Tag Archives: pencil drawing

Jeffrey Shooting Star Amidst More Street Confusion

The Cabins of Wilsonia will be in one color of ink. I’m drawing the cabins in pencil, and graphite is gray. This means the book will most likely be printed in the gray ink that most closely matches the color of the pencils.

All the photos from which I am working are in color. Sometimes I have convert one to black and white, because otherwise it is hard to tell if it will look any good in pencil.

For example, a cabin with bright blue shutters normally is known and appreciated for its bright blue shutters. How will that look in pencil? Will the drawing just look so-so?

The meadow that can be seen from Sierra Lane/Drive/Road (see? I can’t figure out this Wilsonia street designation!) is awash with Jeffrey Shooting Star in early July. It is fabulous. Of course, the color is the fabulous part.

You’ve probably seen these. They like to grow with their feet wet.

I photographed a cabin on Alta, looking across that meadow from Sierra. (If I just say the name without the designation of Avenue/Way/Street then there is no confusion.) I thought it was a great way to show off the cabin’s superior location.

However, if the big deal about the view is the color, is there a point to drawing it in pencil?

I think the light across the meadow in the lower photo makes this second view the clear winner.

And those Jeffrey Shooting Stars? They can be our little secret. We wouldn’t want 100s of looky-loos flooding Sierra Lane and turning it into Sierra Highway each July.

Drawing # 150 something or other

I remember some numbers, like my second grade best friend’s telephone, or my 6th grade teacher’s birthday, or how many feet in a mile.

But, because the numbers are changing so rapidly, I can’t remember the number of drawing I’m on.

I do remember which street I am on. Park. Park is long. That will be a large-ish chapter.

Pine is next.

HEY! Are You Drawing?

Yes. Some. It is cabin season and my eyes are too old to draw without electricity. We don’t have electricity in Mineral King. You Wilsonia folks have cushy cabins, but I am not complaining.

But don’t worry! I’m on schedule with the goal of finishing all the drawings for the upcoming boook, The Cabins of Wilsonia by the end of 2013.

Sorry for being so redundant. It is supposed to help Mr. Google find this blog.

What about cabin life is the most different from your real life?

Tell me about the longest stay you have had at your cabin

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.)

The Cabins of Wilsonia

A picture book about a cabin community