Two to Tango?

It takes two to tango. And today I don't feel much like tango-ing. What do you do on days when you feel disappointment in results?

Class demo California Art Institute.

TEASER ALERT...THE BOOK IS COMING!

Phew...I did it, with some considerable help. My book is on its way to the printer in time for the show!! Cheers, clink! clink! All around. Here is the cover. Hope you like!

365 drawings drawn each day of 2010, many turned in to painting studies, made their way into a book with the help of a marvelous company called FLAUNT YOUR PHOTOS

FlauntYourPhotos.com

I could NOT have done it without FYP, a company geared toward helping artists in particular (but other normal folks too!) do just what I did. It was painless too, I have to say. Mrs. Peggy Kinstler founded FYP and she is used to working with artists being married to master artist Everett Raymond Kinstler, N.A. Peggy's great art editing eye and vast publishing experience, was priceless. 365 sketches plus other year images AND text, found themselves nestled into the new pages of this book within 10 days or so! Thanks for working so hard for me Peggy. I have a new baby about to be born.

The book will be available for purchase in three different sizes and prices, 5"x5", 8'x8", and 12"x12".

Watch this spot for more info on how to purchase, and pricing.

Glow...

I say a juicy vibrant tangerine will remind you why you wanted to start painting in the first place.

As much I try to keep those orange globes muted, I just can't hold back for long. I want them bright orange. Nothing else will do.

Demo this week, one on one instruction. How I enjoy that type of teaching.

GLOW, demo.

8x6

Oil

Hot dinners...Face of Ventura Project

Eloquent inventor Jerry English has done more things in his long healthy life than I have had hot dinners! He was a MUST for my FACE OF THE VENTURA with The Ventura Breeze http://www.venturabreeze.com/#

Publisher Sheldon Brown and I are just about to paint our tenth sitter, all from life in a single sitting, out of 52.

I must eat more hot dinners. It takes a lot of energy to paint handsome interesting people.

Jerry English

Portrait by Johanna Spinks

Gerald (Jerry) Dean English was the child of Alden Weslie and Doro- thy Ann English born at St. Johns Hospital in Oxnard in 1937. He spent his young life growing up on the west end of Ventura. He has traveled the world and came to realize that Ven- tura is the best place on Earth.

Jerry joined the U.S. Air Force in 1955 and attended technical school at Lowery Air Force Base in Denver Colora- do, where he studied munitions, demo- lition, and nuclear and thermal nuclear weapons. He was then sent to Germany where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechani- cal Engineering at the University of Mainz. During this time, Jerry raced motorcycles for the Adler Factory in Frankfurt, includ- ing the German Prix in 1958 at the Nuremburg Ring.

County as a private investigator. In 1983 he was employed by a company called Swat Viper where he provided seminars and training for SWAT teams in Califor- nia, Nevada and Arizona.

All his life he has felt giving back to the community, no matter how busy he was in his various professions, was most important. As a member of the Saint Patrick’s Parade committee and the Fair Parade committee, he enjoyed lending his talent as is needed.

Staying physically fit is crucial to enjoying the quality of life at 73 years young. Skating long distance is the

Johanna Spinks made everything very relaxing and enjoyable and it was definitely something I would do again!

Returning to Ventura in 1960, Jerry worked as an engineer at Raytheon, Gulf Western, MacDonald Douglas and the Atlas Missile Program. Needing a change, Jerry started his own business in 1964 in the marine industry, becoming a certified deep sea diver and earning an International Underwater Contractors License to maintain the offshore tanker moorings.

Having an adventurous spirit, Jerry decided to become a stuntman in 1975 and joined the Independent Stuntmen of Motion Pictures Group of Holly- wood. In 1982, Jerry created a company called Western Justice, in which he trained body guards and provided pro- tection for celebrities such as Pat Benitar, George Benson, and the Royal Family of Bruni, just to name a few. In conjunction with his businesses, he worked for Wells Fargo Investigative Services, and Gil Acosta Investigative Services of Orange

measure of condi- tioning for him. As an example, Jerry roller skated from Arcadia, Califor- nia to Las Vegas, Nevada and back in 72.6 hours! He endured 687 miles round trip in tem- peratures of 115 degrees. He enjoyed skating across

Death Valley when it was hot and still survived to enjoy another day in his be- loved, beautiful home town of Ventura.

We asked him what he likes best about living in Ventura?

What makes this town so unique is the friendly people that live here. Fur- thermore, Venturans fight to keep their heritage. You can feel it! Just walk down Main Street or walk on the beach and speak with people. And, of course surf- ing the beautiful Ventura beaches, Mav- ericks, Surfer’s Point is still the best spot to surf.

And how was the experience of having your portrait painted by Johanna?

The experience was a real pleasure. Johanna Spinks made everything very relaxing and enjoyable and it was defi- nitely something I would do again!

In the Pink

I am crazy for people with died pink hair. Just love to paint that. This was the model for my class last week. I discovered her walking around my studio complex and knew I had to paint that candyfloss fuchsia hair.

NEW CLASS STARTS AT VITA ART CENTER THIS WEDNESDAY. Four weeks. $120. From the model.

BE THERE!

Pretty In Pink, Class demo

8x10"

Oil on linen panel

$125, free shipping

SAVE THE DATE!...

Flying by The Seat of Your Art Pants..Malibu Art Association Demo...

You really are flying by the seat of your Ralph Lauren pants and Jimmy Choo shoes (yeah, right!) when doing public demos - as was this one for the Malibu Art Association in CA, a great group of artists and my third appearance for them.

You never quite know what to expect. How will the room be (acoustics), how will the audience questions be (artists can ask questions that really make you stop in your painting demo tracks and have to think!), how will the light be? What will I forget to take? Will I be 'on' my game that day?

I try to prepare as best I can, taking my own lights, extension cords, chairs, backdrops, props. etc. double checking everything with a list....yes, I have learned the hard way. Demos are never just the two or three hours you are there. There is prep. work. And it is hell if you forget the zinc white or the model.

This demo was of a friend of mine who I have known since she was five so pressure was there too as you want do to something half decent - not just a stunt kinda thing

AS it turned out the room acoustics were not good and it really IS hard to shout as you paint, I discovered. Some demos do microphones, some do not. Remember, your back is to the audience as you paint. Not easy. My time was also cut short by 15 minutes suddenly at the end due to unforeseen circumstances in the room booking. But that 15 minutes of demo 'finish" time is worth about three hours of solid gold in normal art time.

So I go what I got being reminded why it does take certain 'energy' and most of all training in life painting to do these things. I am always grateful and honored to be asked to share my work and approach and the art folks at MAA were a delight as usual.