Continuing to Paint in Summer’s Heat

Summer lasts a little bit too long for my liking. In early July, I was tired of it. That is an unpopular view, and I accept my status as a weirdo in this regard. However, I soldier onward in the heat, thankful for the inadequate swamp cooler in the painting workshop, and the inadequate wall unit in the studio. When I am finished painting for the day, I stagger into the house and cool off in the most totally excellent central air conditioning.

Sometimes I go walking in the mornings with my good friend. Occasionally we see a garbage bear.

Then I come home and paint.

I added wildflowers to the 8×8″ oil painting of Franklin Falls in Mineral King. They are mountain pride, arnica, and Indian paintbrush. Although they were not in either reference photo, I’ve seen them all at Franklin Falls. Being the boss of my painting, I took artistic license. Here it is, drying on the wood pile stack.

Having finished the smaller paintings destined for the Silver City Store, I returned to building up a body of work for the October-December show at CACHE.

Like most of what I have chosen to paint lately, this isn’t easy. Look at my reference photo, taken from inside the car. Traffic stopped briefly so at least it is focused.

The working title is Keep Right. Although that is very good instruction to drivers heading to Giant Forest in Sequoia as they approach the Four Guardsmen, I am doubting my ability to make the sign look good. Besides, we live in times when people tend to be highly sensitive, spring-loaded in the offended position, so out of deference to those folks, I will think of another title.

Or you can think of another title. . . I’m not easily offended, and love to hear good ideas from my tens of readers, most of whom are friends in real life.

I wasn’t kidding when I said it was hot. Look what happened while I was painting.

Wow. What a sensitive little snowflake. It was only 103° that day.

When I Get Older. . .

“. . .Will you still need me, Will you still read me, When I’m sixty-four?”

Because I am now.

Neither Trail Guy nor I had been to the main part of Sequoia National Park since before the fires (2020, 2021) and flood (2022-2023).

I love to climb Moro Rock, so that is how I chose to spend my birthday. The burned parts of the Park looked terrible, but the road is great and the unburned parts are beautiful too.

Enough yammering. Here are some photos.

Some of the dogwood leaves were changing.
Normally they don’t color up until the end of October.
Lots of steps to climb
We see Alta Peak from our house in Three Rivers so it is fun to see it closer from Moro Rock.
The red oval is circling two almost invisible plumes of smoke from the current fire at Redwood Canyon.
It looks as if the stairs end here, but if you make a sharp right, they keep on aclimbin’.
On the way up and at the top we heard an English accent, several languages we didn’t recognize, and what I think was Korean. Everyone was polite, helping each other out with photos, moving aside on narrow places.
One last look up.

Crescent Meadow was our next destination.

The road there passes the Parker Group, which is a great source of sequoias to paint, along with Tunnel Log, which I’ve also painted several times.

Tharp’s Log is an interesting spot, just about 1/2 mile from Crescent Meadow. I like seeing the human history in national parks.
It is rare to see the needles from a redwood/sequoia tree because they are usually so high up in the sky that you can’t tell what they look like. This time I kept my eyes open for a baby redwood, and voila! here it is. The needles look fluffy compared to pines, firs, and cedars. (They aren’t.)
I took this through the windshield on the way home when traffic stopped. Four Guardsmen is often a traffic stopper. Apparently people forget how to drive when they are in a national park.

The day was an experience in nostalgia. Trail Guy used to be Road Guy, with 37 years of working for Sequoia. Things now look different, because things are done differently than when he retired 11 years ago. Some are an improvement, and some in the category of Are You Kidding??

It was also a day of comparison. Seemed like Moro Rock’s steps were a bit steeper than remembered, and the handrail seemed a bit lower. The Generals Highway was infinitely better than the Mineral King road. The trails were mostly paved and certainly much flatter than in Mineral King. We talked to someone from Germany, someone from Ecuador, and heard many languages that we could not identify. There were lots of people, particularly for a midweek day, AFTER Labor Day.

What a great way to spend a birthday! And, although I wasn’t driving Fernando, it was a business trip because I got a few more photos for painting from.

In conclusion, “Will you still need me, will you still read me, when I’m sixty-four?”

Because I am now. (But not losing my hair—growing it, actually, to save in case I do lose it!)

Pencil Commission

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Has anyone ever had an unpleasant UPS driver? I think they must all be screened by personality before getting hired. If they are high energy, extroverted, optimistic, friendly, and have a good sense of humor along with a great memory, then they are candidates to drive those big brown trucks.

My UPS driver will retire soon, and he likes my art. He knows about my art because our buildings have murals on them, he delivers supplies to me, and I often greet him with a paintbrush in each hand.

He has the privilege of delivering to Sequoia National Park, and has taken some fun pictures of his truck surrounded by beautiful scenery. He wants a pencil drawing of his truck in one of these scenes, and has been sharing ideas with me for a few months. 

Recently, we figured out the best combination of brown truck with Sequoia scenery. Because the photos he shared with me belong to him, and because I don’t know the rules of a huge company like UPS, I will only show you my beginning sketches.

This is okay, but could be better. Trail Guy and I discussed the possibilities, because he actually has a very good sense of composition. (And zero desire to learn to draw or paint, so don’t even suggest that to him). We agreed on a solution.

Mr. UPS is good with either idea, but this one is definitely the winner.

He has no deadline, but it is nice to draw in my studio with reliable heat so I dove in quickly. Stay tuned. . .

More Paintings to Sell

I fixed the two river paintings and then worked on another sequoia painting. It is good to have backup inventory for the places that sell to folks on their way to Sequoia. It is good to have backup inventory for all the places that sell my work, currently four, but Silver City will be closing soon for the season.

