Sketching Ideas and a Blob Painting

It's been snowing nearly every day here in Colorado. Some days don't feel like dealing with traffic to the studio, so I've been sketching a lot. The collage above shows some sketches and a few details of a finished painting (seen at the end of this post).

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This fellow was a quick one--sort of an unconscious bit of drawing. Since all my gouache is at the studio, I used a Pentel Brushpen for the outline, a pilot Hi-Tec-C pen for the crosshatching, and a few Prismacolor pencils for the color.

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Same with this fellow. The visible red lines are my initial drawing; I use a red Verithin pencil for that, on either Kona brand paper, a brown paper bag, or wrapping paper.

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Then I finally plowed through the snow to the studio and painted this Squashed Pea Fellow with Acryla Gouache. 

Yeah he's weird--I make no excuses--I draw and paint what comes to me, not what I think will please others. To me, that's the philosophy that has added richness and progress to all the arts.

If you share that ideal (and like eclectic art-weirdness) follow me on Instagram:

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Owls in Acryla Gouache: A New Workshop!

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I'm excited to be teaching a new workshop at Foothills Art Center in Golden, Colorado!

Been working with Acryla Gouache lately on the recommendation of my studio-mate. (For years I used a quality sign-painters paint--until the quality went downhill.) But Holbein's Acryla Gouache is giving me the perfect matte look, opacity, and smooth application I want. It really is a blast, so sharing some techniques at a workshop was a logical next-step.

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Applying the paint to primed wood panels is my method of choice. I use a terra cotta gesso primer most often, which is peeking through the paint layers in the photo detail above. Sometimes rough wood is my choice...

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...and sometimes smoother. This fellow with the necktie is painted on a thick, pinewood disk.

There are numbers of different ways to paint with Acryla Gouache. Join me for the workshop--you'll take home your own finished owl... 

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...or your subject of choice, by the end of the day! 

Here's the link:

Tom Sarmo's Workshop

Thanks for the visit :)

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Winter Sun: A Wood Cut-Out

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Last year I delved into monochromatic painting in earnest. Greyed-blues on top of a terra cotta primer became a favorite, although muted orange on top of chrome green took a close second. 

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Planned this one out using paper cut-outs arranged within the frame. You can see from the photo upper left that the original face was a sour-looking old-man-face, haha. That changed pretty quickly.

Once the proportions were figured out, the buildings and the sun were drawn with brush and black acrylic, thickly outlined, and cut with a scroll saw (which is a fun and deeply satisfying part of the process).

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And then I painted it, assembled it, and varnished it!

Don't want to add tedious details here, but if you have questions, I am happy to answer any. Just message me on Instagram: 

@tomsarmo_art 

(because Blogspot won't let me respond here anymore for some reason, and unfortunately there's no help or support).

Thanks!

Back at it: A Captain Ahab Wood Cut-Out

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It's been a full-calendar-year, and blogging got back-burnered until now.

This post gets back on track with a wood cut-out piece made for the Character and Narrative exhibition at Foothills Art Center. The exhibition closed at the end of October, 2019.

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The process in this case was sketching, measuring (not my strong suit), and cutting out the pieces.

I like to prime the wood with a colored ground--usually terra cotta, sometimes green chrome or ochre.

The monochrome blue-grey in this case was applied from dark shadows to middle tones with highlights last.

I finished Ahab, whale, and frame with crackle glaze and burnt umber ink wash.

Thanks for re-visiting my blog :)

For more of my artworks, please follow me on Instagram @tomsarmo_art

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