oranges | Cabin Art

Oranges in Oil

We are in fall, and oranges are a winter crop. But I have to keep a little ahead of the seasons with my paintings so that I am ready when the customers are.

The aloof Jackson jumped down after briefly inspecting my work.

After finishing the two Kaweah Post Office do-overs, I returned to some oranges.

A customer/friend (If your friends won’t do business with you, who will?) bought a 5×7″ oil painting of oranges that sat on a mini easel, then emailed me to ask for a second one. These will be gifts for two of his family members at Christmas, so I could paint the same scene again or make something compatible.

I painted a new scene twice, then did a third one. All of these will go to the Mural Gallery in Exeter, and my customer/friend can choose the one he prefers. I hope he chooses one of the ones I painted twice (“one of the ones”?? Someone find me an editor!) or else there will be twin paintings at the Mural Gallery.

Started one on a board.

Started two more on canvas panels.

Finished all three, now drying, waiting to be scanned.Done, done, and done. (except for the scanning part)

Oranges are a HUGE crop in Tulare County and a great seller for me. At one time I thought I wanted to grow them; now I am quite happy to simply paint them.

A Few More Orange Groves in Paint

Here is the rest of your tour through Tulare County’s finest scenery, as interpreted in oil paint.

This was a commission, the very first time I painted a citrus grove with hills in the background.

In the Orchard (sold)

Tulare County’s Best (24×24″, available, $1000)

This was a thank you gift so it didn’t need a name.

Citrus Sunset (sold)

This was a commission.

Another commission.

And the latest with the appropriate title of “Citrus and the Sierra”.

Citrus and the Sierra, 10×20″, oil on wrapped canvas, $350 (plus tax if you live in California)

P.S. I thought this piece was spoken for, but I didn’t put the size on it and the intended customer’s intended wall is not wide enough.

citrus orange grove paintings orange paintings oranges Tulare County art

An Orange Grove in Oil Paint

Poppies and oranges and orange groves and poppy fields: that’s what I paint in the winter and spring. (Unless I am painting Sawtooth).

Remember this? It was on the easel until the poppies started selling like hotcakes.

I finished 6 new small oil paintings of poppies, and was so pleased to have paint in the right colors left on the palette to finish this painting.

It is signed, but you can’t really tell in the last photo. After it dries, I will photograph it in good light for you (and my website and portfolio and records, etc.)

This type of painting really says Tulare County to me. Now it needs a title.

citrus art citrus oil painting orange oil painting oranges

Finding My Way Home

It feels as if I am finding my way back home in my art pursuits. Sales are encouraging, commissions are energizing, rain and snow is reassuring, and all of those things reignite my desire to paint, draw, and tell you about it.

We recently saw this oil painting:

It didn’t look right to me. The colors were wrong, and it needed orange blossoms. Back on the easel with you!

Better.

Painting oranges feels like coming home.

citrus art citrus oil painting orange painting oranges

Who is Farmer Bob?

Farmer Bob is Bob McKellar, a most enterprising and remarkable orange grower and business man from Ivanhoe, Tulare County, California. He started Seven Sycamores, a wedding venue, and most recently has begun Farmer Bob’s World, a citrus learning center. They “strive to bring the entire scope of the Ag Industry to life for urban school children, families, legislators and bureaucrats who visit our farm.”

Their Grand Opening is on Saturday, March 13, from 9-3. McKellar Farms, 32988 Rd 164, Ivanhoe (about halfway between Farmersville and Seville, which I know is highly useful information for you.)

A friend in Three Rivers (Why?*) asked me if I had any citrus themed art to sell on consignment in the new gift shop at Farmer Bob’s World. Indeed I do! I have a few small oil paintings, three different pencil reproduction prints, but alas, no cards. So, I ordered 4 pencil drawings of oranges in notecard form, to be assembled and sold as an assorted package.

Because Farmer Bob’s World is a non-profit, I will donate a portion of the sales of these card packages that I sell via my website. (They already get a percentage from the ones they are selling at their gift shop).

The cards are about 4×5″, fold-over, blank inside, and the price per package of 4 is $9 (plus 7.75% sales tax if you live in California, I am so sorry, it isn’t my fault but I am still sorry) plus mailing cost, which I will have to estimate. So these cards are not exactly a bargain, but maybe I am just out of touch with the cost of cards these days.

That wasn’t very helpful.

How about this: if you order them in California and want them mailed, they are $11/package. If you live outside of California, they are still $11/package because the postage might be more. If you buy them directly from me without having them mailed, they are $10/package. I will donate $3 to Farmer Bob for each package sold.

