Frankie Manning

 



Frankie Manning, Ambassador of Lindy Hop, 2009

I created this collage portrait of Frankie Manning, Ambassador of Lindy Hop, as a tribute to him after he passed away at 94 years old, just short of his 95th birthday. 200 Lindy Hoppers from all over the world gathered in new York City to celebrate his life and I displayed this portrait there. I added ten feet of blank canvas and it was soon filled with messages. I took the portrait around the world and to the recent Frankie centennial celebrations. It now has almost twenty fee of extra canvas filled with moving messages from dancers from all over the world, a testament to how much impact Frankie had on literally tens of thousands of dancers.

To learn more about Frankie I recommend reading his book Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop and also viewing these wonderful video documentaries:
“Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Swing”, produced by Swing Bud Films;
“Frankie Manning: Never Stop Swinging”, produced and directed by Julie Cohen.
If you want to learn Lindy Hop you can’t go wrong watching the master himself teaching the basics:
“Swing- Lindy Hop Dance Lessons – Level 1”, featuring Frankie Manning and Erin Stephens.

Please also visit my portraits of other Lindy Hop legends: Chazz, Dawn, and Norma,plus my Happy Feet, Happy Paint performance video.

Frankie Centennial Dance Jam



Frankie Manning Centennial Savoy Ball Dance Jam, 2014

38″ x 19″, pigment ink print and acrylic on canvas


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. To learn more about Frankie I recommend viewing the wonderful video documentary Frankie Manning: Never Stop Swinging, produced and directed by Julie Cohen. 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, completely independently from, and not to be confused with, the Frankie Manning Centennial & World Lindy Hop Day events, from which some of the other source imagery in my collage comes from.


I started this artwork during my Painter Live! presentation in London and continued working on it for a further few weeks.

If you’re interested to see other related artworks, please visit my portraits of Frankie, Chazz, Dawn and Norma, plus my Happy Feet, Happy Paint performance video.

Ishmeet


Ishmeet, 2014


This portrait was created from life on a plane journey from London to San Francisco using an iPad Air using the Sketch Club app and Pencil by 53. Click on the video below to see stroke by stroke build up of the painting.


My subject, Ishmeet, was a passenger who happened to be sitting next to me on the journey. I don’t think he quite knew what he was letting himself into when I asked if I could draw his portrait… he ended up sitting still for almost 45 minutes! I love using Sketch Club on the iPad. It’s a great app for sketching and provides you with the opportunity to record and replay the painting and export it with music as an mp4 file (see the replay movie at top of this page).


If you’re interested to learn how to use Sketch Club and sketch on the iPad then please join my next Paint on the Go! one day workshop here in my studio in San Francisco. To see more examples of my mobile digital art please visit my Mobile Digital Art page.






Brandon, Masha and Arthur, 2014


After I finished the portrait of Ishmeet the gentleman sitting behind us, artist Brandon Jones, showed me his Wacom Cintiq Companion Hybrid on which he was using the app ArtFlow to sketch with. We swopped tools and he painted me on my iPad while I painted him on his Wacom CC Hybrid in a “draw off”! Neither of us had used the other’s platform or app before so it was very fun! This is my sketch of Brandon and his family.


Chazz

”Portrait“Chazz”, 2014, pigment ink and acrylic on canvas, 24″ x 36″

This is a portrait of dancer, performer and teacher Chazz Young. It features him leading the Shim Sham at Frankie 95, a celebration of his dad, Frankie Manning, legendary pioneer and Ambassador of Lindy Hop dancing whose Centennial (Frankie 100) was celebrated around the world on Monday, May 26th, 2014.

BREAKING NEWS: Chazz is recovering from a stroke and needs our help. Please visit this Chazz Young Back in Step crowdfunding page aimed to help with his medical-related expenses.

In the upper portion of the portrait you can see three views of Frankie and Chazz performing together to “It Ain’t What You Do (It’s the Way That You Do It)” by Jimmy Lunceford. To learn more about Frankie and Chazz I recommend viewing the wonderful video documentary “Frankie Manning: Never Stop Swinging”, produced and directed by Julie Cohen.

This painting was created using Corel Painter and a Wacom tablet on a Macintosh computer. I started by experimenting with all the new brushes included in the Extra Extras set here on PaintboxTV (see the close up details of the brush strokes shown below). I ended up with one of my new favorite brushes, David Gell‘s Eliron from his Inkspiration brushes, which reminds me of the looseness of painting with twig and ink.

Other portraits in this series of Lindy Hop legends include Frankie, Dawn and Norma. These paintings were displayed during the Frankie Manning Centennial celebration in New York City, May 26, 2014.

”Portrait

”Portrait

After Frankie 100 I sent Chazz his portrait which he framed and hung in his house. He then sent me the nicest thank you note (see below). His heart felt expression of how much this painting means to him is the greatest gift I can get for creating art. Thank you Chazz for inspiring this painting and being such a wonderful, warm, appreciative portrait subject as well as amazing dancer, teacher and performer!

”Portrait

”Portrait

Below is a video of Chazz dancing to Shiny Stockings, one of his Dad’s favorite tunes, at the Swinging at the Savoy dance weekend in Oakland, California, on February 27th, 2016. I love the way he improvises and flows with the music…


iPad Art 2014




“Ishmeet”, 2014 – This portrait was created from life on a plane journey from London to San Francisco using an iPad Air using the Sketch Club app and Pencil by 53. Click on the video to see stroke by stroke build up of the painting.




“Brandon, Masha and Arthur”, 2014 – This portrait of artist Brandon Jones and his family was created from life on a plane journey from London to San Francisco using Brandon’s Wacom Cintiq Companion Hybrid with the ArtFlow app. It was a “draw off”: he painted me at the same time using my iPad with Sketch Club. Neither of us had used the other’s platform or app before so it was very fun!


