portraiture

I substitute taught at Art Center for two portraiture classes. I did a portrait study for the students in both classes and here's how they came out. It was about two hours or so and I was able to get a little more finish than the 20 minute portraits! The students really enjoyed watching the paintings evolve and I had fun doing them. They said they learned a lot!

Announcing the winner!

Announcing the winner of my Soul Journal Halloween party give away!

Everyone with the correct answer: coffin got added to the lotto.

and the winner is...

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bleubeard and elizabeth!

Elizabeth please e-mail me your snail mail address so I can send you your pumpkin. sarah@caspiana.com

Thank you all for playing, I had a ton of fun! :)

XO

Sarah

the Brewery

Next weekend is the Brewery artwalk and I dropped a couple paintings off at a show space there. Also, I plan to do some plein air during the artwalk so I brought my gear with me and drew this. It's underpainting so I plan to put more color on it but kinda like the painting yesterday I'm stopping at this stage and letting it dry. The light is much closer on this one, but it still has a nice, drawn 'roughness' that I like. oil on canvas, 36 by 24.

Here's the website for the Brewery Art Walk. I'm in space "W-13" and I'm selling an urban landscape and a master copy.

Helms Ave

I went out to Culver City for some picturesque views of the Helms Bakery. The light wasn't right at the time I went out there but I did this underdrawing on the canvas with oilbars. Normally I'd immediately paint over this, but I'm going to wait and go back in the morning when I think the light will be much more dramatic. All I'm going for in the underdrawing is placement and composition, not a feeling of light and shadow. I still think it's fun to see the underdrawing because it's really primitive, like a kids crayon drawing. In fact the oilbars help that mindset because they feel like giant crayons made of linseed oil and drying wax. Here's a view of the corner of Helms Ave and Washington Blvd. oil on canvas, 36 by 24.

Soul Journal Halloween Party!

Welcome to the Soul Journal Halloween party hosted by Collage Diva and Yahoo's Soul Journal group. For a list of all the participating blogs please visit the Collage Diva's website.


A BIG welcome to all you ghosts and goblins... witches and warlocks!

Now that you have arrived we are ready to party!

Let's Dance!

Here's a tempting treat for one special guest:


it's says "Autumn, the years last loveliest smile" (click for detail)


To win this 8x8 hand-painted pumpkin (made by me) you must leave the answer to the following riddle in the comments section of this post. A drawing will be held of all the correct answers and winner will be announced tomorrow. Good luck!



Riddle:

The person who makes it has no need for it.
The person who purchases it does not use it.
The person who uses it does not want it.

What is it?



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Also in honor of our Fabulous Halloween party everything in my Etsy store is 20% off today only...just in time for the holidays! Mention the word "BOO!" to receive a free gift with your purchase. :)





Oh look, Anna has decided to join our party! She's decided to be a cute giraffe this year.




And here's Oliver he's decided to be a scary skeleton.

Now all I have to do is decide what I'm going to be. hehe

I hope you had a good time at my party and I look forward to visiting all my fellow Soul Journalers parties too!



XO

footsies

I've been fiddling with my painting of Footsies, having fun resolving areas of the composition. I started this painting in 2006 and forgot about it for two years. I always sorta liked it but was never totally into it. now I've jumped back into it, completely repainted it, and I like the new direction it's taken. I have a feeling I'll put it against the wall and forget about it for another two years but at the moment I'm really enjoying indulging all my pure color desires... As a painter I love color! I love it so much I want to paint as much of it as possible! ahahahhhaahahah! oil on canvas, 30 by 48

Street Painting in Scottsdale

Last year while painting in the Houston Via Colori Festival I was asked to be the featured artist in Scottsdale, Arizona's new Via Colori event. Wonderful! Before the event I drove out to give two Street Painting workshops to participating artists; one last spring and one this fall. The artists were great! This last weekend I was flown out for the event. Despite 97 degree temps and 120 degrees on hot asphalt, the festival was a huge success. Thousands of people came out to see the work of 100 artists.

The painting I designed was called Leda and the Swan. In the Greek myth, Zues seduces Leda disguised as a swan. Leda later gives birth to Helen.

South Pasadena

I thought I'd try to get one more painting of South Pasadena before the show dropoff on Monday. There are a number of old Victorian style houses and this one stood out to me. As I was painting it I met the owners who said that this house was built in 1890 and at one point used to be a schoolhouse. Here's a before and after of the painting. The before is a bad camera-fone pic how I do the lay-in these days, I try to draw like a kid! I imagine some people might see the painting at this stage and think I'm nuts, but its fun! oil on canvas, 28 by 22.

Mark your Calendars!

The Soul Journaling Halloween party starts here on Oct. 26th!

You're not gonna want to miss this! There will be games and special Halloween art, there will be huge sales in my Etsy store that day only...AND I will be giving away one of my original "Autumn" themed pieces of artwork. All you have to do to win is leave a comment on Oct. 26th to be entered in the drawing.

Hope you join the party!!!!

footsies

I went looking for landscape this morning but struck out. I came back home and decided to work on a piece I've had lying around for a little while, an interior of a bar in Highland Park called Footsie's. I liked the piece but never completely so I thought maybe slapping another coat of paint on would help. If you're not happy with a piece, then painting more on it can never hurt, it can only make you like it more or still not like it. It's a NO LOSE situation! ahahahah! oil on canvas, 30 by 48.

