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
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:
6. I might want to live at Hearst Castle. Barring that, I’d settle for Cayucos.
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.
Jacob Currie. Or Curry. Spelling wasn’t that important to Irish folks in 1905.
All that remains is gorse, in color. “Gorse?” you ask. “Of course”, I reply. Or is that “Of corse”?
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.
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.
Work In Progress, remember? Wowsa, that castle is full of teeniny little parts. Have a look at hours and hours and hours of drawing. Of course I exaggerate to make a point – you knew that, right?
Back in the olden days, the latter part of the last century, before digital cameras and personal computers and all that, I used to regularly draw from 3-1/2 x 5″ photos from a film camera. Hard to imagine. These days a 4×6 seems like a pathetic little miniature photo!
That means Work In Progress. I just made it up, but I’m probably not the first to do so. I’m also making this up, revising as I go, and Mrs. Bob said the most wonderful thing to me about that:
“Do whatever! Â You’re the artist and I relish that…I love your work so do what you think looks best!”
Wow! This is the most fun possible with art – the challenge of a collage, Ireland (sigh), drawing with pencil, and complete freedom to use whatever ideas develop. Life is good. 😎
Did you really think those were armadillos??
I am creating a piece of art to the specifications of Bob, My Favorite Customer. (Since he calls me his Favorite Artist, it is only fair that I return the compliment!) He and his family discovered a piece of their history while in Ireland, and I have the privilege of drawing it in pencil.
Bob requested a sketch before I began because the cottage is dilapidated and needed some artistic remodeling. That’s to be expected of something built in 1873.
Good thing Bob knows I can draw or this sketch might have frightened him away. Instead, he approved it, and I began the drawing. Notice the use of 2 separate words to describe what is taking place – “sketch” is loose, rough, for the purpose of conveying visual ideas. A “drawing” will be much more careful and refined.
Bob likes to see the process as it is taking place. Some people prefer to just be surprised at the end; others like to be included and involved. I do my best to accommodate my customers’ wishes.
In teaching drawing, I urge my students to develop the habit of shading from top to bottom and left to right (left handers should move right to left) because it lessens the smearing. Me? I’m experienced enough to do it any way I want and not have a smearing problem! Or it may be that I am experienced enough to know how to deal with the smearing problem, should one occur!
My maternal grandfather, Eugene B. Maise was a maintenance foreman for the Santa Fe Railroad working in the mountains of San Bernardino. In the late 1940s, he was approached by a photographer who requested help taking photos of the trains as they climbed through Cajon Pass. Note the coal burning engine pulling the passenger cars; the new diesel engines couldn’t quite make the grade. I drew this from a photo from Uncle Frank. That was before I had totally cemented my resolve to work only from my own photos. Besides, I needed a gift for Mom! (Thanks Mom, for rearing me here so I can be a California artist.)