Ready to Draw Again

I got tired. I kept trudging along, pounding out the drawings.

Then, my good friends Sophie and Louise invited me to spend a day in Sequoia. We did Sequoia kinds of things – Crescent Meadow, Tharp’s Log, lots of big trees, lunch at Wuksachi, but our main objective was to find dogwood in bloom. We were too early for Sequoia, and knowing better, we went to Grant Grove.

Too early there also. Duh.

Sophie and Louise are both authors of local books, great encouragers and supporters of my project, The Cabins of Wilsonia. (Sorry to be so redundant – it helps Mr. Google find this blog, so I’m told.)

The first time I went to Wilsonia was in 2008 with these two dear friends. We drove around tentatively, and confirmed my decision that Wilsonia was too big and too far away and that I wouldn’t be doing a book of the cabins there. 😎

This time, I could hardly contain my excitement – “This is my favorite cabin!” “Go left here!” “That’s my favorite cabin!” “The nicest people in the world spend the summer there!” “This is my favorite cabin!” “That cabin is one of the oldest – doesn’t it look like a Mineral King cabin?” “Go right here!” “This is my favorite cabin!”

They began counting how many times I said a cabin was my favorite. I realized that Wilsonia has snuck into my heart: the folks, the location, the architecture, the project.

I’m ready to go back to the drawing board and tackle the 2nd 3rd of this year. Or is that the 2nd third? or the second third?

Never mind. I’ve got drawings to finish.

Natalie Talked Me Through

Drawing 145 pictures in one year’s time can get boring, tedious and lonely. I love to draw, but occasionally there are signs that my enthusiasm is wavering.

Last week I found myself enmeshed in a terrible web of procrastination. I did some oil painting, organizing, painting of cupboards in the workshop, blogging, reading for fun, gardening, errands, and even attempted to balance the checkbooks.

When I do stuff with numbers by choice, you KNOW there is a problem.

No worries – enter NATALIE! We met in 1986, are close in age but far in geography. We had an agreement to write letters in spite of email, and we have stuck to that agreement with some exceptions. Natalie emailed me last week to ask if there was a time she could call me on the phone, because she wanted a real conversation. What a friend!

We talked for TWO HOURS while I worked on this pencil drawing of a Wilsonia cabin:

Thank you, my dear friend Natalie, for talking me through, for helping me figure out some things, for taking the time to catch me up on your life, for the incredible gift of committed friendship for 27 years.

Why Blog About A Book In Progress?

Pencil drawing of Wilsonia cabin door. (Thank you, Captain Obvious!)

For you:

You can track my progress,
You can hold me accountable, because working on my own can get a little squishy.
You can correct any misinformation I have about your cabin community,
You can ask any questions about my process or progress
You can share this project with your cabin friends and family
You can stay current. When someone wonders how it is going or if it is going, you can have the answers or send them to my blog!

For me:

To have a record of my progress
To be held accountable
To get more accurate information if I mess up
To answer any questions you have
To share the project
To keep you current

Hmmm. That sounded a bit redundant. Captain Obvious is alive and well on the writing end of this blog.

Let Your Flag Fly (and ask lots of questions)

Most Wilsonia cabin folks fly their American flags while at their cabins. If these were commissioned drawings, I’d ask to put color in the flags. Alas, I don’t think any of us could afford the book if it was printed in color.

This is cropped. I love to crop stuff. You might have noticed.

When building a book like this, there are so many things to consider. Look at this list:

1. Color or not? Will it reproduce well? Will it cost more to reproduce? If I put color in the drawings, will they reproduce decently in a single color of ink?

2. Who will print this book? It is too soon to talk to printing companies. I tried this in 2011 and had several hungry (rabid?) sales people calling me. (Hey Printing Sales Guy – The book isn’t yet designed or drawn: I just asked the simple question of “Can you print this sort of book or not?” DON’T CALL to try and sell me something – it is Way Too Early.)

3. When can I sell the original drawings? If I let them go and find out I didn’t scan them properly, I will be in trouble, groveling to get them back, scrambling around trying to find who has what, taking them out of frames, trying not to wreck the framing. . . oh my.

4. If I crop cabins and draw them the way I like, the shapes and sizes to make the book the most interesting, will anyone want the originals?

See what I mean? questions, questions, questions.

Anyone out there have a crystal ball to lend me so I can get some definitive answers?

Four Months is One Third

A three month block is often called a “Quarter”. Why don’t we refer to a four month block of time as a “Third”?

I have asked questions like this my entire life. Inquiring minds want to know many things, and we sometimes end up annoying the rest of the world. Other times, we find folks who have always wondered but didn’t ask. And then there are those who laugh at us for asking. . .

