Anatomy of a Special Order Painting

A few months back I was contacted by a kind fan who was interested in having me do a surprise painting for a friend who is also a fan of my work.  The idea was something totally in my style (I'm kind of stuck in the rut of my style for better or worse, but I love it when someone pretty much just wants me to do my thing).  He suggested a figure holding a cat and a dog. And sent a few photos for inspiration. Of course my trio don't look an awful lot like the the real characters but it was fun and easy.

After a bit of discussion I do a pencil sketch for approval. And he loved it.

 Once the sketch is approved the agreement is that the rest is up to me until I'm finished. Above is the red gesso I always start with then after tracing the drawing I start with gold leafing.

 Then it's pretty much flat colors. Since I'm usually working on more than one piece the original layer is usually dry before I return to add shading, and in this case lots of fur.

There is always fine tuning of colors and in this case you can see how things changed as I added more warm colors and exaggerated the shading.

                        And before shipping emailed a finished photo that was well received.

A Few Gold Leaf Guys- All Still Available Somewhere

I had a customer recently interested in seeing what was currently available with gold leaf. -So I went through my records of what galleries have what and sent him off a visual list. Since I had them all on my desktop I thought I'd share some of them with you.  I'm currently working on a few larger pieces that are taking longer plus the usual distractions of working at home, taxes etc.   

And of course taking time to sit and enjoy the blooming things in the garden as they come. For me the trick is simply appreciate it for what it is and not look at it and think- 'I have to fertilize these here, trim this tree here, move this pot here, plant this one here etc. etc.'
  I do love it when I have at least a few blooming things I can make an arrangement with for the house.
Happy Springtime everyone!

from the vault

Hello all, I've been wallowing slightly in a headachy fuzz. Sometimes I go along and I live like a normal person, and then for whatever reason- KAPLUEEEE. Lots of brain pain. I am trying to muddle through as gracefully as possible and taking lots more meds than I would like. (except for those with caffeine in them that I'm allowed to take about once a week- those are fun.)
  I'm trying not to worry about deadlines coming up. (I have plenty of work I'm just hard on myself and always want everything to be brand new). I'm pretending that this is just my time to unconsciously brew up new and better art stuffs- when I finally get to the studio for some real time I will burst forth incredible masterpieces. (somehow based on watching reruns of 30 Rock and various programs from the BBC)

 So here are some of my oldie favorites for your viewing pleasure.....

 This guy with the umbrella is one I've always been fond of. Didn't sell for the longest time then when I did inventory a while back it came up missing. I've tracked here and there and can't seem to find where it ended up. -DO YOU KNOW WHERE I AM? (probably sold and I somehow flaked on paperwork)

May you all be well and feeling good. Happy Valentines

And some more little recession buster paintings

I made the top three of these for a very local show at Gallery 525 here in Meiners Oaks a few blocks from here. It is a show of small works each under 8 inches.  The show is up until the end of February. The bottom piece is a special order for a customer who has collected a few things in the past.  After finishing all four and photographing I was a bit embarrassed that they all seem like the SAME colors. Like I can't think of any others to work with. I know that is not true but in the end I decided they sort of go together that way. 

Jim McCarthy's Classical Guitar Made For My Dad

Proud and thrilled to post the latest photos from the Guitar Shop of sweet husband Jim McCarthy. This is one that has taken quite some time as it got squeezed in between furniture making jobs with deadlines. This beauty is a commission from my Dad who plays classical guitar. My gray day photos aren't the best, but hope you get the idea. And it sounds even better.  Shipped all the way to the  New Jersey homestead. (fingers crossed for safe travels).

Western Red Cedar top.

Back and sides are Cocobolo. Neck is Spanish Cedar. (With ebony fretboard)

And we had to include a little art from your's truly. We couldn't decide, so since I call Jim 'Bunny' it seemed appropriate. There is a tiny bit of gold leaf around him.

The Rosette is Cherry Burl and Ebony from a grand old tree we were forced to take down on my Dad's property. The burl was saved and what better tribute!

Here's to wishing you very many happy hours of music together Dad!

Special Order Recession Buster

Here are a two small pieces I did for a customer who loves my work and just couldn't afford a larger framed original painting. She gave me several paintings of mine she really liked and things about them and I agreed to do two paintings and she could choose her favorite.

                      Luckily the subject matter was easy and fun. (These are each 6"x 7")

She loved them both and decided to go with this guy above.

So the other piece joins it's friends on the wall. -All currently available priced between $200-400. (most are $250.)

When I Fight With a Painting

As promised a brief look at a recent painting that I just struggled with. Sometimes a painting seems to just effortlessly go along start to finish, and every now and then it is a real struggle. I thought I would show you one of those.

 This image of three birds developed out of me scribbling onto some wet paint. I often enjoy the game of this, finding an image and re-shaping things. I really liked the composition and three birds, but midway through the colors were not working. Mostly the background. I think I changed it many times and nothing seemed to work. (That is when I quit for a day or two.) When I next came back to it I took drastic action and just painted over the entire image a dark warm brown tone (see above). There is something oddly taking a painting you have spent a lot of time on and covering it up.

Then little by little I went and 'erased' the parts to expose the birds, leaving the dark color as a sort of shading then went added highlights. The above image is what it looks like when I do this just before I blend it. 

