Little Victories

Life is hard, full of obstacles, difficulties, problems to solve, and hassles. But, sometimes there are victories along the way that lighten our loads and lift our spirits. Last week I experienced a few of those little victories in my business of art.

  1. The scanner now works with the new laptop!!
  2. The pencil drawing that was full of mistakes is now corrected because contrary to my memory, I did NOT use Fixatif on it!
  3. I finished 3 oil paintings!
  4. The latest coloring book arrived!

These all require exclamation points because I am exclaiming over the thrill of victory.

The mistakes were all little things, negligence and carelessness as a result of haste. My readers and students had fun figuring out what was wrong. I don’t dislike this picture any more.

Tomorrow I’ll show you the new coloring book, and the next day 3 new oil paintings. New? Finished since you last viewed them.

Trading Water for Walnuts

This week I’ve set aside my current obsession of drawing water and begun a commissioned piece of a walnut grove.

This has involved several sketches, beginning with the page of the walnut grove as it appears in the coloring book, Heart of Ag for the Tulare County Farm Bureau (NOW AVAILABLE – WILL POST TO FOR SALE PAGE WHEN IT IS REPAIRED!)

This was a starting place. More ideas were requested and delivered. This is part of the business of art, the sorting out of details for commissioned work.

The response was, “This looks like a generic walnut grove, not like ours.” Hmmm, is there anything unique about your walnut grove? A barn? A creek? A canal, a ditch, a view? 

No.

I made a trip to the grove and found a teensy distinction between the customer’s grove and any other Joe Farmer’s grove. I can’t tell you what it is, because this is going to be a surprise for someone.

I can show you the beginning stages of the drawing.

 

Water in Pencil

This is my latest pencil drawing of water. It isn’t titled, because the name of the falls is highly unpleasant. The drawing is unframed and it is on 11×14″ paper. 

When I look at this drawing, I think about Millard Fillmore. 

Who?

A president of the United States, maybe the 12th one. I’ve been listening to a podcast called “Presidential” by  Washington Post reporter Lillian Cunningham. It is both entertaining and educational, a great combination when drawing rocks and water.

I could call the painting Rocks & Water. It is a little obvious.

I could call it Fillmore.

No, that’s too obscure.

Why do “obvious” and “obscure” have the same prefix?

Any ideas?

I mean about the title of the drawing, not the weird ob words.

Disconnected Thoughts From an Artist’s Brain

  1. Samson matches a breed of cat called “Bengal”. That accounts for his distinctive markings, his thick and silky short hair, his busy nature and his propensity to play in water. This is just a lucky accident of random breeding, but the discovery and description helps explain some of his peculiarities.
  2. Two of my drawing students and I will join our works together for a Visalia show in May and June that we have titled “Gray Matter”.
  3. Drawing water is both forgiving and precise. I’m on my second new drawing this year of running and flowing water. Water is a big thing right now – 4 dry winters followed by abundant rain and snow in January, and now my interest in drawing water. I’ve drawn water for years, but now I want to draw nothing but water.
  4. My website is definitely broken on the For Sale pages. It was rebuilt only 2 years ago. This is too fast for me to comprehend, and a decision needs to be made.
  5. The Farm Bureau coloring books are at the printer.
  6. The “new and improved” laptop means this: my scanner won’t work, the email program is arranged differently and has lost some options, the dictionary is no longer on the computer but online, Powerpoint won’t work, Word won’t work, the photos aren’t as easy to find or edit or export or email or get printed. I like “tried and true” quite a bit more than “new and improved”.
  7. Still no decision on a cell phone. I don’t want one. That is an opinion rather than a decision.

If you made it to the bottom of this post, you deserve to see a pencil drawing of water. Makes me feel better.

I have made the decision to pay to repair my website. Anyone want to buy a painting?? Too bad the For Sale page is broken. You can use the contact button, and I can email you some specifics. 

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TAMMIE!

Last week I took a small stack of pencil drawings to a framer because I have a show coming in the spring. As I was lining them out on his counter, I decided that there is something wrong with this picture. It isn’t anything I can put my finger on; I just don’t think it is good enough and I don’t know why.

One of the things I teach my drawing students is honest evaluations of drawings. We tell each other the truth (kindly, of course) because it is how we learn and grow. It is too hard to find flaws in one’s own work, just like it is impossible to proof one’s own writing.

This is what I heard:

  1. not enough darks
  2. weird road curve into the distance
  3. something wrong with the shoulder of the road
  4. edges of bridge arches too clean – should be more pock-marked for its age
  5. furthest pillars wrong size

I thought about just shredding the drawing. Please forgive me for inflicting this on those of you who bought a calendar – try to be brave through the month of February. At least it is the shortest month!

Then I thought that seeing the photos might help us all understand.

I actually worked from 3 photos, picking and choosing the best and most visible parts of each. 

This sort of dissatisfying result is probably because I worked from photos instead of standing there on location with a sketchbook. Of course, then I might have gotten run over, bitten by a rattlesnake or a mosquito with a nasty disease, gotten too hot or too cold or sunburned or maybe bugs would have landed on my paper or the wind might have blown it away.

I hate it when that happens.

Will I try to figure it out and rework the drawing? Probably not. I used spray fixative (actually called “Fixatif”, which on of my drawing students says ought to work on any marriage!) which makes it not erasable.

Sometimes in Church

Sometimes in church, I draw.
lupe-helen

And sometimes I paint.

First Baptist National Forest

I gave my church snow-covered mountains for Christmas.

Things are a little different in Three Rivers than down the hill.

More From My Pencils

When deciding what to draw next, this particular subject seemed like a good compromise of my theme of Tulare County and what I want to draw because I want to draw it.

Strawberry fields have become a common sight in our area over the past 10 years or so in the springtime. That makes this drawing qualify as Tulare County art, yes?

strawberry

Using colored pencil for extended time periods hurts my wrist. This little bit of color is possible without injury, and it is very pleasing to see one item in color. Not every picture has a place for color, but this was an easy decision.

What Came Out of My Pencils

Sometimes I want to draw because I love to draw. I want to draw what I want to draw, and don’t want to think about what might sell.

I ignored my common sense, ignored my theme of Tulare County, and this is what came out of my pencils. (as if it just showed up on its own, no effort or decision on my part, I was just a tool, a vessel, and a victim!)

caesarea-arch

 

This is an arch that is part of the Roman aqueduct system along the Mediterranean at Cesarea Philippi Maritima in Israel. As you may recall, I love architecture, stone work, bridges and archways. We had about 3 minutes to view this and then BAM, back on the bus! It just grabbed me. . . the beauty, the antiquity, the Med Sea . . . I was gobsmacked.

So, I took a few photos, and now here it is as a drawing.

My sister, niece and I were all just thrilled to be at the Mediterranean. We were the first and the only people in our group to run to the water and get it without any discussion or delay. It was one of the highlights of the entire Israel adventure for me.

 

us

The sharp eyes of one of my fellow Israel travelers caught my mistake in the location of this drawing. I knew better and have no excuse. Thanks, Cog!