Fear and Drawing a Book of Cabins

Fear is a great obstacle to creativity. This post lists common info about fear and a list of my personal worries (an easier word to stomach than fear, as if I’m not a Big Chicken).

Wilsonia cabin pencil drawing

Here is a list of random thoughts about fear:

1. The greatest fear that is most common to people is public speaking.

2. Fear of the unknown is another biggie.

3. “The only thing to fear is fear itself” has always struck me as mysterious, weird and hard to understand.

4. Fear of failure is another common thread running through life.

5. I’ve had friends say to me, “I only knit scarves; aren’t you afraid to knit a sweater?”

6. Seth Godin says that fear is what holds people back from making art – fears of vulnerability, being discovered to be a fraud, or not connecting honestly with people.

Drawing an entire book, The Cabins of Wilsonia, completely self-publishing (not assisted self-publishing like Lulu or CreateSpace), designing using a difficult program (InDesign is NOT intuitive and NOT anything like the Apple stuff I’m used to), marketing – all on a subject with which I am familiar in general but not specifically . . . that is  PILE of unknowns.

Check out this list of worries:

1. While I spend a year on nothing but pencil drawings of cabins (reaching for a total of 230 with the start # of 86 on January 1, 2013), how will I earn a living?

2. What if the books don’t sell?

3. What if the originals don’t sell?

4. What if I don’t find a good printer?

5. What if no one comes to the book signings?

6. What if the economy tanks further and people can’t afford a luxury picture book?

What if, what if, what if?

If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Christmas.

Shut up, negative voices. I have drawing to do!

More Thoughts About Happiness

I’m not done telling you about The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.

Salt & Light, or Reading Rabbit, oil on board, 11×14″

These are thoughts that struck me as I read through her chapter on happiness at work. (You can call me “List Lady” today.)

1. “Enthusiasm is more important to mastery than innate ability.”

No kidding! My drawing students who are unexperienced but enthusiastic often excel as much as those who come to me already knowing how to draw.

Gretchen says that if you pursue a profession that you love, you will be eager to practice more and thereby earn a competitive advantage.

Well, I DO practice. . .

Anyway. . .

2. “The brain is stimulated by surprise, and successfully dealing with an unexpected situation gives a powerful sense of satisfaction.”

I do love surprises. Not many surprises for me in pencil drawing anymore, particularly in drawing cabins. Lots and lots of practice there. My Very Wise Dad often said, “Life’s full of surprises”. Maybe there will be some as I work on The Cabins of Wilsonia.

3. “We tend to overestimate how much we can accomplish in an hour or a week and underestimate how much we can accomplish in a month or a year”.

Since one of “my galleries” sold a few paintings last month, I will need to take some time off the book to paint. This may cause me to be overestimating the number of drawings for February. (It is embarrassing to say “my galleries” – sounds so pretentious!)

4. “Research shows that the more elements make up your identity, the less threatening it is when any one element is threatened.”

DON’T TAKE MY PENCILS AWAY!! Just sayin’. . .

5. “. . . doing what you love is itself the reward.”

Covered that one on Tuesday.

Happiness and Drawing a Book

The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
has captivated me. She is a writer who had a flash of insight: “The days are long but the years are short”. She realized that she wasn’t enjoying her life and appreciating her blessings as she ought to, so she set out to study happiness and learn if a person can boost one’s own happiness.

Wilsonia cabin porch
Don’t you just want to sit on this porch and read “The Happiness Project”?

Normally I borrow books from the library and this was no exception. However, I wanted to underline and scribble notes in the margins, so I actually bought my own copy! (Gasp of shock, but it IS a used copy!!) You can buy one too. I am now an Amazon Associate*, so that is my recommendation of a place to get yours.

Why am I telling you this on a blog about being a California Artist?

In her month of working on more happiness at work, Gretchen lists “Enjoy Now” as one of her resolutions.

I have set a goal of drawing an entire book. It occurred to me that as someone who is motivated by completion, I am in danger of just gritting my teeth and plowing through 230 drawings with the “wake me up when it is over” mindset.

NO NO NO!! I love to draw! Sure, it gets lonely in the studio. To say “Yes” to completing this goal, I am saying “No” to every interruption, diversion and spontaneous opportunity for a year. Wah.

