Live Event Painting Examples and other News

Final painting created at the event.

Live iPad painting replay video of the art created at “America Now! Innovation in Art” (3m 50s)

Click here to see Smithsonian Magazine article This Is How You Live Paint an Event

Click here to see Smithsonian American Art Museum’s “Eye Level” blog article America Now! Live Painting in Our Kogod Courtyard

On Saturday, June 27th, 2015, between 4pm and 7pm, I performed live iPad painting at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s “America Now! Innovation in Art” free public event in Washington, D.C. – the finale of the “America Now!” series. I worked on one painting throughout the event, inspired by the scene in the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard. The resulting artwork is shown above. It is an observational painting created directly from scratch freehand, without use of photography. My painting process was displayed realtime on a large LED screen in the beautiful Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard of the Museum for attendees to enjoy. The event included electro-swing music from the band Good Co. and DJ Eliazar, which inspired my brush strokes! The band and DJ are both represented in the painting. I used an iPad Air with the app Sketch Club and the styluses Pencil by 53 and the Wacom Intuos Creative Stylus 2, all of which are fabulous tools I highly recommend.

I spent the day before this event in the museum (a building shared with their sister Smithsonian museum, the National Portrait Gallery) sketching and getting inspiration from the incredible art collection, as well as from the magnificent historical National Historic Landmark building in which the collection is housed. It is the third public building constructed in early Washington, D.C., (after the White House and the U.S. Capitol), former home of the Patent Office (from 1840), location of President Lincoln’s second Inaugural Ball, and one that was saved from demolition by an act of Congress. I then created a background, inspired by the collection, on which to begin my painting performance. If you look carefully you may even notice some elements of Malcah Zeldis’ Miss Liberty Celebration (1987), Romare Bearden’s Empress of the Blues (1974) and Marvin Beerbohm’s Automotive Industry (1940, Works Progress Administration commission for the Detroit Public Library) showing through.

Here are some photos from the event:

photo by Bruce Guthrie

photo by Bruce Guthrie

Using Wacom Intuos Creative Stylus 2 (left) and Pencil by 53 (right) with the app Sketch Club

With Jo Ann Gillula, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Chief, External Affairs, center, and, on the right, Betsy Broun, Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret and Terry Stent Director (photo by Bruce Guthrie)

With Kaylin, Katy and Kara from the fabulous museum team before the event.

Here are some comments about my painting performance shared with me on my comments sheet and via email by attendees at this event:

“Truly incredible and inspiring! I now really want to try digital art!”
Maricio A.

“Thanks for taking the time to talk to my dad and me at the Smithsonian on Saturday! We loved the entire exhibit, but watching your iPad drawing progress was definitely one of the highlights.”
Emily S.

“Wonderful”
Waad T.

“Amazing!”
Khari W.

“Beautiful!!”
Jaquetta M.

Thank you and congratulations to the great staff of the Smithsonian American Art Museum who orgnaized this event, and to the generous sponsors of “Innovation in Art” and the “America Now!” series, the Robert and Arlene Kogod Family Foundation.

The concept that paved the way for this performance, in which I built up a painting of the scene throughout the event, was my live digital painting performance using Corel Painter on a MacBook Pro with a Wacom Intuos pen tablet at the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche arts festival in 2014, where my painting was displayed in real time on seven 8′ x 8′ screens along Spadina Street in downtown Toronto.

The painting of the saxophone player reproduced on the Smithsonian web and event pages associated with this event is my portrait of Erv that was created using Corel Painter and a Wacom IntuosPro pen tablet on an iMac.

Coincidentally my alma mater, Pembroke College, Oxford University, was also the alma mater of James Smithson who attended the college in 1782 and whose estate helped establish the Smithsonian Institute. Here’s a photo I took earlier this year of the plaque at Pembroke:

Please note that the web pages reproduced here are screen captures taken on the day before the event. Any blue “links” shown in the images are not live links! I’ve included links to the actual pages though they may have changed since I captured them.

Screen capture of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s home page:

Screen capture of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s “Innovation in Art” event calendar entry:

Screen capture of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s “Innovation in Art” Facebook event:

Screen capture of the Washington Post’s Free Things to Do:

Screen capture of the National Portrait Gallery email letting their list know about the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s event:

Ooops…yellow spot just fell off my shirt onto the floor of the courtyard the day before the event! (..the spot on the floor is actually part of the interactive game installation “Starry Heavens” by Natalie Pozzi and Eric Zimmerman)

Here is the description of the event from the news release on the Smithsonian web site:

“America Now! Innovation in Art”
Saturday, June 27; 4–7 p.m.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard
Eighth and F streets N.W.

On Saturday, June 27, the Smithsonian American Art Museum will close the series with “Innovation in Art.” Visitors will be able to explore how artists are using technology to propel their work.

