Ok, I broke every rule on this self portrait. I painted individual teeth, for starters. You don't do that. I admonish students not to do that. I try so hard not to paint so 'tightly' in general, yet this painting is terribly tight. Sigh. Just forgive me and we'll move on, shall we? I will say it was fun to do a self portrait in which I actually look happy -accomplished by the fact that I worked from a photo taken by a photographer friend. Most I've done from looking in a mirror and there has been a serious look on each of those. If you know me, you know that I don't often look serious. The goofy grin is more likely.
This beautiful woman is Sharon Stone. Maybe not the Sharon Stone you know from movies, but it is her name, nonetheless. Last Saturday I was called by the La Villita office, asking me to please be painting that day as the Travel Channel would be in La Villita taping an episode about San Antonio. I accosted Sharon and her husband, Ivan, the moment they walked into my gallery that morning, pleading for her to model for me later in the day. She agreed and, true to her word, she returned to sit for me for 3 and a half hours. The Travel Channel never arrived, having run out of time earlier on their route. Ah well... I enjoyed our conversation so much and she loved her painting. I took a photo of her before she left and worked another couple of hours on it Monday. Below: Ivan, Sharon and Sharon's portrait.
I'll be painting online tonight at 7 p.m. Central time in case you can swing by to say hello... www.ustream.tv/channel/susancarlin
Hope to 'see' you there!
Susan
Self Portrait, and Sharon Stone- from sitting.
Chacala Boy, oil, 14x11... finished
I enjoyed painting this sweet face. If you compare this painting to the one in my previous post, you'll see he looks better nourished.
Below are some of the portraits painted in the workshop... I'm delighted with each one!
Gwen Bell
Juli Koroly
Ruthie Sexton
Janice Crawford
Kay Moore
Annice Anderson
Barbara Pask
Linda Wacaster
Ray Beck
Leslie Newman
Norma Folse
I was immediately aware of the paintings I have sitting around the studio that have been started, but not finished. Ok, well, some of my broadcast viewers remind me of them regularly, too. I see that I need to finish a few paintings before asking what's next. Expect some finishes in the next few posts!
-Susan
Salon's Jury's Top Sixty... and some starts
These last few days have been so full that now it's hard to know how to fill you in! I enjoyed all the events associated with Salon International, and it was made more special by getting to experience it all with artist Debra Bryant, who was my guest from Florida and who had a painting in the show, as well. She emailed me a couple of days ago to tell me the news that my painting had been awarded a ribbon as one of the Jury's Top Sixty in the Exhibition. I'm thrilled!
While she was visiting, we did a broadcast together in which we both started self portraits. I've worked on mine a bit since, and though it is FAR from finished, I thought I'd show you how it looks at the moment, but stay tuned for many improvements:
Saturday, April 17th, I held my second online painting workshop and this time the subject was a portrait. Again, I was so proud of all the work done by the participating artists. I'll post the images of their completed portraits on my blog in a few days when they send in their images for 'assessment and suggestions.' My own painting from our common photo reference is not completed, but I'll show you what it looks like now. His face will be a bit plumper in the final version:
Hope you're enjoying a beautiful spring!
Studio makeover, Debra's visit & Gentleman Traveler
This room was originally the fourth bedroom in my home, although I've only used it as an office for the 20+ years I've lived here. A few years ago I discovered the advantages of painting with my reference photos on the computer monitor, so I moved in a couple of easels... and the flotsam and jetsam began to accumulate. Until I started broadcasting my painting time, I usually had a movie or TV show going while I painted in order to have 'company' of a sort. Now I get to have a conversation with real people while I paint. Life was good, but oh, was it ever messy!
The same space now:
I don't think the "before" pictures truly show how awful it was in this room, but trust me- you wouldn't have wanted your loved ones to enter without making sure their shots were up to date.
How did this transformation happen? I have a friend who was born organized. You know how Superman had X-ray eyes and could see inside and behind things? Well, she can look at clutter and stacks and jumbles of who-knows-what and see how to put it in order. Me? I look at a cluttered room and just turn in circles until the depth of my despair could fill a Russian novel.
Yesterday she took on my studio and the room didn't stand a chance. It whimpered a little (or was that me?) and gave in to her tidy plans. I keep going to the door and saying, "WOW!"
Tonight I'll get to do my Wednesday night (7:00 p.m. Central time) broadcast in a space with SPACE. Please drop in if you can! On Friday, I'll be broadcasting painting with Debra Bryant , whom I get to host while she's in town for the opening reception of the Salon International exhibition this weekend. I'm not sure exactly when we'll broadcast on Friday, so if you add your email address to my "Get an email when I'll be painting online" form on my blog, you'll get an email with the time. Friday evening Debra and I will attend the Salon's Awards Banquet. Photos to follow!
