Tag Archives: The Cabins of Wilsonia

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.

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.

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. . .

Reaching the (somewhat squishy) Goal

This is one of the earlier drawings. Before the book was designed, I knew this was a view that belonged in the book.

Now that I am into the 4th month of the ambitious goal to finish all the drawings in 2013, I am pleased to report that this definitely looks possible. 230+ drawings, begun in 2011, with 85 done at the beginning of 2012, needing 145 by the beginning of 2014. Probably even more than 145. . .

More? MORE?? Yes, because there are lots of little decorative touches that are not cabins. I haven’t figured out what they all will be or where they will go. Once the book is set up on Adobe InDesign, the gaps and hollow places will be visible. Then, in spite of thinking “Yippee Skippee, stick a fork in me, I am DONE!”, I will have to face the reality of more work ahead.

That’s okay. I love to draw.

You already knew that, right?