Digital-paint pioneer Jeremy Sutton will paint a la David Hockney-style on an iPad, with the image projected on a large screen using motion-capture technology. Sutton will paint to the beats of electro-swing band Good Co. and DJ Eliazar.

Visitors will be able to wear an Oculus Rift, a virtual-reality headset for 3-D gaming, to explore Craig Gilbert’s 360-degree films, Earthborn Interactive’s games or be transported into artwork by Greg Aring.

In addition, attendees will have the opportunity to play the interactive game Starry Heavens, which debuted at MOMA in 2011. Created by architect Nathalie Pozzi and video-game designer Eric Zimmerman, the giant canopy for the game has been customized for the museum’s Kogod courtyard space to invoke the experience of the northern lights.

“Valentine Standing”, 2015, iPad Air + Sketch Club + Pencil by 53
This sketch was created from life at a Dr. Sketchy’s drawing session in San Francisco. The model, Valentine, is a Flamenco dancer. Click on the movie below to see a brush stroke by brush stroke replay recording.

Beacon Bel-Air
2015, 40″x 30″

This painting, part of my Miami Beach Art Deco Series, depicts a classic 1952 Chevrolet DeLuxe Bel-Air outside the historic Beacon Hotel at 720 Ocean Drive in South Beach, Miami. The painting includes the graphic for the 75th anniversary celebration of the hotel. The hotel was built in 1936 in the Art Deco style, designed by architect Henry O. Nelson. In Art Deco tradition, this hotel has a tripartite facade with a vertical emphasis, with horizontal details countering the upward movement. The central bay is thrust forward in small steps and even the top rises in stair steps. The boundary between the central and side bays is filled with abstract patterns – skewed diamonds and circles. The top has semicircles and angular patterns. The countering horizontal movement is in the relief stripes in the spandrels. (Click here to learn more about the hotel’s history and click here to see photos on the hotel web site.)

The painting is based on, and inspired by, my stay at the hotel during the 2015 Art Deco Weekend on Ocean Drive. I took reference photos at different times of the day, inside and outside the hotel. I was inspired by wonderful quality of light; the shapes, colors, architecture and design details of the building; and the history, style and character of both the hotel and the car. I also referenced historical documentation such as a photo (shown here) of the hotel in 1937, just a year after it opened.

The artwork is a mixed media painting (pigment ink and acrylic on canvas). The process of creating this artwork included freehand digital painting with use of Corel Painter 2015, Wacom pen tablet and Macintosh computer; UltraChrome pigment ink large format archival output on specially prepared high quality canvas; and acrylic gel and paint applied directly onto the canvas with brushes and palette knives.

Thank you to Elvis Taylor, General Manager at the Beacon Hotel, and to Veronika Volovik, Web Marketing Director, and all the rest of the staff at the Beacon Hotel for their warmth and hospitality. Thanks to Lana and Irvin Becker for bringing their beautiful ’52 Chevy to Art Deco Weekend and thus providing the perfect compositional element for my painting!

The painting in the lobby of the hotel

This painting is part of my Miami Beach Art Deco Series which currently comprises:
Avalon Olds
Beacon Bel-Air
Majestic Kaiser
Breakwater Chevy
Ocean Surf Caddy
Park Central Olds

May 2015

Brad Sexton
by Jeremy Sutton (2015)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
42″ w x 36” h

 

I first met Brad when I was working in the San Francisco Bay Area (at Varian in Palo Alto) for the summer of 1982 while studying Physics at Oxford. Brad kindly put me up in his basement in Menlo Park and the main image of him playing the trumpet is based on a photo I took that summer. Brad loved playing the trumpet and loved jazz. Amongst his favorite jazz musicians was Artie Shaw. That’s why you see in the background the sheet music of Begin the Beguine, a 1934 popular song written by Cole Porter and made famous when performed by Artie Shaw and his band. When I returned to live in California in 1988 I rekindled my friendship with Brad, by then a professional pilot. Tragically he died on December 14th, 1994, when the Learjet he and fellow pilot Richard Anderson were flying for a National Air Guard training mission crashed on E. Olive Avenue, Fresno, after narrowly missing the Ewing Elementary School. Within this painting is a map of the Fresno area airspace and the plaque in his and his colleague’s honor that was installed in the Ewing Elementary School. This painting was included in an art show in Fresno and while installing the show, which was my first visit to Fresno, I visited the crash site and the Ewing Elementary School. I was surprised to meet two teachers at the school, Dawn and Kim, who had been at the school the day of the crash. Both are still grateful of the efforts Brad and Richard made that day to avoid hitting the school. It was very moving to meet them and for them to see this portrait.

Meeting with Dawn and Kim outside the Anderson-Sexton Library, named after pilots Brad and Richard, where the memorial plaque is located.