Ick. I’ll go paint now because this business end of things makes me twitch. Too bad I don’t earn enough to hire a business manager.

*The friend is a member of the board of directors for Farmer Bob’s World and knows that I would not have seen the announcements on Facebook; he also knows that I have been making citrus themed art for many years. It is good to have friends.

citrus citrus learning center Farmer Bob oranges

Oranges, Completed, Sold and Delivered

Photoshopped for best reproduction in the 2019 calendar.

That last step after the photoshop thing only shows a subtle difference, but I wanted you to know that the business of art includes thinking ahead toward how a piece can be used besides just selling the original.

And the original is sold and sent! That makes me happy for three reasons: it is going to someone important to me who will truly appreciate it; it won’t be languishing in a drawer while I dither about whether or not to get it framed; it produced an income (not all speculation drawings sell).

citrus art oranges pencil drawing

Just Another Workday

One day a week or so ago, I painted in the morning and drew in the afternoon. This is what it looked like:

Piper was needy. He is resting his little head on my arm, not biting me the way Samson did.

Felt compelled to paint this view again; 4 days later a friend/customer/collector emailed to ask if I had this view available; turns out he wants it to be 16×16″, not 6×6″. Good thing I have practiced this view many times.

This is a popular size and shape, so my last canvas of this size became Sawtooth #29.

Finished? Sawtooth definitely fits this shape of canvas nicely.

Then I moved into the studio. It was a sunny day, so I raised the blind and saw this:

Hi Mike, the carpenter (not to be confused with Michael, the Trail Guy)

Here is another drawing in progress for the 2019 calendar.

The plan is to put a little color into this drawing of oranges. Can’t be considered an authentic Tulare County artist unless I include oranges in my rotation of subjects.

And thus we conclude another workday in the life of this Central California artist.

citrus art Mineral King oil paintings oil paintings oranges pencil drawing

December Oranges

Did you know that navel oranges are harvested in December? If you are from Tulare County where the world’s best (and most) navel oranges are grown, you probably knew that.

My grandfather and dad were both orange growers. I am an orange painter.

A friend/neighbor called to say that her sister-in-law wanted an oil painting of oranges just like the one in her dad’s house. I asked for a photo of the painting so I would know how to make another one. Obviously, these people have impeccable taste in artwork. After receiving this photo, I looked through my 963 photos of oil paintings, arranged by subject, and although I recently finished Orange #134, this old painting didn’t show up in my inventory.

That’s okay. I have plenty of photos to work from. And if I am going to paint an 8×10 oil of oranges, I might as well do a second painting to have ready for the next orange art emergency.

This is how the orange paintings looked on day one of painting in December. (The 8×10 will probably be mailed while it is still a bit wet.)

At the end of the painting day, I put them in boxes to carry into the house and prop up over the wood stove so they will be ready for the second layer.

(I painted a second and third layer without photographing the process.)

EPILOGUE: Finished and in the mail, right on schedule!

commission oil painting oil paintings orange painting oranges

Three Orange Oil Paintings, Completed!

Whoa. That was a sprint. Three new orange oil paintings in a week’s time, begun and completed.

This is the original orange painting; it is drying in the window because I had to re-sign it so that the frame wouldn’t cover my name.

Top orange completed. The color and clarity are definitely better after the 2nd coat. Good thing.

It was very helpful to have the original painting right there to match the colors.

Compare the bottom painting in this photo to how it looks in the photo above.

It is a privilege to be thought of when local businesses have Art Emergencies; it is a thrill to be able to handle those situations. I’m very happy to be able to help, and particularly happy to help out in ag and especially in citrus.

Lovies,

Your happy orange painter

citrus art commission oil painting oil paintings orange painting oranges

Oranging Along

It’s my blog, I’m 58 and I can make up words if I want to. Any questions?

Oh. What does “oranging” mean?

It means painting oranges, although I was just painting greens that day. Because this commission job was for 3 oil paintings in 2 weeks, I had to plan the most efficient method of delivering mostly dry paintings.

Day one: get the first layer down, all the canvas covered, the basic shapes and colors in place and the edges with one coat.

Day two: Perfect the background greens so that on. . .

Day three: sign on the green area after perfecting the orange area. Finally, put a second layer on the edges, which may or may not show. I don’t know what the framer has in mind and won’t get to see the final product.

This gives the paintings a week to dry. Would have been better to know about this job sooner, both for more time to work and also for summer’s heat, which makes for quicker drying. They might be a little tacky (in the tactile sense of the word, not the quality of the job.) But, a little pressure is sometimes a good catalyst for action.