My painting, Gentleman Traveler, was accepted into the Salon International and its image is now posted on Greenhouse Gallery's website here, and the super enormous image of it is here. Here is the framed view.
Some of you may remember that Daniel Greene critiqued my accepted entry last year, and what a thrill that was for me. Well, this year's judge, Everett Raymond Kinstler, is going to critique Gentleman Traveler. I will do my best to video his critique and post it here afterward. It'll be an honor to have him consider my work for the few minutes he'll focus on it.
Remember that I'm offering an Online Portrait Workshop a week from Saturday- April 17th, 9-4:30, for $50. So if you have good internet access and want to paint a portrait that Saturday, I hope you'll join in the fun! Follow this link to register:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=4YWRGKKTFG5QU
Joe, oil, 12" x 12"
I started this painting during one of my recent broadcasts and finished it over several days at my studio/gallery. It was a fun challenge to work out where the warms and cools were in his skin tones. I took the reference photo of a gracious visitor to the gallery who allowed me to take a few photos in response to my shameless begging. Thank you, Joe!
Tonight I'll be painting online at 7 p.m. Central, universe willing and the creek don't rise. Why don't you swing by around that time? I won't have a long session tonight, but always look forward to 'seeing' everyone and painting. Hope you'll drop in!
Reminder: My second Online Painting Workshop is coming up three Saturdays from now- April 17, 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. $50. The subject will be a portrait, the reference for which I'll be sending this week to those who've registered. Send your family to the park for the day and pull up your easel to the computer- Let's paint a portrait together!
To register, follow this link:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=4YWRGKKTFG5QU
(If you're receiving this by email, the button below won't work, so use the link above.)
For those registering from the blog, use this button:
"See" you tonight!
Susan
Turkish Angora Kitten, 5" x 7" oil
Notre Dame Future finished...Persian kitten tomorrow...
Tomorrow I'll be painting a small (8"x10") painting of an adorable Persian kitten named Gilbert.
Upsie Daisy, 14 x 11 oil
Online Still Life Painting Workshop Report
Daisies' Date, oil, 14" x 11" $400 unframed, $450. framed
- My painting from the workshop yesterday. (The painting within the painting is by Barbara Pask. )
Look for the images of the other artists' paintings below....
Nineteen wonderful artists registered for my first online painting workshop and seventeen attended it live yesterday. The other two will take the workshop from the video recordings we created yesterday. I was so impressed with each artist's work and their good nature as we rolled with occasional difficulty using Ustream as our means to connect. Between those delays and my having chosen a reference that was a bit complicated we ran later than we'd planned, but they hung in there, creating beautiful paintings every one.
I plan to offer other online workshops in the future, putting to use all I learned and making changes suggested by the artists in this first one. Portraiture, figures, pastel, more still life... my mind whirls with the possibilities!
If you couldn't attend yesterday's workshop live, but would like to take it by painting along to about 8-9 hours of videos on your own time in your own home, let me know. susan@susancarlin.com $40. (Critiques of your resulting work are not included with this option.)
I'll add images of the other artists' workshop paintings on this post as they are sent to me... check back over the next few days!
Ruthie Sexton
Annice Anderson
Debra Bryant
Barbara Pask
Gwen Bell
Peggy Montano
Pattie Wall
Marilyn Harman
Norma Folse
Casual Company...and Saturday's workshop
Casual Company, oil, 10" x 8"
I took many photos of still life arrangements in preparation for this Saturday's online painting workshop I'm offering... then could only pick one for the workshop! The other references seemed to cry, "Not fair!" So this is another painting from those references. Same apple, yes. I painted this during the Olympics' opening ceremonies Friday evening , and yesterday I thought it was dry enough to put in a frame and take with me to the gallery. It sold to a young, beautiful couple from L.A. I'm glad I thought to photograph it before they walked in!
There is still room for perhaps 4 more artists in the workshop this Saturday, February 20. We'll start at 9 a.m. Central, everyone in their own homes next to their computers. We'll paint til noon, everyone following along as I lead the way through the painting. Then they'll email me images (if they like) of their works-in-progress and I'll do an assessment-and-suggestion session online. We'll paint again until 4:00 and have another assessment session. Everything will be recorded so that the artists can revisit any or all of the workshop for a month following. So if someone has to leave early or loses their internet connection, no worries! If you'd like to spend the day with me (and with a great group of artists through the chat room) email me and we'll get you registered. It's $50. for the workshop. susan@susancarlin.com
Still Life Fun and Online Painting Workshop
Last night I painted this during my online broadcast... and after. I enjoyed chatting with the other artists, then said goodnight and couldn't seem to stop painting. At midnight I declared it finished. This morning I see a couple of things I'll tweak later today, but I'm really pleased with this one.
