Squeezing in Oranges
Big Ideas Advancing
After many days of hunching over my giant magnifying light in the studio, the urge to paint became stronger than the desire to avoid smoky air, hot temperatures, and handicapping orange light. My paintings receive many layers, so if the colors and values are wrong at this stage, it is only temporary.
The photos are blurry. I am taking each cowboy and the dog all from different photos and sincerely hope to gather enough visual information to not mess any of them up. Entirely new territory for this Central California artist, but not outside of my declared geographical area of Tulare County. (Thank you to my friend Susan for supplying the photos!)
Time to move into more familiar subject matter.
New Projects in Oil Paint – Stay tuned
What is this mess? Stay tuned. . .
And this little mystery? Stay tuned.
Here is something you will recognize. I brought out the little stepstool and redid the sky. I think it might be finished now, along with the mountains and distant hills. The close lemons and branches, the orchard, and the ground will need many more layers. As I have said, I want this baby to be PERFECT.
Finished, Finished, and Finished
Here are the scanned versions of the most recently finished oil painting commissions. Scanning produces better results than photographing, but first the paintings have to be dry. This is why there is a time lapse between you seeing them on the easel and seeing the finished product. But don’t be confused by the bridge – I didn’t get around to showing it to you on the easel until it was actually finished and dry in real life.
If you are like me, you are curious to see the difference between the last 6×18″ Oak Grove Bridge and the current one. It is interesting that I can paint from the same photo twice and get different results. Some of this is because I have to just make up the “growies”, since there is no way to copy them exactly. Besides, real life is messy. And speaking of real life, there probably isn’t as much difference in the colors between the 2 paintings if we saw them in person. So much has to do with how it photographs or scans.
If you ever think you might like a painting from a photo you see on my blog (or one you’ve taken), or if you’d like a painting that has already sold, I can do that for you.
Finished Lake Paintings
These paintings will probably show up better when they are dry and scanned, rather than wet and photographed.
All three are Hume Lake.
Slow Start
An idea came to me about painting again. Start slow, and do three paintings for an upcoming situation. (If it is interesting enough, I’ll tell you about it next week.)
I started these paintings using the method taught by Laurel Daniel last year in her three day plein air painting workshop in Georgia. I will follow her method until the real me takes over and I put in details, drawing with my paintbrush.
Continuing at the Easels
These little Mineral King paintings got some skies. It was cold and rainy, which meant it was dark in the painting workshop. Trail Guy kept offering to light the heater; that meant I’d have to shut the door, but I needed all the light there was, so brrr.
I worked more on the commissioned painting of the little Mineral King cabin, working from several photos to make up the scene. The customer requested that I put a horizontal subject into a vertical format; in order to make that work, I added mountains that weren’t visible to that degree in real life. This meant we had to do a lot of communicating and adjusting until the painting fit both her memory and the space she wants to hang it.
I scanned it, thinking it was finished. Then she asked about the doorknobs. It needed more trees behind and above the cabin. Bearskin, the patch of snow on the right slope of Vandever (peak on the right side of Farewell Gap) didn’t look the way she remembered it.
The purpose of a commission is to create just what the customer wants.
(The color is different between photographs and scans.) I made the requested adjustments, and then reworked Bearskin yet again, with the customer’s help. (We might have stood closer than 6 feet to accomplish this, but so far, so good, health-wise.)
The most difficult commissioned drawings and paintings are the ones when the customer wants me to do something that I cannot see. This is possible only when the customer can articulate what she wants. My approach is that a commission isn’t finished until the customer is happy.
What is this???
The customer was so happy that she asked me to paint it again, smaller, to give away. (Just in case the intended recipient is reading, I’ll keep this information to myself).
Upside down is not an April Fool’s Joke. It helps me see the shapes more accurately. That might be a little unsettling to you, so we’ll continue more conventionally.
Not done, but moving quickly since all the difficult decisions were conquered in the original version.
Meanwhile, Back at the Easels
We’ve had a long break from actually working in my studio. Murals, Mooney Grove, diversions. However, while you have been social distancing, I have been painting.
The Oak Grove Bridge is my favorite subject to draw and paint. Currently I only have two in my inventory, and when/if the Silver City Resort opens its store this summer, I would like to have more for sale.
I began a new painting, this one 10×10″. (Above: 6×18″ and 24×30″)
Then I began a table full of little ones, all based on Mineral King wildflowers. 
Hard to tell these are based on anything at all. Guess you’ll have to just wait for more to be revealed.
HEY! I haven’t offered you the book that came out last year for awhile, Mineral King Wildflowers. Here it is, just in case you were waiting for a convenient opportunity to buy one. (But I bet all 12 of my readers have a copy because you are probably my best friends who were listed in the dedication of the book.)
Available here
Also available at the Three Rivers Historical Museum, Silver City Store, from me if I put them in my car, or Amazon.
P.S. The Three Rivers Historical Museum is closed due to The Thing, and the Silver City Store is closed due to the season.
More Oil Interludishness
Yeppers, I made up another word. It simply means that I was able to paint a few more days than expected and have more progress to show you on Mineral King oil paintings.
More detail on the painting on the left, but more contemplation is needed before signing this.
What does Pippin think?
Since Pippin didn’t offer any help, I added wildflowers to these two.
That was fun, so I did the same to the painting on the left.
Now let’s tackle this unusual arrangement of a usual subject matter, the Honeymoon Cabin in Mineral King, now a little museum. Well, actually right now it is boarded up for the winter. And let’s just paint it, not tackle it, hmmm?
This turned out really well, so when it is dry, I’ll photograph it minus the poor afternoon sunlight and sheen of wet paint so you can fully appreciate its specialness.
Pippin? Got anything to add here?
Guess not. He just adds cuteness to my life.
Oil Interlude
“Interlude” is a musical term that means in interruption with a lude.
Wait, what?
Nothing. Just messing around with words. After finishing the oak tree mural, I had days of appointments, administrative work, errands, and other things that interfered with painting, However, I did get in a few days of painting Mineral King scenes, and here are the results.
In the interest of offering these paintings for sale, the following advertisement is for your convenience/to ignore – your choice.
I sell 6×18″ for $150 plus tax which brings it to about $160; the square is 10×10″ for $175 plus tax, about $190. The plan is to have a good inventory for this coming summer, but if you are interested in buying any of these paintings now, it can be arranged. Comment here or contact me with the contact button or email me or say something to Trail Guy if you see him at the Post Office or grocery store.