I last reported to you on the book progress on February 26, saying that my quota for February had been met.
Perhaps you are wondering why I didn’t take the opportunity to get ahead a bit. This is a legitimate question, and I have 3 reasons for not forging ahead of schedule.
1. I went to Chicago on a 5 day trip. (Okay, I was only in Chicago itself for one short day, but if I said I went to Downers Grove, you might just say “Hunh?” Or perhaps you are more refined than that and might say “Where?”) You can read about it and even see photos on my other blog, beginning February 27.
2. It is time for me to complete some oil paintings for a request, a barter, and a gallery in Three Rivers (Colors has no website, but might be on Facebook, which I am not, so you are on your own there.)
3. My husband Michael (AKA Trail Guy) and I recently designed and ordered custom Mineral King tee shirts and they are now available! That has taken up some potential drawing time.
In other words, there is more to my life than drawing The Cabins of Wilsonia, and sometimes I have to do a bit of a juggling act.
But fear not – the drawing machine has been restarted! #116 is on the table.
As I draw this book alphabetically street by street, I feel a sense of progress.
Duh.
This cabin looked boxy from the front. After I passed by it about the one thousandth time, I began noticing interesting details. Have you ever seen a cabin this shape before?
It is part of the book because I want both the typical and the atypical. Bet you can tell which category this drawing fits into.
This is #111.
Part of the fun of drawing a self-designed and self-published book is that I get to draw whatever strikes my fancy. NO ONE would ever commission me to draw this view of his cabin!! When people commission this California artist to draw their cabins, they choose the front. Always. No exceptions. Amen.
Being a California artist, nay, a California pencil artist, a cabin artist, Cabinart herself, sometimes I like to choose the offbeat, the unusual, the most interesting view, the unique. This pencil drawing qualifies for all of the aforementioned.
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!
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).
Okay, if you start counting with the Gordon’s A-frame, then the Coll-Inn Too is #2 and this is actually #3. But since I can’t remember drawing the Gordon’s cabin, I still think of this as #2.
My friend Sara called to see if the Wilsonia folks could auction or raffle a certificate for a drawing of a cabin at one of the annual meetings. Since I am CABINART (that is the name of my studio because originally all I did was draw cabins), I said yes. She bought a certificate for an 8×10 drawing, and it raised some money for the community.
Jack and Alitta were the recipients, and they were both delighted and delightful!
I thought it was Gus and Barbara’s “Coll-Inn Too”. Turns out I drew Pat Gordon’s A-frame on Chinquapin before I knew anything about Wilsonia! I don’t remember, didn’t take any photos, have no memory of it. I’m grateful to Pat for reminding me that I drew her cabin!
However, the first cabin I REMEMBER drawing is the Coll-Inn Too. I don’t remember how Gus found me. He emailed me photos, I asked for more. He emailed those. I asked for more. He send more. I probably asked for even more. For some reason, maybe because I was too busy or too lazy or don’t charge enough for commissions, I didn’t drive to Wilsonia and look at the cabin with my own eyes.
Despite all the difficulty I gave to Gus, we had a great time communicating about the details of his cabin. He and Barbara had a zillion notecards printed with the image, and it is rumored that thank you notes are sent for any and all reasons so they can get those cards used!
I did make Barbara’s happy bear look grumpy. We discovered that he does look grumpy from the angle I drew him! She forgave me, and we are friends. 😎
