Graphite Portrait of African American Man

"Brice"

20" x 16"
Graphite and White Chalk

Just finished this portrait of Brice, one of my models.  It's done on Tan Stonehenge paper which is one of my favorite papers to work on. Unfortunately graphite is a bear to photograph.  I tried using my scanner, my good Nikon camera and my iPhone.  It either comes out too grainy or too contrasty.  Here the lamp on my easel is casting too much light on the image.  But when I remove the light and try for even ambient light, that makes things look weird too. You'll just have to take my word for it that this looks much, much better in person.  Transitions are very subtle in this piece but the photo just doesn't show that.  I'm frustrated enough that this may be the last graphite drawing I post.  Really.

Maine Coon Kitten

Maine Coon Kitten - Misty
6" x 8"
Oil on Panel
$85

I Love cats! Really love them, I mean. Just check out my FB page and you'll see dozens of cat videos. I particularly enjoy "Simon's Cat" videos. So naturally, my friends and relatives have asked me numerous times, "why don't you paint cats?" Well I've asked myself that too. Mainly it's because I don't paint subjects that are too "sweet". And let's face it. Kittens are sweet. But I couldn't stand the pressure anymore and so I caved. Yup. This is my first kitten. "Misty" was my first Maine Coon and while I did paint her picture in profile years ago when she died, I kept that one to put near her urn. Yes, I had her cremated. But here she is as a kitten. While this didn't provide me with a huge amount of challenge, I did enjoy painting her so I may be doing more of these in the future. And yes, I do paint pet portraits from time to time on commission as well.

You can puchase this painting by going to http://www.susanspar.com/small-works/.  Thanks for taking the time to read this. Enjoy your day!

Miniature Landscape Oil Painting

Hazy Day

6" x 8"

Oil on Canvas Panel

$75

When I lived in California, one of my favorite hiking and painting locations was the Santa Rosa Ecological Preserve.  It was located south of where I lived on the way to Temecula near Murietta.  It comprises 900 acres of rolling grassland filled with Engelmann oak woodlands. There are riparian wetlands, coastal sage scrub, chaparral, bunchgrass prairie, and vernal pools as well as more than 200 species of native birds and 49 endangered, threatened or rare animal and plant species. The paths are easy to navigate.  No matter how many people you may find there, it is easy to lose yourself in its peace and quiet. I took rolls and rolls of film there (before digital) and still have many of those reference photos.  Still, even if I didn't, the place is indelibly marked in my memory.  The Oak trees were, and still are, my favorites.  Over 400 years old, they stretch wider than their height - which is no mean amount.  Many of them are over 60 feet tall.  They provide luxurious shade on hot days and shelter from rain in the winter.  If you have a chance, visit the Preserve, and send my regards.  This small study for a larger piece is a view from one of the trails.

Impressionist Landscape of Woods and Path

"Into the Woods"
6" x 8"
Oil on Canvas Panel
$85

I was in the mood for a landscape today and had plans for doing a large one but decided I needed to do a few small studies first to determine color.  I really enjoy painting small landscapes. They're sort of intimate and invite you in for a closer look while still allowing you to see the larger picture.

You can purchase this painting at: http://www.susanspar.com/small-works/

Special Offer!

"Satin and Two Eggs"9" x 12"
Oil on Linen Panel

I've just finished my first newsletter - The Bi-Monthly Museletter - which will be sent out on the 14th of this month.  I'm very excited about it as I've been working hard to make sure it not only looks attractive but offers something valuable to my subscribers.  Every two months I will be offering a small painting at a specially reduced price only to my subscribers.  The painting will not be auctioned, but will be available on a first come, first served basis. It will only be available for one week after which, if it does not sell, it will be placed on my website with my usual pricing.  You will be able to purchase through my website by following a special link in the Newsletter and entering a code to enter the page for viewing or purchasing.

You can subscribe right here on this blog.  The subscription box is in the upper right hand corner of this site.  Or go to www.susanspar.com and subscribe there.  A confirmation email will come to your inbox.  Note - you MUST click on the confirmation to be entered on the email list.  If you don't see the email, check your spam folder.  Be sure to put "susanspar@susanspar.com" in your address book or white list to ensure you receive the newsletter.  Thanks! Hope to see you on my list.  :-)

New Year, New Painting

Back to Work

Happy New Year! It feels really good to be back to work.  While I always enjoy the break between Christmas and New Year as an opportunity to connect with friends and tidy up loose ends, it still feels wonderful to get back into the studio with a paintbrush instead of a mop.

I'm a bit old for New Year's resolutions.  I never found them to be more than a reminder of how deeply set are some of my habits and patterns.  Often those reminders are not kind.  Like the one where I promised to exercise every day.  It's just not always feasible and then when I don't get to it, I feel guilty.  Not worth the guilt.  I do make changes in my life but I no longer feel I need to do them on New Year's Day.  Every day marks the beginning of a new year when you think about it.  Five months ago, I made a pledge to change my eating habits and take on the challenge of a healthier diet. I'm proud to say I have been successful.  I've dropped 22 lbs and I'm enjoying my new way of eating with no temptation to change it.  So, change is possible even for old dogs like me.

I'd like to make promises about myblog, but I've learned that to do so can greatly disappoint my followers.  So let's just say that I'm working on streamlining my methods of keeping up with social media and other aspects of my work.  Hopefully that will translate into more frequent posts and more interesting things to say.

