What you want to see

After I got over the thrill of drawing what was really in front of my eyes, I began to want to make better pictures. Real life is messy; artists get to clean it up. It takes practice to draw what isn’t really there, to make up a tree that you didn’t see, to show the edge of the porch that was previously hidden, to work from multiple photos taken from slightly different angles. It is almost impossible to work from photos taken at different times of day from different distances and at different angles. This often requires the skill of a mind reader, and I have learned to say no to some of these requests. But to a certain degree, I can create what we prefer was there.

When someone asks me to draw a house and provides a perfect photo, I have been known to ask why they want a drawing when the photo says it all. The answer is usually that pencil is so beautiful. This is a thrill to my little pencil-loving heart!

Here is the main photo of Farewell Gap again:

Here is a painting in which I scooted things ever so slightly to suit myself.

If you are standing on the bridge at the end of the road in Mineral King, you are probably just in awe of the view. Your brain knows there is a stream underfoot, a cabin sort of close, and Farewell Gap in the distance. Not very many people outside of careful photographers ever realize that there is no place to stand where all three line up for a complete photo! So, when I draw or paint this scene now, I make the necessary adjustments. Until this blog posting, I have never admitted such treachery and deception in recordable form!

And here it is in pencil from 2005 when I really started becoming bold about deceiving the world! (yes, I exaggerate to make a point – try not to get all worked up here!)

What we think we see

When we are beginning to make art, we depend on symbols more than visual information. The symbols come from our memory, from what we know. The visual information comes from what is in front of our eyes, regardless of what we know. You may know that a table has a round top, but what your eyes are telling you is that it looks like an oval. How can this be?? What do I trust? It takes a leap of faith to ignore what is in your mind and draw what is in front of your eyes. The first time someone tries this and it looks “real! it looks like a photo! I can draw!”, it is a thrill!

At the risk of annoying or offending (always a risk – why are folks so spring-loaded these days??), I want you to see a mural in downtown Visalia. I don’t know who painted it and I don’t know their instructions. I also don’t know their intentions. What I do know is it appears to sort of be Farewell Gap, sort of, maybe, kind of. This is an example of someone looking at a photo and painting from symbols in their heads. Those of you who are spring-loaded in the defensive position may be thinking that the artist(s) were being creative, not bound to the photo, and simply expressing themselves with a derivative work, using the photo for reference, et cetera. That’s fine, but I am trying to show examples here, and this fits, so just take a deep breath and try to follow along.

For comparison, here again is the photograph of Farewell Gap:

Three ways of interpreting

This will be a four parter, and thank you to Bill T. a workshop participant for the idea!

There are 3 ways of seeing when one is making 2 dimensional art. “Interpreting” might be a more accurate term here.

1. What we think we see – When we are children, or when we are untrained adults, we tend to put on paper what we think we see. For example, it is a table, we know it is a table, it has a rectangle and 4 sticks for legs, what is the problem?? The problem is the lack of realism, depth, perspective, proportion and believability. This isn’t a problem if you are 5 years old, but when you begin to understand more of life, it is highly discouraging to realize that your drawing isn’t as great as your Grandma thought.

2. What we really see – As we learn what is really in front of us visually, our work becomes more realistic. We can see distance, and things make sense. One of the tools for achieving this type of accuracy is the simple step of working upside down. No, I don’t mean standing on your head – this doesn’t work for plein air! Turn both your photo and your drawing upside down and the result will first be confusion. Then, your brain will shift into its right-seeing mode (right in both senses of the word), and your shapes will become proportioned correctly.

3. What we wish we could see – One day, we realize that real life isn’t all that grand to look at. Wouldn’t it all look better if we could just edit out the telephone lines, the power poles, the scruffy branches and the garbage cans? In fact, what if we could scoot that mountain over a bit (even without the faith of a mustard seed!) and perhaps reroute that stream? As our skills and confidence grow, we realize we can! “I’m fifty-one and I can do whatever I want! Besides, it’s MY picture!” This obviously has a few shortcomings – there are times when reality has to be recorded, but it is good to recognize the times that we as artists get to do our own arranging.

In conclusion to this introductory explanation, have a look at this photo of Farewell Gap. It will be the basis for illustrating the 3 ways of interpreting what we see.

