Remember, Mr. Customer chose view “C” – a Commission of Cats with Colored eyes?
Here it is, Tabby as a kitten and an adult, Sasha as a kitten and an adult.
The kitten on the lower right is perched on some sort of a figurine. I don’t know what it is, but Sasha is in charge of it.
And just for fun, as I was finishing up, I was drinking coffee from a mug that says “. . .and thou shalt have dominion over all the beasts, except, of course, for CATS.”
There are still a few of the 2016 calendars, “The Cabins of Tulare County” for sale. This calendar is a collection of pencil drawings of cabins in Tulare County. (Captain Obvious speaks again.) It is heavy on Wilsonia, followed by Mineral King, and there is one token Camp Nelson. These drawings are gathered from the book The Cabins of Wilsonia, and various commissioned drawings I’ve done in the past year or two.
Have a look at the unidentified months. I didn’t attempt to find seasonal pictures, other than a snowy cabin in December. Cabins, for the most part, are summer homes.
The calendars are $15 each, including sales tax. If you send me a check in the mail or money using Paypal, AND YOU GIVE ME YOUR ADDRESS (excuse me for shouting – someone ordered via Paypal and didn’t give me her address or answer my email – how is she going to get her calendar??), then I will get your calendar to you and pay the mailing costs. (in the USA only)
For someone who does not consider herself a kitty-puppy artist, I seem to be over-run by pencil drawing commissions of cats and dogs.
That’s okay. I love to draw in pencil.
First, the sketch. The customer chose C.
Second, begin the real drawing.
Third, keep drawing.
When I told a friend about this drawing, I couldn’t think of the kind of cat called “Persian”. So, I took the palm of my hand and smashed it against my nose, and she got it.
Okay, Central California Artist, quit talking and nose-smashing, and get back to the drawing table.
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.
Not quite it. More sketches requested.
Mr. Customer chose C. Now we’re cooking with gas!
The printed photos weren’t detailed enough so I also worked from the laptop screen.
Mr. Customer changed mind about toy in front of dachshund. Back to the drawing board.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The customers wanted their water wheel added, which didn’t show in the sketch. It was tiny, but it is there!
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.
The customers were very happy, and that is always my goal, so I am very happy too.
Happy, happy, happy.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
Not enough pizazz. Let’s add some color.
Still not quite good enough.
Nice. Commissioned pencil drawing of a 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!