Buster's

I'm entering a show called "Rialto Visions" which is about icons and landmarks of South Pasadena. The drop-off is this coming Monday and the show is the next day! So I want to try to sneak a few more landscapes between now and then. I went to the metro stop at the corner of Mission and Meridian and painted Buster's. South Pasadena has some neat old buildings, and the light couldn't have been better this morning. 18 by 24, oil on canvas

War and Peace in Bakersfield

I had a great time at the Bakersfield Via Arte Street Painting Festival! Not only did I have the chance to see all my street painting friends, but I had a really good time painting. I chose to reproduce a stunning painting called "War and Peace" by Italian artist Pompeo Batoni. Last year while painting at the Via Colori street painting festival, a sudden thunder storm hit and washed us out. I took the afternoon to visit the Museum of Fine Arts with a friend. They had an exhibit on the works of Batoni...some of the most beautiful paintings I've ever seen. War and Peace was one of them. Stunning!

Remco helped by filling in the velvety black background while I worked on the figures. Had lots of great compliments on the piece and we really enjoyed it.

Happy Birthday Via Arte!

I'm Published!

I just came from the mailbox and am so excited to let you all know that I am "officially" published! :) See me in the new Somerset Studio Nov/Dec 2008 Holiday issue!

Page 98 and 99.

For more views of the Christmas book please visit my website.

Page 100

Page 102

Coming soon: I will also be in Cloth Paper Scissors upcoming Nov/Dec 2008 issue!

back at the Rialto

Today was a California Art Club sponsored 'paint-out' at the Rialto Theatre in South Pasadena, which I scouted out and painted last week. Boy was it nice out today! Unlike last week, the weather was perfect this morning. Bright crystal clear sunlight! I got out there at 8am and brought a bigger canvas this time, 36 by 18. I really enjoyed the sunnier day. The paint-out is in promotion of an upcoming movie about painting called Local Color which they are screening tonight. I watched the movie and it was good. I wish there had been more analogy between painting and life. Between the act of painting and the act of life; how one attacks their paintings and how one lives their life. Of course I wanted to see more painting!!

update: a local blogger was out taking photos yesterday and I ended up in her blog! It's a fun picture of me painting... check it out here: Glimpses of South Pasadena

painting Let's Paint TV!

I went on the internet version of Let's Paint TV yesterday and did a portrait of John and Howard Blueberry doing the show (oil on canvas, 30 by 24). It's always a blast! Too bad the show didn't save, but here's the painting to remember the moment. Then later that day, we met up at the Hive gallery and did some street painting. John brought his portable PA and for about an hour he gave a stream of consciousness play by play of his painting and giving creativity advice to the crowd and I was across the street painting him! oil on canvas, 24 by 18.

UPDATE: John put the portrait on E-bay. Let the auction excitement begin! Like Damien Hirst at Sotheby's. aahahahahha!

and here's a self-portrait video of John on Spring Street doing Let's Paint TV

20 Minute Portraits!

I haven't done the live, quick-sketch portraits in a little while, but will be at the Hive this Thursday for Art Walk painting some again. They're fun! I've done a bunch, and sometimes I forget to take a photo of them and the sitter buys the piece. But I ran into this gentleman at the Hive opening last Saturday, who'd sat for me a couple months prior. It was a good portrait and he sent me a picture of it, so I'm posting it on my blog.

descanso gardens

I went out with Grace to Descanso Gardens to paint landscape. I decided to paint more Grace than landscape so here's what I came out with, a landscape painting of Grace painting landscape! It's always fun to get a painting in a painting because you can get really loose there! Like Matisse when he did that ...

back downtown

I went to 8th and Grand again to paint the Commercial Exchange building again. I invited my class last week to join me and a couple students came and watched some of the painting. It was good fun, a great day out! I painted on top of an old workshop study of Sara Streeter what wasn't much of a piece. I sanded it, turned it upside down and went nuts on it... Bye bye! Welcome new painting... oil on canvas, 24 by 18

Bakersfield Street Painting Festival

October 11-12th, 2008
Remmie and I will be heading to Bakersfield next weekend for their Via Arte street painting festival put on by the Bakersfield Museum of Art. It is their 10 year anniversary and I'm very happy to be participating again. It's a great event if you want to get out of town for a day or the weekend. Haven't decided what i'll be painting yet but they have a great mix of artists from professional to student and the work is always outstanding. This is also a competition. Wish me luck!

Street Painting Proposal

Hi Everyone!!

I came home after work one night to find my driveway lit up with tea lite candles surrounding a street painting of a cupid.
My boyfriend, Remmie was standing beside it with champagne and chocolates. It was beautiful. He proposed that night.

Remmie has assisted me with the backgrounds in several of my recent street paintings...Santa Barbara, Denver and in Holland where he is from. This was his first attempt doing it all on his own and he did an amazing job. Here are some pics of my honey's masterpiece ;)

the Rialto

I went this morning to paint the Rialto Theatre in South Pasadena. The light wasn't behaving as it kept going to cloudy to sunny over and over. I stuck with the overcast light because that's how it was the most. oil on canvas, 24 by 12.