Not bad, eh? This one was a bugger! If I can’t see it, I can’t draw it very well. It takes longer when I refer to multiple photos from different angles in different lights. Not whinin’, just sayin’.
And thus we conclude our little explanation of drawing a Wilsonia cabin in pencil when our photos are not providing all the information. Now, I might need to go lie down for a bit. Someone, administer dark chocolate and bring me my knitting!
Whoa. Not a lot of visual information here to draw this cabin. Maybe I can see more in another photo.
Umm, maybe not. How about with better light?
Nice stumps. Any other photos?
Decent light, but so much is hidden by trees and branches. Guess you’ll have to check back in tomorrow to see how the drawing turned out!
Before beginning The Cabins of Wilsonia, I had to answer some basic and somewhat complex questions. Those were covered in Chapters 1-5.
Once those questions were answered satisfactorily, I had to figure out how to tackle this monumental project.
I visited Wilsonia, staying with friends in the Masonic Tract. They left after the first night, and then I was on my own. For a week, I walked daily through the streets with my camera, learning the names of the streets, meeting people, learning shortcuts, trying to understand the layout. I learned that many of the cabin folks don’t know all of Wilsonia. I learned that parallel streets confuse me. I learned that I’d better have a map, lists and charts.
After asking several people if they had an opinion or an idea of how to organize the book into chapters and getting no clear answer, I knew I was on my own.
That’s good – it is my book, after all! Can’t expect other people to solve my problems. But, it was good to ask for opinions to make sure I wasn’t overlooking something obvious to a seasoned citizen of the community.
By street in alphabetical order. That’s how the chapters will be organized.
In my book, this means taking zillions of photos. Every day, looking for different angles, different lights at different times of day, more details, the settings of each cabin, the best possible views – photograph, photograph and photograph some more. And don’t forget to mark down which photos are on which street! Don’t mix them up! Don’t get confused, no matter how many photos of cabins with chimneys on the gable end you see in one day.
The chimneys are all different and I DO know where each one of these cabins is located!
January is behind me, and I have completed 103 drawings.
Charming rustic door looks even better since I omitted the spider webs.
Not all in January! I can’t remember how many I had finished when the year began, but I think it was around 85. I’m just guessing, because I didn’t write it down. On the January 11 blog post, #86 is on the table.
With 11 months remaining to complete the drawings for the book (a self-imposed deadline), I need to do 11 or 12 per month. This is possible.
I won’t be showing you all the completed drawings, because I want to ignite your fascination trigger of mystique.
What sort of weirdo psychobabble is this? I’m reading a book called Fascinate by Sally Hogshead. Interesting information, great writer! Wish I was on the Amazon affiliate program and got $ for telling you to buy the book, but alas, I am just rambling because I’ve spent too many hours alone in the studio, many days without internet access (gasp of horror).
The Cabins of Wilsonia moves forward!
A commissions is “an order for something, especially a work of art, to be produced”. For many years, I have been accepting commissions to draw people’s homes and cabins in pencil, drawing to the customer’s specifications.
This pencil drawing was made according to the cabin owner’s request, using his photos.
As I work on The Cabins of Wilsonia, I am drawing the cabins and views that suit my tastes and the (ever evolving) design of the book. Those views are chosen to represent both the typical and the atypical aspects of cabins. My choices also are made for the most visual variety on each full page spread of the book.
If a cabin owner asks me to draw his cabin, I say yes.
Saying yes doesn’t guarantee that the commissioned drawing will be in the book. It means the cabin owner has asked for a particular drawing, and they pay me to do it the way that they want.
There are some gray areas. For example, some folks have offered use of a photo that they really like, and given me permission to draw it that way for the book.
Is that a commission?
No. But, they have first dibs on buying the original, when I’m ready to let them out of my studio.
I NEVER want to be pushy or pesky or sales-y. So, I probably have missed opportunities to make money. Making money is part of being in business – without that part, I would only have a hobby. Businesses have customers; hobbies don’t.
So, if you would like to commission me to draw your cabin, I am available. The common sizes are 8×10 – $175, and 11×14 – $250.
Do I have the right to draw The Cabins of Wilsonia?
There is a smarty-pants answer of “It’s a free country!”
A commissioned pencil drawing of a Wilsonia cabin
But, honestly, (and I want to always be honest so don’t ask me questions if you don’t want the answers – how is that for a fair warning?) this is a question of legitimacy. Since I don’t have a cabin in Wilsonia, who do I think I am??
These things led me to do take on this project:
1. I have a cabin, so I understand and appreciate cabin culture.
2. My business is Cabinart, named this because when I began earning my living with my art, I was living in a cabin and drawing people’s cabins. (1986 – gasp of shock at my advanced age!)
3. I am a California artist whose self-declared mission is to represent the beauty of Tulare County. Since I only recently learned that Wilsonia is in Tulare County, I am thrilled!
4. I believe strongly, STRONGLY, that historic cabin communities are treasures in today’s world. They need to be enjoyed, preserved, documented, recognized and celebrated!
5. Architecture, particularly older architecture has always been my favorite thing to draw.
6. I have experience in self-publishing another cabin book, The Cabins of Mineral King.
7. Several friends from Wilsonia asked me to do this.
A Wilsonia cabin owner asked me, “Why don’t you just do a book on Mineral King cabins?”
