Dogs!

I have no intention of becoming a kitty–puppy artist. However, when I receive commissions to draw cats or dogs, if the photos are decent and I have the time, I usually say yes to those jobs.

This one began with sketches, as most commissioned pencil drawings do.

Ernst Dogs

Not quite it. More sketches requested.

Dogs B & C

Mr. Customer chose C. Now we’re cooking with gas!

dogs

The printed photos weren’t detailed enough so I also worked from the laptop screen.

Dogs Done

Mr. Customer changed mind about toy in front of dachshund. Back to the drawing board.

toyless dogs

And thus we have 3 dogs all together, being quiet and well-behaved. Mr. Customer informed me that this NEVER happens. That explains why he sent me so many separate photos.

If you recognize these dogs, SHHHHHH. It’s a Christmas present surprise.

Cat Commission Collage

A customer has asked me to draw 2 cats, each one as a kitten and as an adult cat.

Have I ever mentioned that I might maybe perhaps just may have a teensy bit of a Cat Disorder? Ahem. Probably not. But still. . . 

The customer sent me the photographs of his cats, and I worked out some sketches for him to choose from.

Cats sketch
Sketches of cats for pencil drawing commission

He said I was making it hard on him, but eventually decided that C was the best choice.

Of course “C” is the right choice for a Cats Collage Commission.

So, it was with great pleasure that I began this drawing. I will try to get it finished in a timely manner instead of spending endless amounts of time on it, dragging it out because I do love cats.

But I’m fine. No disorders here, nosiree Bob.

Cats 1
Commissioned pencil drawing of cats

Cabin Commission Completed

That would be “commissioned pencil drawing of a Wilsonia cabin completed”, but that title was stupid-long.

This drawing is 12×16″, and chock full of details. (What does “chock full” mean??)

It has been a couple of weeks since you saw the progression, so let’s review.

First, the sketches so the customer could choose the angle. Then, some revisions, which don’t appear in these sketches.

2 other sketches

Next, I began the drawing, working from top to bottom and left to right. That is because I am right-handed, and don’t want to drag my hand across the piece as I’m working it. If I have to revisit an area on the left, I rest my hand on a piece of paper to protect the other parts from smearing.

cabin drawing

The customers wanted their water wheel added, which didn’t show in the sketch. It was tiny, but it is there!

pencil drawing of cabin

I spent a week on this, refining, darkening, figuring out what was in the shadows, sharpening up edges so the cabin would pop out from the background, experimenting with ways to make the forest look better than just scribbles. You’d think I’d have that figured out after drawing the entire book The Cabins of Wilsonia, but it never comes easy.

And at the end of a  week of very concentrated drawing, here is the final result.

Jungwirth

The customers were very happy, and that is always my goal, so I am very happy too.

Happy, happy, happy.

Cabin Commission Continued

Thank you, Veterans. You probably didn’t want to go, probably didn’t like being there, maybe questioned why, but you did it so we didn’t have to. Thank you! (including, especially, Cousin Bruce)

I would have said “Wilsonia Cabin Commission”, but I liked 3 Cs in a row in the title.

pencil drawing of cabin

When you compare this to yesterday’s work, you can see that it is inching forward to the right. You can also see that some of the shadows have been darkened. If you are really focused, you might detect that some of the edges are sharper and see that there is more detail on individual rocks and more pencil on the ground.

The right edge of this image is dark and fuzzy because this drawing is 12×16 and doesn’t fit very well on the scanner. Inquiring minds need to know these things.

 

Pencil Commission of Wilsonia Cabin

For over a year, a pencil commission of a Wilsonia cabin has been waiting for decisions to be made by the cabin owners. I too have been waiting. And waiting and waiting and waiting.

2 other sketches

We finally got together in person and discussed some details. They chose a view, chose a size, and paid a deposit.

I got a little ahead of myself in this commission. Normally the customer decides the size, pays 1/2 down, and then I take the photos and do the sketches. For several reasons, I didn’t do this one in the right order, which made me nervous. In the past, when the steps get out of sequence, I usually do a bunch of work for free. Then, the customer just flakes away, because he has no monetary commitment, or as in today’s vernacular, “no skin in the game”.

Not these folks. I persisted, we finally connected, and now this drawing is in progress!

cabin drawing

Lots of fuzzy background trees – my hope is to add interest (and distract from all the vagueness) by adding that closer branch.

Lots and lots of little details too. I was relieved they didn’t want all the signs, the 2 bridges, the bird house, the bird bath, the wind chimes, the plaque, etc. The water wheel and wishing well were fiddly enough.