Here's my most recent endeavor.  It's a small still life - 9" x 12", Oil on Linen Panel.  It's still on the easel obviously and I have much to do on it.  I'm still on the first pass and there will be a few more to follow.  I'll post again my results in a couple of days so you can follow the progress.

I'll be offering this piece at a special price to my newsletter subscribers.  I haven't posted the sign-up for that yet on my website (www.susanspar.com), but hope to do so later either today or tomorrow. You will only be able to access the page where the painting is for sale if you subscribe because you will need a special code to unlock the page. Subscribing to this blog will not grant you access to the sale page. The Newsletter is a separate deal. The painting won't be up for bid.  It will be listed at one price, first come, first served, and only for a few days.  If it doesn't sell within one week, it will go on my website at a higher price.

Have a great day and a Happy New Year!

Still Life Oil with White Flowers

"Anna's Gift"
Oil on Linen
24" x 36"

The New Year is nearly upon us.  I'm crazy busy getting ready for Christmas and Hanukkah (we're an equal religious opportunity family) my annual New Year's Day Brunch and cleaning up all the old details of the previous year that needed tidying.  As I run back and forth between the house and the studio carrying things that have migrated to the distant corners of the house, I realize how fortunate I am to have all this space.  A few years ago I built my studio large enough to hold myself and my students.  Despite being over 400 square feet though, it still feels crowded.  But that's part of my good fortune. The clutter, I mean. It's loaded with easels, paintings and supplies that keep me busy seven days a week and fills my home once a week with several wonderful students.  Anna is a young student in my class and she gifted me earlier this year with a lovely branch of hand crafted white flowers on a branch.  It's in the painting above.  

My days are filled with work and painting (OK...that's work too), good friends and students and lots of laughter.  How lucky I am.  Then there's my husband.  He's patient (he needs to be) and good humored and sometimes I don't think I deserve him.  My cats are wonderful too.  They snuggle with me when I read in the evening and follow me around talking to me all day.  I have a lot of wonderful artist friends and non-artist friends and family and life is generally pretty damn good.

So what I'm trying to say is that although this post started as a gripe about how busy I am, I have turned it into a letter of gratitude.  I know I don't hear from many of you in terms of comments, but I know you're out there and occasionally stop on by to see what's new.  So you're part of my total gratitude picture.  Thank you for being a part of my crazy life.

I wish you a wonderful holiday and a magnificent New Year.  Be healthy, be happy and be safe!

All my best to you!

Susan

Oil Portrait Study

Study of Lauren
Oil on Linen

I host a weekly life drawing group in my studio on Mondays.  We're just a small group of friends who enjoy each other's company.  Often our poses go for up to six weeks so that members can do polished drawings or paintings from the pose.  This time, though, we ran the pose for four weeks.  Now I know that there are a lot of very good alla prima portrait artists out there but I'm not usually given to alla prima work.  Well, yes, I used to be an alla prima painter but in recent years, I've changed my style to that of a more polished look so I'm badly out of practice on alla prima portraits. 

I do like to do studies every so often and I have decided to dedicate every other session to just painting from the model rather than drawing. This study of our model, Lauren is the first in a long time.  I try in these little pieces to focus on the bigger picture and limit myself to just a couple of brushes.  Basically I use three.  I have a 1 1/2 inch for the background and other larger shapes and a 1/2 inch for the medium shapes and a 1/4 inch brush for the smaller shapes.  I'm learning to wield the larger ones with more finesse and I resist the urge to go to smaller brushes.  Usually I can achieve a fine line when needed by turning the brush on it's edge.  So much more to learn here.  

Oil Painting of a Reclining Nude

"Jen Sleeping"24" x 30", Oil on Linen Panel

Finally! I've been working on this painting for almost three months and because my studio time has been limited, I haven't worked on anything else! So glad to be finished.  The hardest part though hasn't been painting this.  It's been photographing it!  I have a lot of cool skin tones in here and the light in my studio is either too dim or too warm when I turn on the lights.  I finally found the right combination of warm and cool to photograph it in.

I hope to enter this in some competitions. A couple of times a year, I paint a piece strictly for this purpose.  That means that this won't be for sale for awhile, but that's OK.  I'll enjoy looking at it for a bit.  Thanks for stopping by.

Painting Alla Prima with Susan Martin Spar

I uploaded my very first teaching video today to You Tube! I'm pretty new to this although I've had the camera for a couple of years, I just haven't gotten around to using it. So I traded lessons for help from one of my students who has been acting as a studio assistant. Anna is a young lady who has taken a class on vidography, (hmm - is that a word?) and so she was willing to jump right in and help out. We're a little rough around the edges yet, but I thingk we're improving and will get better over time.

I made this video for a student who lives in India and who takes lessons via Skype from me every week. I've been promising to do a demonstration for her for awhile now so we have her to thank for pushing me out of my rut and getting me started. Thank you Mamta! I hope this works for you.

Although I've evolved into a indirect painter over the years since my alla prima days of being a daily painter, Mamta is interested in learning alla prima techniques so I gathered together a couple of apples and put together this exercise. I enjoyed the process so much, I think we'll be doing a bunch more over the coming year. More alla prima because the practice is good for me - and a variety of other subjects as well. Here it is. Hope you enjoy it. I would appreciate any feedback you may have. Say it nicely please. :-)