So? This is a self-imposed deadline. It is a well-thought out plan. Drawing is a privilege. I get to work in my home studio without commuting. I love to draw. I plan to enjoy it every step of the way.

Thank you, Gretchen Rubin!

*This means that if  you click “The Happiness Project” under “Books I Love” on the left side of my blog, and then actually buy after clicking the link, I will earn a little bit of money from Amazon.

Random Thoughts on a Friday

1. Nothing to report about Mineral King. You can look at the webcam. I’m drawing in the studio, and Trail Guy is probably skiing. I think he should be renamed “Ski Guy” this winter.

pencil drawing of Wilsonia cabin

 

2. I used to have a Blog Roll, which is a list of blogs I read. I don’t think any of my readers were checking those out, so in the interest of less visual clutter, I removed them. I still read those that post regularly.

3. I added the link to my other blog, The Cabins of Wilsonia. It is called “my other blog”. It is all I think about. I draw almost every day. Pencils, cabins, drawings, Wilsonia, the book, The Book, THE BOOK, THE BOOK. 

4. No wonder Ski/Trail Guy is always on the slopes.

5. Trail Guy/Ski Guy had dinner waiting for me 4 nights last week! Isn’t that fantabulous?

6. If you know someone with the initials REC in Three Rivers, wish her Happy Birthday today!

A Peek into the Wilsonia Project

Perhaps I should have titled this “Book Report”. Then, you might have gotten it confused with my old Reading Rabbit reports. So many decisions. . .

Remember that I am working almost exclusively on The Cabins of Wilsonia this year? (I told about it here.)

Good thing I love to draw. At the time of this writing, I have 96 pencil drawings of cabins and cabin related items completed. That leaves approximately 133 to go.

 

 

pencil drawing of cabin

Will the owner of this cabin recognize this pencil drawing? Will he and/or she contact me?

More will be revealed in the fullness of time. . .

To follow the progress of The Cabins of Wilsonia and to read about the decisions necessary in order to even begin the book, you are invited to visit my other blog, dubya dubya dubya the cabins of wilsonia dot com

Redwoods, Redwoods, Everywhere

I still have a very large commissioned oil painting of redwoods to complete. Redwoods are sequoia gigantea, not to be confused with California redwoods. We grew up calling them “the big trees”, and I had no clue what a privilege it was to live so close. (I might have been a bit of a twit.) I choose to call them Redwoods now because I went to Redwood High School, and although I will skip the upcoming reunion, I have retained enough loyalty to hang onto the name. But, I digress.

Redwood oil painting in progress

The customer liked a similar painting that I made for someone else, which was based on the pencil drawing called “Redwood & Dogwood”.

You can see the drawing, plus a photo of a sequoia on my laptop. The reason the palette is on the floor is because I was kneeling there to work on the lower portion of the tree. You can see the primary colors running across the top of the palette and the redwood colors running down the side.

But wait! There’s more!

redwood mural, pencil drawing, photo and oil painting

Sheesh. This California artist has a thing about redwood trees. On the left is half of the pair of doors to the painting studio. I had to open them because it is sort of dark in there. Then, the swamp cooler had to be on high, so the doors were blowing around.

It’s rough being a California artist in the heat of summer.

Wah.

commissioned oil painting of redwood in progress

This is how it looked at the end of the noisy, dark, overheated day of painting. It should dry enough overnight to begin adding the dogwood flowers on top of the redwood tree. I mean layered in front of the tree, not up at the top of the painting. You knew that, right?

 

Only in a Small Town Like Three Rivers

Last week I experienced some things that only happen when one lives in a small town. Three Rivers in Central California qualifies as a small town, with a population  around 2600, and many of whom are weekenders.

pencil drawing of the Kaweah Post Office

(The Kaweah Post Office in this pencil drawing isn’t my post office, but it isn’t very far from home.)

As I passed South Fork Drive, a car pulled across my lane onto the highway going the opposite direction. I almost locked up my brakes to avoid him, but there was no audible squeal. He didn’t seem to notice anything amiss.

At my next stop, my very good friend pulled into the lot behind me and said, “I saw that! Are you okay??” Wow, what what a thoughtful friend she is! I was fine, and was especially touched by her kindness.

She told me who the driver was, and we both were a bit a worried and puzzled as to his behavior. We speculated about his state of mind and hoped he was shaken awake.