Here it is finished.  I especially am fond of the little blue bird in the corner

Getting Ready for The Studio Tour

I'm working on a few last minute paintings for this year's upcoming Ojai Studio Artist's Tour. My studio will be featured among others on a new Concierge Tour Option. Last I heard they were sold out Saturday but there may still be availability for Sunday. Of course you can always visit me and all the OSA artists with the regular ticket.  Click here for advance purchase tickets and to check on the Concierge tour availability: 

 http://www.ojaistudioartists.org/studio_tour.html

More memory lane and a bit of Jim McCarthy

Happy Spring to you all, just a random bits from the past for you (found these going through old digital files looking for a painting to work with for OSA 'Hang 10' show- see previous entry if confused).....Above is me and Abby in the studio. Thanks Lorraine, she LOVES her new cozy bed, and has a perfect view of yard chickens and squirrels.
A very small oil painting. It's funny to hear since I got a dog, "Now you'll probably do a lot more dogs in your paintings huh?" ...................Huh?
1999. (Ahhhhh the year I got married.) Lots of flying bird like thingies. I'm still do some bird-things 13 years later.
And a collaboration with Jim the "Where's my hat?-hat rack". This is a wall piece that has a single hook just below little shelf.
Close-up.

Ojai Museum Piece

Going back a few posts I mentioned I had to do a piece for this years Ojai Studio Artist's show at the Ojai Museum. I chose (instead of doing something on the #10) to take a work from 10 years ago and update it (instead of the other option of working with the #10 as a theme). As promised here it is.... 12"x12" oil on board with gold leaf from 2002
I decided after picking the image from 10 years ago not to look at it again. I then did above sketch for new painting.
And the finished new piece. You can see I did change a things a bit as I started painting, but unfortunately I like the one from 2002 better. I hope that doesn't mean I 'peaked' 10 years ago. Now that I look at them together I can see what is is that I like better about the first one, but I won't nitpick. I know too well from experience that my own opinion doesn't always count.

A Commision......Deconstructed

I've been working of late on a commission painting. Not something I usually do as I don't seem to fit comfortably into the illustrator role, or someone who can be happy making someone else's vision come alive. This was a woman who came to me on the internet after repeatedly seeing my work in a gallery and liking my style so much she got in touch and asked if I would do a painting of her dog in MY style. I hemmed and hawed - afraid of disappointing someone when the end result doesn't look like their dog.

Fortunately she stressed how she chose me for my style and didn't want a 'portrait' but one of my paintings in the same style of any other I would make.

After accepting she asked if she could add her granddaughter and that really raised my fear factor. Again- just a figure in my style that is somehow reminiscent of the adorable little person who is her granddaughter.

So here's how it went:

She sent some pictures she'd taken and I tried going off those and then got really stuck. I realized I was trying to piece these together and do a portrait of a girl and dog I'd never seen. I just had these little phone-photos. And I don't do portaits. This is not my style and not what they asked for. If I tried to turn this into a painting it would have looked like someone trying to do a portrait, but not a very good one.

I ditched it and reminded myself 'my style'........
Next, a sketched I rather liked. I emailed it with fingers crossed and waited....They loved it. (thank god), but felt like the dog was still a bit too literal and not quite a quirky as the girl figure.

So I decided to try two different quick takes on how else I could portray the dog:

She liked this Dancing dog better and only asked that I go back to dog's face in the second sketch, to retain a bit more of his spirit. Then just some details, eye color, one of her granddaughter's actual dresses, stars, and a tail on the dog.
Starting on the painting. I play with arms a bit as at this stage I become afraid it may look static even though they are supposed to be dancing. I realize this is a really bad idea as they have put down a deposit and approved the final drawing. I can't change the painting.......
Ta da. It's finished and I feel much better about how it came along. A few people who happen to visit the studio all think "she'll love it!". (I'm still nervous) I send an email of it again cross fingers. At this point I really can't/don't want to have to change anything and the buyer is going to be in Ojai for a weekend to pick it up (She lives up north).
She LOVED it but, (please not the BUT......) I forgot the tail! I was so mad at myself. I calmed down and emailed, "hey really sorry, do you want to wait, and I can ship or...take it as is?" She wondered if I could add the tail and have it dry in time for her to pick it up. This is oil paint. It is Thursday morning. I just went for it. Painted it with as thin a layer that would cover (to speed drying time) and held my breath that in two days it would be dry enough to travel on a plane. It was fine. We all got lucky, and she even managed to take it on the plane. We were nervous they might not let her check it at 26 inches square.

Ahhhhhhhh. A happy ending.

Doggie Dog World

Or is the saying Dog eat Dog? Well obviously with my mind being where it is lately it's more of a doggie dog world. Jim and I have been thinking, looking and trying to adopt a dog. I am 46 and have never in my life had a dog. I have always had allergies and Jim too has been allergic. (I was even allergic to cats too and we had them in the house when I was growing up, just lots of sniffling going on.)

Anyhow after meeting my sister's Malti-Poo about a year ago and discovering we weren't allergic to it we have been thinking of getting a furry friend of our own.

Here are are a selection of doggish friends from the easel to help get put the good dog vibes out there. After twice having two different dogs we went to the shelter to hopefully get we have come home empty handed. (The last time there were 4 people after the same one dog!)

Anyhow after bringing a bunch of work to the Santa Barbara Arts Gallery, Lynn the owner mentioned a friend who does poodle rescue. By the time I got back to Ojai the woman had left a message on my machine about a dog she thinks will fit right in.

I am going up to get him and bring him home for a visit on Thursday.

wish us all luck together.