As a right-hander, I work from top to bottom, left to right. This minimizes the smearing from my hand dragging across the piece as I draw.

 

 

Drawing a Cabin

My business is called “Cabinart” because when I began, I lived in a cabin and I drew people’s cabins.

I still live in a cabin part time and I still draw cabins. When someone pays me to draw a specific cabin, that is a commission.

A friend asked me to draw a cabin that he borrows as a gift for the owner. I asked for specifics, and he said, “Do the voodoo that only you do so well”, or something equally unusual. He is an unusual person – no one like him in the world, and I think he is a treasure.

Sorry. Distracted by thoughts of my funny clever friend.

I drew it.

friend's cabin 1

Not enough pizazz. Let’s add some color.

friend's cabin 2

Still not quite good enough.

friend's cabin 3

Nice. Commissioned pencil drawing of a cabin.

Weird Little Contest Entries

Small sequoias Small pinecone Small cabin

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each of these drawings are 2-1/4″ x 3-1/4″, drawn directly on the entry form called “Blank Canvas” for the magazine “Professional Artist”.

The 2 colored pictures are colored pencil. It hurts my wrist to use colored pencil over an extended period of time, but these went quickly.

And I love to draw in pencil. Pine cones are one of the hardest, most confusing subjects to draw because of all the repeating shapes, both in the dark spaces and the light places.

This was fun. If any of my pieces are chosen, they will be published in the magazine.

These subjects are definitely all part of a Central California artist’s life.

Yes, I know it is a good ploy by the magazine to acquire new subscribers. So?

It was fun!

 

Sketchy Decisions

So many pencil drawing commissions are awaiting decisions. I’ve sent sketches and more sketches. Can’t start drawing until I know what the customer/commissioner wants!

2 other sketches 1 cabin2 sketches 3 other sketches 3 sketches

Sketches, called “thumbnails” or “thumbnail sketches” were required in most of the assignments in art classes, both in high school and college (I went to 4 different colleges – a full-fledged Transfer Student) More often than not, I had one good idea, and the rest of the sketches were just a waste of time, mindlessly fulfilling the assignment. The reason for the sketches was never clearly articulated – just do it because the teacher said to do it.  (As a Questioner, I despise that sort of “teaching”.)

Now that I am a professional artist, I know that customers need to see things sketched out because photos don’t do the trick. People also like choices, but not too many.

Too bad the “teachers” didn’t teach us how to guide a customer to a decision. My cynical mind says this is because those “teachers” never had any customers. They only had teachers, giving them time-filling assignments.

COME ON, PEOPLE, DECIDE, PLEASE? Please? pleeeeeeese? I really want to start drawing!

Challenging Pencil Commission, Finished!

I made the changes suggested by Cowboy Bert’s wife. She is very aware of what a mule looks like from all angles, and very observant of details. (As a retired law enforcement Captain, she sometimes refers to herself as a “trained observer”.)

Here it is:

The customer requested color, in a hand-tinted old photo sort of manner. This is how it looks:

The customer requested more color. I’m on my way out to the studio to work on that. . . or “back to the drawing board”.

Ahem. Perhaps I underbid this job slightly.

P.S. Did you figure out that this is Mineral King?

Working Through a Challenging Pencil Commission

There I was, faced with the necessity to draw the north end of a mule headed south, and no reference material!

What’s a Central California artist to do?

Call in Cowboy Bert, of course.

That would be Cowboy Bert, Equine Photographer, who graciously set up one of his mules and positioned him for numerous photos. I was able to print out 3 for reference, but because it took a couple of hours for them to load on my computer, I didn’t save the photos to show you.

Then, I commenced drawing. When I can see what I need to see and know what I am seeing, I can draw very quickly. When I am drawing the north end of a mule headed south and the photos are all just a tad bit different and various pieces of information are obscured behind a tail or in shadow. I take my time. Here are a few of the stages that the drawing went through:

Nope, not drawing anything I can’t see. Waiting for photos. . .

Okay, let’s try this thing.

Hard to see the difference from the previous one. Maybe it is time to get an expert opinion.

At this point, I emailed it to The Captain, who is the prettier partner of Cowboy Bert. She has also taken drawing lessons from me, so I knew she’d observe every detail and prevent me from exposing my ignorance of a mule’s back side.

We laid tissue paper over a printout of the drawing, and the Captain showed me what she saw while explaining it. I repeated it back to her to be sure I understood, and then wrote notes so I could fix things later. (This all happened while setting up for her father’s memorial service – shows you what a thoughtful generous person she is, and possibly what a jerk I am for asking such a thing at such a time.)

Stay tuned for the final drawing. (At the time of this post, it isn’t yet finished.)