Back at the studio, I ripped into my mail. It included a bank statement, and I was astonished to see that I’d taken a trip to the coast. My first thought was “OH NO! Identity theft!” Then I had the presence of mind to read the top of the statement. Aha! It belonged to someone else.

I grabbed the phone book and called her. She was home, so I jumped back in the car and zipped over to her house. And, I apologized for reading her business, but hoped she had a great time over at the coast.

Where else but in a small town would you know the one whose mail you received by accident, know where she lives, and just run it over to her?

And, where else would you understand that the more experience postal clerk has hand trouble, so she switched places with the other clerk who isn’t quite as experienced with loading up the P.O. boxes?

P.S. I noticed that this is full of exuberance – “ripped into my mail”, “grabbed the phone book”, “jumped into the car” – may you all be blessed with such energy as fall arrives.

Normally on Tuesday. . .

. . . I would be teaching people how to draw. This happens at the Courthouse Gallery in Exeter. No lessons in July or August because in the past, the attendance was abysmal during those months. Besides, it is just hot!

I’ve been teaching people how to draw since 1994. Looking back, I’m not sure I really knew how to draw or how to teach back then. People learned anyway.

Some of my students call what we do “art lessons”. I usually correct them and say “Drawing Lessons – I’m just teaching you how to draw.”

Whenever I take this 2 month break, I really miss my students. The interaction among each class is fun. They learn from me and from each other. I learn from them too. We all become friends, and it is just a thrill to see the progress each of them makes.

Hush up, California Artist, and show us what they have done!

Mrs. Bob's Italian Village

 

Limey Girl's old fashioned rose
Even tennis players can draw! This is plum blossoms, in case you were wondering.
Mae's A-mae-zing Pears in colored pencil

 

For more blog posts about drawing lessons, click here.

From Pencil Drawing to Oil Painting

During Three Rivers Artists Studio Tour Ten, some folks saw the pencil drawing of Redwood and Dogwood. They liked it, but color sells better than black and white and shades of gray, and oil paintings have a greater appeal than pencil. I LOVE PENCIL. Just sayin’.

Something new happened to me as a California artist: these people asked me if I could do an 18×24″ oil painting of the pencil drawing! What a fun challenge – not sure of which photos I used, I just decided to rely solely on the pencil drawing as my reference picture.

When the tree and background were finished, it had to dry before I began the dogwood in the foreground. I don’t have nearly as much experience painting dogwood as Sequoia trees, so I pulled out some photos for that part.

I think the flowers need to be less cultivated looking. A few stray limbs will help. It might need some growing stuff on the right. The drawing has unidentified shrubs, so I may try to make something up. If it looks fake, I can just wipe it off.  (Didn’t want you to get worried!)

The pencil drawing of Redwood & Dogwood is for sale. The shopping cart doesn’t work on my website, so you can email me for information. Sigh.

Eight Reasons this California Artist Chose Pencil

My last post ended with this question: if I am so taken with color, a “color junkie”, then why did I choose graphite as my medium?

Simple – I love to draw. Oh come on, there must be more to it than that! Okay, yes there is.

1. It is easy to find pencil and paper and draw any time. The back of the bulletin in church, a piece of paper from your printer, an envelope from the trash. . .

2. Pencil drawing doesn’t make a mess. No paint brushes to wash, palettes to scrape, clothing to change.

3. Pencil drawing sets up and gets put away easily. How many boring office jobs did I have where I finished my work, and then pulled a drawing out from under my typewriter to fill up the rest of the day with? Lost count!

4. Pencil drawing isn’t very expensive to reproduce as prints or cards. This makes them affordable for you! (I am sorry my shopping cart isn’t working. You may email me via the contact page if you’d like to purchase something.)

5. Pencil used to be a little complicated to reproduce well, so people couldn’t reproduce my work without my help and permission.

6. Pencil erases.

7. Pencil is easy to frame. There aren’t very many mat colors or frame styles to use that won’t just overwhelm it, so it keeps your choices down.

8. I liked to draw so I drew a lot so I got better so I drew more because it was easy and fun because I had practiced so much. Or as my now retired husband likes to say, “Success breeds success”.

Drawing for upcoming book, The Cabins of Wilsonia

Next post will cover the benefits of working in pencil for so many years.