The end of April is the end of a Third of a year of drawing the cabins of Wilsonia in pencil. Lots and lots and even more pencil drawings are stacking up in my studio and on my computer.

In April, I finished Mason, Meadow, and am currently working on Palisades Street. (Bet you didn’t know there is a Palisades Street.) It isn’t really a street. It shows on the map and there is a sign, but in reality, it is the yard area of 3 cabins that were all in the same family at one time.

Nope, this isn’t on Palisades. I’m not identifying individual cabins. I have a strong thing about other people’s privacy.

Next, look out Park Street, here I come, armed with pencils and ready to draw. No, I didn’t say “Park Avenue”. I may be the only pencil artist doing this, but it isn’t Monopoly.

Weird Little Streets

Weird little streets in Wilsonia from the viewpoint of a book draw-er (no, I am not drawer in a cabinet, nor is my business cabinet, it is “cabinART”, in case you were confused. . .) are the ones that have one or two cabins, or aren’t really a street.

Here are a few I’ve encountered so far. This is not a complete list.

Is this cabin on Cedar? Or is it on Meadow? The map says Cedar, so that is the chapter where it will appear in the book.

Kaweah: One cabin

Leconte: One cabin, the street feels like a driveway.

Lupine: One cabin

Meadow: One cabin, looks as if there are 2, but the Tripp cabin is officially on Cedar, not Meadow.

Palisades: One cabin, no visible street but there is a street sign. I think it shows on the map. . .

Am I the only one who thinks about stuff like this?

Inching Ahead

A friend once asked me as I was drawing, “How in the world do you do that?”

“About one quarter inch at a time”, was my smarty-pants answer.

April is almost history, and I do believe I will meet my quota. This is in spite of a Big Birthday for my Little Mama, a 4-day camping trip to Montana de Oro, a visit by my Adobe InDesign coach from Seattle, an odd job, and a visit by 2 other friends. Bring on the fans – my pencils are smokin’!

(Hey Mr. Google, if you are spying on my blog, this is a pencil drawing of a Wilsonia cabin for the upcoming book The Cabins of Wilsonia.)

If you’d like to comment but it won’t behave, please email me via the contact page. I am beginning to wonder if the thing is broken. . .

Building a book, one cabin drawing at a time

This Wilsonia cabin was interesting to draw. The cabin caught my eye because of its bright blue shutters. Would it look like anything special in pencil?

I think it looks special because I love shingle siding and rockwork. Besides, sunshine makes everything look special. But, I can see that I need to rescan it, or mess around with some photo editing. My friend who taught me to use Adobe InDesign is visiting me this week, so I will ask her for help.

I need help building this book when it comes to the technical stuff. Thank you, Carol!!

Silence and Solitude in the Studio

My studio is a tiny building on the property where my house is. It used to belong to Mr. Clayton Sheesley (the father of Wilsonia cabin owners Gene and Bob), who built clocks. He planed his wood where I draw – in the large front door and out the large back door, which I had removed when the building was remodeled for my studio.

I have this idea that if I paint murals on the outbuildings, people won’t notice their shabby condition. Besides, I think it is fun to be hit with a surprise when the door is opened!

This is how the interior looks when it is all cleaned up the for the biennial Three Rivers Studio Tour.

But I digress. I work in solitude, but not usually in silence. For several weeks, I was unable to get the internet in the studio, so it has been silent.

But, I am not alone.

Perkins, my sweet kitty, has survived 14 years while witnessing the demise of 14 other cats. It’s rough on cats in my neighborhood. I’m no math whiz, but even I can see that we have averaged the loss of one cat per year. Last summer we lost Zeke and Kaweah. I’m starting to get a little weird about Perkins. (“Starting??”, I can hear my husband ask!)

That is drawing #133 in the foreground. I’m moving forward on The Cabins of Wilsonia. (I have to put the title of the book in the post so that Mr.Google can find it. Normally I wouldn’t be so repetitive. Blogging isn’t quite the same as regular writing because if one wants to be found by Mr. Google, one must follow his rules.)

New Month, New Drawing Quota

Because of life and some good things taking place in April, I only have 11 drawing days. With my self-imposed deadline of completing all the drawings for The Cabins of Wilsonia by the end of December, 2013, this is tricky.

Not to worry, Oh Gentle Blog Reader and Faithful Friend of Wilsonia! I knew this was coming so I drew like a crazy caffeinated drawing maniac in March. Not too caffeinated, because that would make my hand tremble. Just with a laser-like focus, an unceasing forward motion, a not-to-be-deterred determination.

Instead of completing 126 in March, I made it to #132. Still in the Ms – Manzanita Street is almost finished, Mason Street was begun in 2011 and will be completed in April, Lord willing, the creek, et cetera. . .

The Cabins of Wilsonia

A picture book about a cabin community