What If I Gave A Party. . .

. . . and EVERYONE came! The art show for my students was a HUGE success. It was elbow to elbow for almost the entire 2 hours. The work looked stunning, and if I had been any prouder of my students, lightning might have struck us all.

First, HUGE THANK YOU to Michael, Robin and Sylvia for taking charge of the food and beverages so that no one else got stuck in the kitchen and could just enjoy the show. THANK YOU!

One of my long term students, Jackie, helped me hang the show. I think she has been taking drawing lessons for around 6 years. We grouped the pieces by subject – portraits, florals, landscapes, animals. Then, I just enjoyed it by myself for awhile in the afternoon. (There is more art than appears in this photo, of course. Just didn’t want to antagonize you by showing you all 52 pieces so far away that you can’t really see them.)

The brown box is where you put your ballot after you vote for your 3 favorite pieces. The artist whose piece has the most votes will get a month of free drawing lessons!

This is Jerry – he is the husband of one of my drawing students. He bravely volunteered to be the first at the food table, and to let me photograph him “for scale”. 😎

Kirby and me – 2 different people want to buy her swan drawing! (I couldn’t get the silly happy grin off my face for the entire evening, and my hair did look better in the morning, thanks for asking.)

Kim and me – between us is her first pencil drawing, her cat Scooter. And isn’t it cool that Kim and I are birthday twins, although I am about 1 hour older which means I get to boss her around.

The show will be on display at the Courthouse Gallery of the Arts in Exeter until the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (because that is the last day of drawing lessons for the year and everyone will take their pieces home then.) The hours are Tuesdays 12:30-5:30, and Saturdays and Sundays 10-4.

Things to be learned in drawing lessons, part 2

If you would like to see the completed piece shown in progress here, come to the student art show!

Start with simple things.

Get help on big things.

Good tools make a job easier.

Learn from others who know how.

A second set of eyes is helpful.

Sometimes you just have to do the work, no matter how tedious.

Sometimes you have to walk away and wait for your head to clear so you can get a new perspective on a project.

Good planning pays off.

Not everything can be fixed.

Ignorant gushing praise feels good; experienced honesty is helpful.

First Home

If you  have been a home owner, you probably will never forget the first place on which you paid a mortgage.

Our first home was built in 1913 and we were only the 3rd owners. I loved that little house too much – it just wasn’t natural to have that much affection for an inanimate object. Even now,  almost 13 years since selling it and moving on, I can still recall the sound of each door as it closed.

Most folks’ first homes are small and simple. They usually need work, they usually need paint somewhere, they almost always have lawns, and they seldom have garages. Can you relate?

This is someone’s first home. I don’t know him, but I know his Dad. His dad is a very thoughtful man who knows that his children’s homes are special. He has commissioned me to draw several of these modest and well-loved structures.

These are simple drawings EXCEPT the photos rarely contain enough information, have cars and people blocking views, and require some guesswork on my part. The challenge is to make them as technically perfect as possible so that what they lack in detail is made up for with precision.

Oh, and Mr. Google? This is a California home drawn by a California artist – me.

A Cabin Commission

Cabinart – making art of cabins, using pencil. That is my roots. Now that I oil paint, when a commission drawing for a cabin comes along, I am thrilled. Thrilled, I say!

The defining characteristic of this cabin is the group of massive trees in the front yard. The truth is that I sort of wanted to draw it in a vertical format, focusing on the trees with just a hint of the cabin peeking through. That’s not why people want their cabins drawn, so I provided several sketches and this was the winner. I’m happy when my customers are happy!

Love the Beach

I know, I know, “Cabinart”, Mineral King, Sequoia National Park, cabins, but I am torn! Living most of my life in the Central Valley of California has provided access to both the ocean and the mountains. I feel destined to spend my days in between so I can get to either place in fairly short order. But my, oh my, I do love me some beach time.

Sold

Clam w/ shard – 6×6″- oil on wrapped canvas – $50

Kelp Thingie – 6×6″ – oil on wrapped canvas – $50

Random Thoughts on the real Columbus Day

1. There is a strange thing about my daily paintings of fruit. Have you noticed that all of the fruits begin with the letter “P”? This is truly peculiar. Peculiar P Paintings: pomegranate, persimmon, pumpkin, pear, pepper, plum, peach. It is true that I haven’t shown you all of these in this particular series, but it is something I have puzzled and pondered.

2. Columbus Day is my birthday. Just sayin’. The real Columbus Day, not the fakey convenient Monday closest to October 12 for the purpose of making my birthday cards late and banks closed. I’m sort of old now, so not supposed to notice. Anyway, Happy Birthday to Careen, Nicole, Norman, Kim, Kenny Wing, Reggie and Regina Powers, and any other birthday twin who shares this date with me, past or present in my life.

3. Hey Carol, if you are reading this, I hope you made me some soap!

4. Remember I am working on a HUGE project, as of yet mostly unrevealed? Have a look at another portion of it:

5. I love to draw. 😎

6. I might want to live at Hearst Castle. Barring that, I’d settle for Cayucos.

Let Us Spray

This is what drawing student Gerald said to me when he finished his drawing. “Spray?”, you are asking, even as you read this. (Yes, I can hear you.)

Spray fixative is one method of preventing the finished drawing from smearing. Framing is another; workable fixative is a third. I’ve been told it adds “tooth” (that means texture in Artspeak) to the paper. It didn’t, but that’s another story for another time.

Early in my art career, drawing people’s cabins and houses was my main activity. One time, I finished a commissioned drawing of a lovely old home, grabbed my trusty can of spray fixative left over from some college art class and proceeded to ruin the drawing. It left little waxy spots all over the paper. They scratched off with my fingernail, and I learned a Big Fat Lesson: do a test spray on something else first.

Because of that unfortunate incident, I went off spray. Completely, cold turkey, no tapering down, no patch, just Q U I T. Go ahead and call me a quitter – I can take it. (I’m a loser too, in the true sense of the word. But I digress.)

A few years later I met a pencil artist who charged huge amounts of money for her drawings, used a wide range of pencils, and sprayed with Blair No Odor Fixative. I began using a wider range of pencils (see The Rules for further explanation) and the fixative. My prices stayed the same.

“No odor” was a lie – it stunk. I think the manufacturer meant “this smells like you can get high but don’t waste your time”, but “no odor” took up less space on the label. After several years of learning to depend on this marvelous stuff that prevented my drawings from smearing despite pulling them in and out of various envelopes, folders and picture frames, the magic spray was discontinued.

I hoarded 6 cans, and today I used the last spray from my last can.

There are other brands, other types, maybe even a Blair substitute. Ick, shopping. Add it to The List. Meanwhile, I’ll just be careful with my drawings as I complete them. There will be many. I’m not ready to tell you why just yet.

Let us spray.

Irish Collage

Ever notice the word “collage” is the word “cottage” minus the t-crossing? I confused myself with my sloppy handwriting and couldn’t figure out what my notes meant – collage drawing or cottage drawing! Here is the Cottage Collage for Mrs. Bob in its current state of development:

And, for the sake of Mr. Google, this is a California artist’s report on a pencil drawing, a commission pencil drawing of several Irish scenes. Instead of being politically correct, I am trying to be technologically correct.

That Wisconsin Art Show

Remember I posted about entering a competition – juried and judged art show in Wisconsin? My 2 pieces are now in the show. They did not place, but they were juried in and look great on the site! This is the piece that is in the exhibit book but not in the show (go figure. . .)! The show is The Richeson 75, and as a California artist, I am quite pleased to be showing off the beauty of our state in Wisconsin.