Early Autumn in Mineral King

YEA! My blog is working again!  Meanwhile, up the hill, this is how things looked October 8 or thereabouts. There isn’t much color because the early leaves that were yellow blew off in the previous week’s storm, which left a light dusting of snow on West Florence Peak.  Regardless, (and that IS the word, not “irregardless”) because it is Mineral King, it is beautiful.  Have a look:

These last 2 are from a hike to White Chief. If you are asking yourself, “Self, why are there always postings about Mineral King on an art blog?” – the answer is that much of my inspiration comes from Mineral King. It is not my only subject matter, but it is possibly my favorite. And, it is a favorite of many customers, readers and other Very Smart People! 😎

More Miles of Canvas

Early Timber Gap, painted on board (Hey painting owner, want a touch-up??)

Timber Gap as painted this summer – yes, I know all the little canvas lines show in the photo.

With these 2 Farewell Gap paintings, I can’t decide which was painted earlier. Guess I finally caught up with myself for awhile in terms of painting ability! (But the cropping in photography could use a bit more practice. . . )

Hidden Objects

Men + Mules + Water + Power has multiple hidden objects. Here is the list:

  1. pick-axe
  2. fish
  3. 2 heart-shaped rocks
  4. 1904
  5. a real rock
  6. a real mule-shoe
  7. 6 varieties of wildflowers – Sierra Columbine, Indian Paintbrush, phlox, Hoope’s Sneezeweed, Golden-beard Penstemmon, Wild Blue Flax.

Here is a little piece of the mural for you to study and identify a few of the objects:hidden.jpg

Five Senses of Fall

A few friends accompanied me to Mineral King over the weekend. It was a beautiful fall-ish time – clear air (could have been clearer except that there are fires within the Sierra Nevada), warm in the day, cool at night. I was struck by how fall can be experienced with all five senses.

Taste: the currants are abundant!

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Hear the wind in the aspens – it sounds different in the fall!

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The colors are beginning to change:

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The dried grasses smell different:

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The higher we climbed, the more nip we felt in the wind:

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A Pair of Minutes

I’m trying to be in the studio/workshop for a pair of minutes instead of always being in Mineral King or at the computer. There is work to be finished, lots of work to be started, and people are waiting eagerly (and politely, thank goodness!) Just a pair of minutes ought to do it, figuratively speaking. . .

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The customer brought me a 16×20 photo that he took a number of years ago. We agreed that it would look nice in the panorama format, so I “cropped” it using kraft paper. The sky color of photos is grayish in many cases; one of the benefits of being in the mountains is having an incredibly blue blue blue sky; that is how I’ve chosen to represent this scene of Sawtooth and Mineral Peaks. Have a closer look:

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After it dries a bit, I’ll tighten up a few details, paint the edges, sign, and photograph it more accurately.

 

Day Sixteen On The Mural

This is the week I will finish, even if I have to get up at 5 a.m. for 6 days in a row. Momentum, momentum, momentum. Stay outta the way, I have a job to do!! That is not to say that you can’t stop by and say hello or ask a few questions. It just means I probably won’t stop painting while I visit with you, and please don’t take offense. The weather guessers are saying 108 degrees by Wednesday, but they also said 106 last week and it didn’t happen. If I stay in the shade and have cold water, I can do this. (I think I can I think I can I thank I can. . .) This is how the wall looked around 6:35 a.m. today:

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This is how the wall looked at 2 p.m. today:

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Tomorrow I will finish this old dam photo inset. The weird blurry little people have been enlarged (the better to see them!), and I’m hoping the original photo will still be taped to the wall when I arrive tomorrow. Oops. . . it might be on the ground nearby by then, but it is in a plastic holder so I’m not (very) worried.

Here is what remains:

 

  1. old dam photo inset
  2. little cabin inset
  3. dam (as it appears today)
  4. growies, ground and rocks below dam
  5. entire strip of wall beneath mural to the ground. This is the way to make it appear as if a visitor is at Franklin Lake instead of at a mural of Franklin Lake (as long as one stays to the left). I can’t figure out a graceful way to end that lower strip, so it has to go the distance. Maybe. More will be revealed.
  6. Flowers by the trail. My plan is to do this in oil paint so they will be pertinear perfect!
  7. Hidden objects! (there is one already, but I’m not telling yet unless you visit me)