Niello Porsche – Three Generations Live iPad painting at Niello Porsche, Rocklin, California, March 26th, 2015, iPad Air, Sketch Club app and Pencil by FiftyThree

I created this historical collage as a live painting performance at the Niello Porsche dealership in Rocklin, California, as part of their Grand Reopening Celebration. I started the painting with the grandfather Louis who first sold Packards and Pierce Arrows, showing the Packard he handed down to his family and the historical showroom in San Francisco where he started off. I then painted in the second generation, his son Richard Sr., with the early Porsches, and finally the current owner, Rick, Richard Sr.’s son, and included the latest Porsche 918.

Thank you to Rick Niello and his fabulous team at Niello Porsche. Congratulations on your magnificent Grand Reopening! Thank you to Steve Bloom and Hip Entertainment.

An exhibition of artworks by Jeremy Sutton and Peggy Gyulai, relating to, and inspired by, music.

1821 Gallery, 1821 Calaveras St., Fresno, CA 93721
Artists’ Reception & Art Hop: May 7, 5-8PM

The musician brings music to life, transforming ideas, notation, imagination and improvisation, through movement and breath, into sound.

The dancer breathes movement into the musical sails of the musician – responding, syncopating, synergizing and emoting with the rhythm, beats and layers of the music.

The painter absorbs, feels and responds to the music, the musician and the dancer – every brush stroke a dance, an instrument, a note.

In this exhibition Peggy and I shared two ways of getting to the same place… a visual response to music that comes from a deep place, that is heartfelt and that reflects how we are literally moved as we paint.

Artworks List
of Jeremy’s artworks in this show

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Brad Sexton
by Jeremy Sutton (2015)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
42″ w x 36” h

I first met Brad when I was working in the San Francisco Bay Area (at Varian in Palo Alto) for the summer of 1982 while studying Physics at Oxford. Brad kindly put me up in his basement in Menlo Park and the main image of him playing the trumpet is based on a photo I took that summer. Brad loved playing the trumpet and loved jazz. Amongst his favorite jazz musicians was Artie Shaw. That’s why you see in the background the sheet music of Begin the Beguine, a 1934 popular song written by Cole Porter and made famous when performed by Artie Shaw and his band. When I returned to live in California in 1988 I rekindled my friendship with Brad, by then a professional pilot. Tragically he died on December 14th, 1994, when the Learjet he and fellow pilot Richard Anderson were flying for a National Air Guard training mission crashed on E. Olive Avenue, Fresno, after narrowly missing the Ewing Elementary School. Within this painting is a map of the Fresno area airspace and the plaque in his and his colleague’s honor that was installed in the Ewing Elementary School. When installing this show, which was my first visit to Fresno, I visited the crash site and the Ewing Elementary School. I was surprised to meet two teachers at the school, Dawn and Kim, who had been at the school the day of the crash. Both are still grateful of the efforts Brad and Richard made that day to avoid hitting the school. It was very moving to meet them and for them to see this portrait.

Meeting with Dawn and Kim outside the Anderson-Sexton Library, named after pilots Brad and Richard, where the memorial plaque is located.

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Duke Ellington: It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)
by Jeremy Sutton (2013)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
24″ w x 36” h

This portrait of Duke Ellington was inspired by a photograph taken by Reggie Jackson, the great uncle of my friend and amazing jazz singer, Kim Nalley, who kindly gave me permission for its use. “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” is a 1931 composition by Duke Ellington with lyrics by Irving Mills, written and arranged by Ellington in August 1931. It is one of the classic “standards” that is wonderful to Lindy Hop to, a song that my original Lindy Hop teacher and Lindy Hop pioneer, Frankie Manning, loved (especially when performed with Duke on piano and Ella Fitzgerald on vocals). In this view of Duke he lives up to his name with his regal and proud poise.

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Erv at Union Square
by Jeremy Sutton (2014)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
26″ w x 40” h

This is a portrait of saxophonist Jeff “Erv” Ervin playing with one of the local swing bands I regularly dance to, Stompy Jones, at Union Square, San Francisco.

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Etta James
by Jeremy Sutton (2012)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
38″ w x 48” h

This painting is dedicated to the memory of the great blues and R’n’B singer Etta James, who spent some of her formative teenage years in the Fillmore district of San Francisco. I will never forget seeing her perform at the Great American Music Hall. She radiated sensuality with every movement she made and every word she sang. She had everyone spellbound.

