Restless

Posted on August 5, 2020 by Sarah Sullivan

The Zoom model today sat in her chair in a restless sort of way. Her arms and hands were relaxed but her shoulders were tense as though she were thinking through a to-do list. I accentuated her uneven shoulders to try to convey this feeling.

One of my Zoom friends from Fresno suggested I look at David Park’s paintings. I was able to get two books about his life and work through our curbside pickup library program. At the end of his short life he did some amazing paintings in gouache and I hope to absorb some of his approach in my own paintings.

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A Couch, a Book, a Son, and a Sketch

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Sarah Sullivan

Over the years I’ve sketched my son lounging with a book many times. I admire the way he fills the couch with his relaxed limbs and comfortable presence. I wanted to capture that feeling with this painting.

I usually paint on half of a large sheet of paper, but this time I used all 20 x 30 inches (50 x 75 centimeters) of a Stonehenge Black Watercolor sheet. It is great to look across the room and see my son sprawled across it.

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Blue Sky Through the Trees

Posted on August 1, 2020 by Sarah Sullivan

It has been hot everywhere around San Diego, even up at the Laguna Mountains, which are at 5,000 feet elevation. I found the shadiest place to stand that I could and looked around for a subject from that vantage point. There was a bit of blue sky, mostly hidden, through the trees and I focused on that.

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Once Upon a Stool

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Sarah Sullivan

Our Zoom model tonight was a pleasure to sketch. His poses were out of the norm and lent themselves to distortion. In this case, he leaned forward on his hands, keeping his long arms straight while he tucked his even longer legs up under the seat of a stool.

I painted directly on my paper without first drawing, and was pleased with the fresh, gesture – like feel it created.

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So Cool!

Posted on July 27, 2020 by Sarah Sullivan

My son and husband were having fun talking about something while I casually sketched them from across the room. I was charmed by their animated faces and relaxed bodies as they discussed the idea at hand. Their body language clearly communicated that they thought their idea was intriguing and I worked to capture that feeling with this gouache sketch.

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In the Lagunas

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Sarah Sullivan

I started this last week when I was painting up in the Lagunas, about an hour east of San Diego. Like many such paintings, it was not quite finished when it was time to leave. This morning, I added the suggestion of small plants in the foreground and now it feels finished to me.

This gouache painting is on a quarter sheet of Stonehenge black watercolor paper. I like the way the paper handles wet paint and absorbs it deep into the grain of the paper, yet supports the dry paint in staying on the surface of the page.

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Three Views of My Neighbor’s Palm Tree

Posted on July 21, 2020 by Sarah Sullivan

A few days ago I painted my neighbor’s palm tree, and here are three more sketches of it.

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