I answered, “I did.” 😎
We’ve been covering the questions I had to answer before deciding to do the book, The Cabins of Wilsonia.
Do I have the ability?
I’ve been drawing cabins since 1986, along with lots of other subjects. I’m positive that I have more than 10,000 hours of focused practice with the intention to continually improve.
Wilsonia benches
I’ve published another book on cabins, The Cabins of Mineral King (1998). That book was accomplished with a partner. Jane Coughran is a retired picture editor for Time-Life Books, and without her expertise, the Mineral King book would not have happened.
Times were different in the last century. Janey and I did the research by interviewing other local authors. We decided how to divide the info into chapters, where to have text, took the photos for drawing, borrowed the historical photos that we included, decided the views of each cabin, laid out the book, found all the people we hired*, chased down the ISBN and bar code, got into the Library of Congress Card Catalog, chose a printer, a binder and even a trucking company to deliver the books. We designed pre-order forms and sent them with invitations to a book signing, which we also planned. We hauled the books to shows, sold them, delivered to bookstores and other gift shops, stored them, and shipped them all over the country. We sold out.
This time, it’s just me. I either know how to do this stuff, or can find people to teach me, or know how to find people to do the parts that are beyond my ability.
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.
*a book designer, a graphic artist to make our map, a publicist
Will anyone care enough to buy this book?
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.
Last time we determined that people will indeed care about a book called The Cabins of Wilsonia. Today we will think about whether or not enough people will care to make the project worthwhile. It would be stupid to spend 3 years on a project, not earning any money while I am doing it, and not earning any money at the end. I try to not be stupid. This is a good policy, don’t you think?
There are several places I hope to find people who will want the book.
1. Cabin folks, their families and friends. In 1998, Jane Coughran and I wrote and drew a book called The Cabins of Mineral King. We printed and sold 1000. There are around 60 cabins in Mineral King, as opposed to around 200 in Wilsonia. Clearly, more than just cabin owners and their associates bought the book!
Who were those other people? Do they exist within the circles of Wilsonia?
2. The tribe who loves Wilsonia, Grant Grove, Kings Canyon. Mineral King has a tribe of folks who love the place. These are mountainy people, history buffs, hikers, campers, people from Tulare County, people from all over the world.
Wilsonia is next to Grant Grove, in Kings Canyon National Park, also visited by people from all over the world. The road is much easier than the road to Mineral King and it leads to other places too. It stands to reason that the visitation is substantially greater. I don’t know the numbers.
The comparison sort of works, although Wilsonia is off the main highway and isn’t necessarily a part of the visitors’ experience. So, although that might be a source of customers, it probably won’t be a large segment.
3. My people. I have been earning my living as a pencil artist, oil painter, teacher of drawing, and muralist since 1993. Through those years I’ve developed a small following. Makes sense that a percentage of those who like my work and bought my first book are likely to buy a second book. Certainly would help if I knew what that percentage will be, but alas, I am an artist, not a clairvoyant.
4. People who love local history, love to draw, and/or have a thing for cabins. This group is diverse, hard to find, and random. I can find the local history buffs through the Tulare County Historical Society, but the rest might depend on good old Mr. Google, who knows everyone and everything.
The cost of almost everything goes up (except the latest in technology – I remember my dad paying $90 for a calculator the size of a shoe back in the ’70s!). So, whether or not anyone will care enough to part with their hard earned dollars depends on me – DO YOUR VERY BEST WORK, TOOTS!
Oh my goodness – the pressure – bring on the dark chocolate!
(These will be very short chapters.)
I began the process of drawing The Cabins of Wilsonia by asking some questions. Today I’ll delve into #1 – Will anyone care?
This drawing of a sign on the side of a Wilsonia cabin sums it up quite nicely. How many times have you heard someone refer to “The Cabin”? Don’t all cabin owners use that terminology? And don’t they all say it with great love, longing and admiration?
Who am I fooling? “They” is “we” – I too have a cabin, although not in Wilsonia. I get it.
We who have cabins L O V E them. Our families do too. Our friends love to visit us at our cabins. Our acquaintances try to weasel in on the action. (You know what I’m talking about!)
So, yes, cabin owners care.
In addition to the cabin owners, there are former cabin owners, cabin visitors, and cabin wanna-be owners.
The answer to “Will anyone care?” is YES!!
Most normal people write books. Normal doesn’t come easily to me, so I’m drawing a book. If you are fixin’ (learned to say that from my friends in Texas) to draw a book, where do you begin?
With questions, lots of questions. Before diving into a project of monumental proportions, it is good to know a little bit.
I admit it – shingle-siding is my favorite!
1. Will anyone care? Is there a market? Do I have an audience? Can I find the audience? Never mind, now we’re veering into marketing questions that will have to be addressed in another post.
2. Will anyone care enough to buy this book? Caring is one thing. Caring enough to spend hard-earned dollars is another level. Never mind, now I’m veering into accounting questions which I might just ignore for awhile.
3. Do I have the ability? Do I have the stamina? Am I able to plan, execute, problem solve, decide, find the necessary companies and people to make this happen? Never mind, now I’m veering into territory that makes me need to go lie down for a bit.
4. Do I have the right? Is this my book to create or is there someone more qualified? Will people allow me to have a peek into cabin life and learn enough about their particular community to give this book validity?
These are all questions I considered carefully before saying YES I WILL! YES I CAN!
I’ll share the answers I found for these questions in the next blog posts.