This painting includes many different images of Etta from throughout her long career. You’ll see her as a teenager when she joined the Johnny Otis band. It was Johnny Otis who discovered her at age 14 and then arranged for her recording contract with Modern Records. Her first record, “The Wallflower (Dance with Me, Henry)”, also known as “Roll with me Henry” and sung with her vocal group The Peaches, is shown in the lower right of the painting. That record went to number one in the R&B charts for four weeks in 1955 when she was 17 years old. In the center left, partially hidden behind his guitar, is Chuck Berry, playing with Etta in 1987. The sheet music of her most famous song “At Last” is included through the background, plus you’ll see in the lower left President Obama and the First Lady dancing to “At Last” at his inauguration (though Etta was upset at the fact that Beyonce, not Etta, was chosen to perform the song). The main portrait image is based on a photo of Etta singing early in her career. It was an image that I felt captured her passion and power…

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Flamenco Fiesta at El Farol
by Jeremy Sutton (2012)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
24″ w x 20” h

This painting depicts Flamenco dancers and musicians performing at the historic El Farol in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is based on a series of photographs I took with kind permission of the fabulous performers while I was in Santa Fe teaching Painting the Passion of Flamenco at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. The colors, composition and approach used in this painting were inspired by John Singer Sargent’s magnificent El Jaleo and John Nieto’s vibrant fauvist works.

The lady dancing on the left of the painting is Giovanna Hinojosa. The dancers sitting down are Haley Licha and Rebekah Leyva. The singer is Gretchen Williams, and the guitarist is Mario Febres. They are all members of the dance company “Yjastros” which is part of the National Institute of Flamenco based in Albuquerque.

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Frankie Manning Centennial Dance Jam
by Jeremy Sutton (2014)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
38″ w x 19” h

This collage is based on imagery I captured during the Frankie Centennial celebrations in New York City which celebrated the 100th birthday of my original Lindy Hop dance teacher, Frankie Manning. The two dancers featured in the center of this artwork are professional dancers, teachers and performers Evita Arce and Paolo Pasta Lanna. The moment captured and portrayed in this artwork was during a dance ‘jam’ at the event titled Frankie’s Centennial Savoy Ball at the beautiful Edison Ballroom. This event was produced by Alan Sugarman, which was a parallel event that occurred alongside the Frankie Manning Centennial & World Lindy Hop Day events, from which some of the other source imagery in my collage comes from.

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Guillermo Garcia
by Jeremy Sutton (2005)
Pigment Ink Print on Paper
10.5” w x 13.5” h

Guillermo plays in Trio Garufa, a local Argentine Tango band.

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John Santos
by Jeremy Sutton (2013)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
20″ w x 24” h

This portrait depicts percussionist John Santos. It is based on a photo I took of him playing congas at the de Young Museum.

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Marcus Shelby
by Jeremy Sutton (2009)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
36″ w x 56” h

This portrait of bandleader, composer, arranger, bassist, educator, and activist, Marcus Anthony Shelby, is based on working from life in my studio while Marcus practiced.

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Piano Indigo
by Jeremy Sutton (2014)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
20″ w x 18” h

This piano was on the stage when I saw Johnny Boyd, formerly of the swing band Indigo Swing, performing at the Elks Lodge in San Francisco. I was inspired by its quiet grandeur and based this painting on the piano sitting alone at the end of the show.

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Ryan Garcia
by Jeremy Sutton (2010)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
30″ w x 22” h

Portrait of Flamenco guitarist Ryan Garcia playing in my studio.

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Salsa Moderne
by Jeremy Sutton (2000)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
19″ w x 24” h

Painting of salsa and contemporary dancer, choreographer, performer and instructor, Tianne Frias and a partner.

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Summer Afternoon
by Jeremy Sutton (2005)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
62″ w x 38” h

This painting is based on a scene I witnessed at the Great Gatsby Afternoon at Dunsmuir House in Oakland, a journey back into the 1920s organized by the Art Deco Society of California.

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Swing Out
by Jeremy Sutton (2005)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
52″ w x 40” h

Portrayal of Damon and Ruby Red doing a Lindy Hop swing out during a dance.

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Trombone Shorty
by Jeremy Sutton (2009)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
36″ w x 52” h

This is based on watching Trombone Shorty perform at the Fox Oakland reopening gala.

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Big thank you Bruce and Carol for inviting Peggy and I to exhibit in the 1821 Gallery and for all the work they and their excellent team did in putting on such a wonderful show. Special mention of their incredible art installer, Ed Lund, who was tragically killed in a bicycle accident on October 3rd, 2015. My deepest condolences to his family and friends.

“Inky Standing”, 2015, iPad Air + Sketch Club + Pencil by 53
This sketch was created from life at a life drawing session. The model, Inky, loved the drawing and when I said I could put music with the replay recording, she requested Bob Marley. The movie above shows a brush stroke by brush stroke replay recording with her requested music.

The Miami Beach Art Deco Series are artworks inspired by the magnificent Art Deco hotels of Miami Beach, each juxtaposed with a beautiful vintage car. Click on the links below for more details about each artwork:

Avalon Olds

Beacon Bel-Air

Breakwater Chevy

Majestic Kaiser

Ocean Surf Caddy

Park Central Olds