Arneson Stroll, 18 x 24 oil, Arneson River Theater, San Antonio
This is the completed painting of the Arneson River Theater and Rosita's Bridge. It was fun to incorporate the three figures into the landscape.
When you visit San Antonio, walk up the ampitheater steps (shown on the left) to the street level, turn left a few steps past the Little Church of La Villita, then right a few steps to my gallery- Susan Carlin Art Studio And Gallery. You might find me painting, or you might meet my sister, artist Patty Cooper, or my friend, artist Bonnie Mann. La Villita is San Antonio's Historical Arts Village and has many shops and galleries to explore. Come visit!
My painting was accepted in Salon International!
Please forgive me for posting twice today, but the accepted entries were announced today- a day early. Gentleman Traveler was accepted! To see my name in a list with such amazing artists is an incredible validation. You can bet when I got the email telling that the list had been revealed, my face went hot and my hands shook until I could get to the site and scrolled down the alphabetized names to find my own! I whooped. I hollered. I did my silly happy dance. I have a student in the gallery with me today so she got hugged and bounced up and down.
I just had to tell you!
Happy, happy Susan
Second Anniversary of Gallery!
Even though the rest of America thinks of February 2nd as Groundhog's Day, for me it's when I opened Susan Carlin Art Studio And Gallery in 2008. These have been the best two years of my life. It was crazy, but when I opened the gallery I still tried to see patients one day a week for a while. I got a grip around April and closed my chiropractic practice for good.
Well-meaning friends and patients expressed a lot of concern and sometimes outright pessimism about my plan to earn my living from painting alone. It's so great to stand here two years later thrilled at how well it's gone. If you need any encouragement to take your dreams seriously, I offer that encouragement now. Just take one step in that direction. Then another. Then another. Who knows? Maybe you'll find yourself in a happy brisk walk with a grin on your face sooner than you thought!
The above is the start of an 18"x24" oil of the Arneson River Theater on San Antonio's Riverwalk. It's about 100 steps from my little gallery. This morning I went to take photos of the trees on either side of this scene to fill in the gaps on the references I've been using. I've put together three photos for the main reference and have removed some people and rearranged the others. I'm thinking of giving the woman in the foreground an ice cream cone. Too cutesy? Hmmm...
A Start and a Finish and more on the Workshop...
Work in progress: 20" x 24" oil, Notre Dame Future (my title, not the commissioning family's title...) This is a couple of hours into a painting of two cuties on Saint Josephs Lake in South Bend, Indiana. If you'd like to watch the second hour of this painting, it's HERE.
This is my finish of Kathy Holcomb's portrait. She's declared it beautiful and that's cool with me.
Sixteen artists have indicated their interest in my online still life painting workshop February 20th and I'm going to limit the group to 20, so do let me know if you're interested and I'll be sending out details and a PayPal invoice to that group in a couple of days. Email me at susan@susancarlin.com We're going to have a blast!
Painting workshops- Rockwall, TX and ONLINE
This week I got to hang out with with the coolest artists. Eleven fun, enthusiastic painters in Rockwall, TX were in my two-day painting workshop and they each impressed my socks off.
Below is Kathy Holcomb who, with her husband Richard, let me stay in their pretty guest room and fed me very well, indeed. They also took me with them to see a great performance called Celtic Crossroads. Thank you, Kathy and Richard! As a thank you, I'm painting a portrait of Kathy and have gotten this far for a quick demo during the workshop. I promise it will look like her when I'm done!
It only dawned on me that I hadn't taken a group photo until after a few had already left, so these are only seven of the eleven- Donna, Marie, Gleneva, Ginnie, (me scooching down) Kathy, Helen and Shannon. Missing are Linda, Nancy, Trudy and Dianna.
Helen, working in oil.
Nancy, working in pastel.
Shannon's oil painting of her grandson.
My gracious host, Kathy, and her oil painting.
Marie and her self portrait in oil.
Gleneva and me. (My shirt says, "Life is Simple: Eat, Sleep, Paint." Sometimes it works out just that way!)
Donna- a very good painter, and also gave me home-made peach preserves. Mmmm.
It was beautiful the whole time I was there until I drove out of the parking lot. I snapped this before going over the long bridge over Ray Hubbard Lake. By the time I go to the other side, I had to hide under a gas station's roof from hail and simultaneous lightning and thunder crashes. The flashes were hair-raising! Minutes later the sun came out again. Texas weather- never dull!
