is on a new project.

A thoughtful mom bought a painting of an iris for her daughter named Iris.

She has another daughter named Camille and requested a camellia for her. Luckily, I have a good photo of a camellia in bloom, remembered the month it blooms, and only had to look through the February photos of 10 years to find it. Maybe it is even more lucky that Customer Mom liked the color and lighting and angle!

This will dry and then I’ll be able to detail it, my favorite part.

Pushing Through For Good Customers

Recently, I’ve focused on my weaknesses in drawing and painting. If I can’t see it, it might not be possible for me to draw or paint the thing. But, if I push through and have help and take lots of time, sometimes I can succeed.

If these weren’t commissioned pieces with a paycheck at the end, I would have given up. Much of what I choose to do is speculative work – will it sell? Will anyone care?

But, both of the recent ultra difficult pieces are not speculation art. There were real customers with an idea of what they wanted, and they counted on me to figure out how to do the job. They each gave me as much time as I required, trusting my ideas and judgement.

These are good friends and good customers; knowing my limitations, I wanted to please them in spite of the difficulties.

If I was more business oriented, there would probably be a contract, a down payment, and the contract would talk about things like “Change Orders” and “Photo Availability”.

I showed you the completed Mineral King Pack Station last week (and since learned that the white horse’s eye is too high, but too late, it is at the framer now).

Today, have a look at the completed Homer’s Nose with the Oak Grove Bridge.

The customer is very happy and so am I!

About the truck on the bridge: the customer’s husband was heading down the hill, while a friend was coming up the hill. When the friend arrived, Mrs. Customer asked the friend if she had seen her husband on the road. The friend said she hadn’t. Later, the friend shared the photo she had taken of the bridge on the way up, and Lo-And-Behold, she had photographed Mrs. Customer’s husband’s pickup-truck on the bridge without knowing it!!

P.S. What is “lo and behold”? I think it means “oh my stars!”. . . My neighbor, who died at age 94, was very fond of that expression, and I think of him every time I hear it.

My Favorite Bridge in Oil Paint, Chapter 7

After doing the 10×10″ oil painting Oak Grove Bridge XXIV, I felt ready to return to the commissioned oil painting that combines the Oak Grove Bridge with Homer’s Nose (AKA Snozz Rock).

It was engrossing work. There were more design changes to be made, and I was eager to see if they made it more appealing, both in the execution and in the viewing. 

At 11:45 a.m. I added some leaves in the upper sky region and began repainting Homer’s Nose in more carefully mixed colors. I also changed the line of the foliage in the center section because it was too straight across the top and needed to blend more gradually in the the distant rocky area. (Wow, this is so hard to put into words – you’d understand it better if you could see me waving my hands around and pointing.)
At 1:13 I remembered to stop for another photo. Homer’s Nose is looking more detailed and more correct in its colorations.
In the 2:11 photo you can see tighter detail in the rocky places to the right of Snozz Rock.
At 2:48, I grabbed my camera again. Why?
At 4:46 I took the final photo of the day because the background greenery was looking good, the bridge got new detail, the beginning of a truck, more colors and tighter shapes, and now the water is taking shape.

There is still much work ahead, but now I feel capable, thanks to my little guide buddy, Oak Grove Bridge XXIV.

P.S. Tonight is a public information meeting about the bridge’s future at the Three Rivers Veterans Memorial Building at 6 p.m. The plan is to “rehabilitate the bridge” to “correct seismic and structural deficiencies”. Maybe They will explain how, or more importantly, when and how long.