I have learned that the best sellers have light on the edges of the trees along with a burn scar. It doesn’t matter which trees I paint, or if I can tell you where they are in Sequoia National Park or even if they happen to be in Kings Canyon or Balch Park. Just big trees, sunlight, scar.

As usual, I’ll scan this when it is dry to show you. It is called “Too Big”, a 6×12″ oil painting on wrapped canvas for $150.

Big Tree, Sequoia, or Redwood?

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There are lots of big trees in the world, Redwood is the name of my high school, and the trees for which Sequoia National Park is named are sequoia gigantea. However, any of those names apply to the paintings in today’s blog post.

It is a little bit difficult to work at the cabin because there is no studio space, and everyone else is on vacation. Besides, when I am there, I’d rather be reading, knitting, splitting wood, or chasing wildflowers. But sometimes a grownup has to do what needs to be done. I know, this is difficult to accept, because didn’t we all think that being a grownup meant we got to do anything we wanted? It is true, but choices have consequences, and the consequence of not painting when inventory is low is that there will be nothing to sell.

That’s a good enough start. Think I’ll put down my paintbrushes and go pick up my ax.

Welcome to the World, New and Improved Oil Painting

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When paintings are slow to sell, it is a good art business practice to analyze them. This is best done with the help of someone who knows the customers. 

Recently I took a hard look at this painting, one that I had always liked, because I love seeing dogwood in bloom around redwood trees. But what if I am the only one who feels that way? I am here to earn a living, not to paint for myself. (Well, sometimes I do allow a painting to live in my house for awhile, but that isn’t the main point of all the easel time.)

I asked the proprietor of Kaweah Arts why she thought this hadn’t sold yet. She and I have been friends for many years, always honest with one another. I told her that I figured most of her customers don’t even know what dogwood is, because the bulk of them visit Sequoia National Park in the summer when the dogwood isn’t in bloom.

She very diplomatically replied that her customers are interested in the big trees alone. Of course they buy other items, but sequoia trees are what Sequoia National Park was formed around.

Together we evaluated the painting, and then I told her to remove it from the inventory list, because I was taking it back to the easels.

This is how it went.

Welcome to the world, new and improved

“Redwood, Dogwood”, oil on wrapped canvas, 12×16″, $325.

Big Tree, Again

The 6×18″ oil painting of a giant Sequoia, AKA Big Tree, sold at Kaweah Arts, an art consignment shop. When Nancy, the proprietor, let me know, I asked if it was bought by a friend or relative who felt sorry for me. She said that it went home to Wisconsin with a woman who always buys art to commemorate her travels. 

Alrightythen! Looks like a winner of a subject for this store, so I’d better get cracking on another one.

I chose the photo with a more extreme angle of peering upward into the tree, but then just started making up things. After painting too many redwood trees to count, I feel fairly confident just winging it.*

It isn’t finished. More sky should be showing among the upper foliage, the ground is not right, the grasses along the bottom are too even, and the tree itself needs more detail and contrast.

*Apparently this rogue knitter and rogue baker is becoming a rogue oil painter too.

Big Trees in Order

After posting about Seven Big Tree Oil Paintings, it seemed like a good idea to figure out when I painted which one so I could see them in order and decide if I am improving or going the other direction. So, here they are in order.

2012
2012, a little later
2013
2013, a little later 
2017 (a gap of 4 years?!)
2018
2021 (a 3 year gap?!)

Interesting – I think the 2 best are the first and the last. So much depends on the quality of the photo, and I don’t have very many to choose from that show the entire tree. But there is also the color variance from photo to photo and tree to tree. As I gain confidence, which happens with experience, I am able to just figure out what colors please me rather than feeling bound to the photo.

If you want a tree like this, the size is 6×18″, the price $165 (plus tax if you live in California). Of course there are larger canvas sizes available (smaller too, but those are for younger eyes and fingers more agile than mine at manipulating paintbrushes). Remember, 

I make art you can understand, of places and things you love, for prices that won’t scare you.

(I hope $165 isn’t scary).

More Dabbling with Sequoias

I’ve gotten some helpful suggestions for dealing with the Sequoia oil painting that doesn’t please me.

First, I added the upper branches. (You’ve seen this.)

Next, I changed the green in the background forest to make it look more distant, and also strengthened the color and contrast in the main tree.

Finally, I added branches of a tree that was in the foreground.

Sometimes I think this painting might be headed for a dumpster.

Math Accident

I couldn’t figure out why the giant oil painting of sequoias in snow was taking so long. The answer is that I had a math accident. 

The customer decided on 18×36″, and I agreed that I could finish it in the time needed, although it would be quite tight.

I painted and painted, each morning before heading to work on the mural in the afternoon, some mornings before teaching drawing lessons in Exeter, mornings before my business referral group Zoom meeting. It seemed that I wasn’t making much progress in each session. Although I got areas finished, they were a smaller percentage of the entire painting than I expected to cover.

One day, I was looking over my inventory list, adding and numbering new jobs (have I mentioned how much work I have?) and I noticed that the canvas of sunny sequoias, which I converted to the snowy sequoia painting, was listed as being 24×48″.

I got the tape measure out, and sure enough, instead of painting 18×36″, I am painting 24×48″.

24×48″?

Yeppers.

Ridiculous math accident.

And that is why I have to stand on a ladder to paint the top edge.

My customer was extraordinarily gracious and understanding.  We spent a fair amount of time laughing together on the phone about the situation, and then he told me to adjust my price to reflect the true value of the painting!

His company has plans to reproduce it in several formats, and it will still work because the proportions are the same as 18×36. Because it is larger, I am able to achieve tighter and better detail. So, it is all turning out better than planned or imagined.