Tulare County’s Best

Whenever I have a show, no matter how many pieces sell, I bring home the rest and wonder why they didn’t sell. Then I think about the ones I’ve had the longest, pieces that I have improved on each time I show them again. How can I make these pieces better?

I did this scene as an 8×10 to test it out. It was the beginning of my phase of painting orange groves with hills and snow-covered mountains, which coincided with my beginning forays into plein air painting. This type of scene embodies the best parts of Tulare County—rural, citrus, foothills, snowy Sierra.

Tulare County’s Best, 8×10″

It was fun, but of the quality that caused my dearest and closest (and most honest) folks to ask if I was finished with it. So, I touched it up again, and it Is better. But it still hasn’t sold.

Tulare County’s Best, 8×10″

In spite of this little painting’s lack of success, I still love this scene. I painted it again, this time 24×24″. (Sometimes I actually do paint what I love instead of just what I think might sell.)

Tulare County’s Best II, 24×24″, NFS*

Now we’re cooking with gas! Brighter colors this time, because as I develop my skills and “voice” as a painter, I gain more freedom to exaggerate and embellish (but within reason, because I am still a leading citizen of Realville).

Three shows in good galleries (well, come on, I know this is Tulare County, so they are non-profit galleries rather than big city pushy money-hungry galleries) and it hasn’t found a home.

Think, think, think, AHA!

First, let’s try a little better living with technology, and tiptoe into the AHA. Using Photoshop Junior, I combined Tulare County’s Best II with a detail from a more recent painting of the same genre.

What do you think now? (almost said, “How do you like them apples?”)

Yeppers, Tulare County’s Best will get even better.

*NFS means Not For Sale, because it isn’t finished yet.

Polishing up a Few Paintings

As I plan for the solo show at CACHE in autumn, there are a handful of paintings that I want to improve. Finesse. Polish. Tweak. Pick your word.

Clover Creek Bridge: I’m not sure why it hasn’t sold, but all I can conclude is either that it isn’t quite good enough, or nobody cares about this subject.
My default in a situation like this is to add more details.
It’s better now. Good enough to sell? Time will tell.

I love this scene! It’s one of the earlier pieces of my obsession with orange groves, foothills, and snow-covered peaks, titled “Tulare County’s Best”. Why hasn’t it sold?

I changed some of the colors and tightened some details on Alta Peak, along with making it stand out a bit more.

Maybe this one will find its new home in the fall. (Unless you want to buy it now. . .)

I painted this one with the intention of enjoying it in my dining area for awhile before putting it in the gallery (the show isn’t until mid-October). After living with it for awhile, I saw a way to make it better. So, back to the easel.

Stretch those oranges to reach the trees!
Now I really like it.

I have a few more to puzzle over and figure out how to improve. But, I’m in Texas right now, so the other Tulare County paintings will have to wait.

Progress On My Favorite Subject

For the past few years, my favorite subject to paint is orange groves with hills and mountains.I’ve had a large (for me) painting in progress in a time-out for awhile. In that bonus week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, I worked on it.

First, I photographed it, studied it on my laptop screen, and circled the parts that were not up to snuff (weird cliché, whose meaning I do not know).

I started with the mushy rows in the red oval. It’s all wet and shiny, so these photos may not appear to be an improvement.

The orange oval was next, and I kept expanding the area around it.

The upper right corner was next. I ignored the pink, yellow, and light green ovaled areas, because I am the boss.

Now let’s look at the painting as a whole.

The usual excuses for photography that doesn’t do justice to the verbal explanations: low light, shiny paint, photographed with inferior phone instead of camera, and of course, there are many areas remaining to be detailed. I can’t tell you that it will look better when it is scanned, because it is too big to scan. But I can tell you that it looks way better in person!