“Folly Bridge, Oxford” – painted from life on an iPad Air using the Sketch Club app and Adonit Jot Touch stylus, 2014
”Folly Bridge

“Portrait of Paul”, 2013, created using Art Rage and Adonit Jot Touch stylus on iPad2 at the ideacity conference, Toronto

On this page I share a small sampling of my (mostly) iPad drawings and paintings I have made over the last couple of years. I performed live iPad painting at the De Young Museum in October 2013 for the opening of “David Hockney: A Bigger Exhibition” (see my Inspired by Hockney page). I teach iPad painting workshops and classes. If you’re interested in learning how to draw and paint on your iPad, then please visit Paint on the Go! and The iPad Art Summer School. If you’d like to set up a portrait sitting please email me (jeremy@jeremysutton.com) or call me at (415) 641-1221.


“Still Life Study”, 2013, created using Art Rage and Adonit Jot Touch stylus on iPad2

“Mac at Cana”, 2014, created using Zen Brush and Adonit Jot Touch 4 stylus on iPad Air
”iPad Portrait by Jeremy Sutton c 2014
“Alison Wright”, 2014, created using Sketch Club and Adonit Jot Touch 4 stylus on iPad Air

The portrait of Alison, shown above, is one of a series of portraits I drew from life on my iPad of fellow presenters at FOTOfusion 2014 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Alison is an amazing photo journalistic photographer who has captured portraits of people all over the world, including an extensive series of portraits of Tibetan Buddhists in Tibet and in exile (see her book Face to Face: Portraits of the Human Spirit). The following three portraits (below) were also created at FOTOfusion of fellow presenters.

”iPad Portrait by Jeremy Sutton c 2014
“Lou Jones”, 2014, created using Sketch Club and Adonit Jot Touch 4 stylus on iPad Air

As I drew Lou’s portrait we discussed his six year project in which he and his team photographed and interviewed death row inmates across the country (see his book Final Exposure: Portraits from Death Row). It was an intense subject and that intensity was reflected in the portrait…

”iPad Portrait by Jeremy Sutton c 2014
“Lawrence Gartel”, 2014, created using Art Rage and Sketch Club and Adonit Jot Touch 4 stylus on iPad Air

I’ve known Lawrence, a pioneering digital media artist, for many years. This year at FOTOfusion he drove up in one of his Art Cars. I included a photo I took of his artwork on the car in the background of this portrait.

”iPad Portrait by Jeremy Sutton c 2014
“J. Tomas Lopez”, 2014, created using Sketch Club and Adonit Jot Touch 4 stylus on iPad Air

Tom, University of Miami Department of Art and Art History professor, sat for me for a few minutes at the FOTOfusion Awards Dinner between courses..


”iPad Portrait by Jeremy Sutton c 2014
iPad painting performance at the de Young Museum, San Francisco, at the opening of the David Hockney: Bigger Exhibition. Photo by Stephen Somerstein.

”Portrait
Portrait of Sarah created live during my iPad painting performance at the de Young Museum, San Francisco, at the opening of the David Hockney: Bigger Exhibition. I used Brushes app (favored by Hockney) and an Adonit Jot Touch stylus.

”Portrait
Portrait of Meg created live during my iPad painting performance at the de Young Museum, San Francisco, at the opening of the David Hockney: Bigger Exhibition. I used Brushes app and an Adonit Jot Touch stylus.

”Portrait
Portrait of Lisa and Frank (with self-portrait) created live during my iPad painting performance at the de Young Museum, San Francisco, at the opening of the David Hockney: Bigger Exhibition using Art Rage App app and both the Wacom Intuos Creative Stylus and the Adonit Jot Touch stylus.

”Portrait
iPad sketch of author and historian Lawrence Weschler giving a talk, “Love Life: David Hockney’s Timescapes”, at the de Young, being watched by filmmaker Bruno Wollheim, who created the documentary portrait “David Hockney: A Bigger Picture”, created with the Brushes app and an Adonit Jot Touch stylus.

Over the last two years I have taught iPad painting and given iPad painting presentations in North America and Europe, including at the Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford University, (see William Dutton’s blog post) and at the magnificent flagship Apple Stores in central London (Regent Street), and San Francisco.

 

“Portrait of Tony”, 2013, created using Sketch Club with Adonit Jot Touch on iPad (created on Southwest flight at 30,000′ altitude). I like the recording feature in Sketch Club that also allows you to easily add your choice of music to the replay.

 

“Life Study”, 2013, created using Sketch Club with Sensu Brush on iPad2.

“Seated Man, after Diebenkorn”, 2013, created using Art Rage and Adonit Jot Touch stylus on iPad2 at the de Young Museum

 

Caricaturist Jon Casey and I sketch each other at the Coffee Bar outside my studio in San Francisco, Jon using pencil on paper and me using the procreate app on an iPad with a Sensu brush (see What’s in my studio). For a summary of the different iPad painting apps I am exploring, click here.

“Sketch portrait of Jon Casey”, 2013, creating using procreate on iPad2

In March, 2010, I came across artist Roderick Smith sketching on his iPhone in the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, using a PogoStick stylus and Brushes iPhone app, the same one David Hockney started with when he began sketching on his iPhone. He kindly let me have a go. When I got home I ordered a PogoStick and experimented with sketching in Brushes and Sketchbook Pro on the iPhone. It didn’t quite click for me. The iPhone screen felt too small and restricted, and the brush stroke styles too flat and uniform. I preferred sketching in my regular sketchpad.

The iPad introduced a significantly larger painting area. That summer in 2010 I sketched my first iPad portrait from life of one of my students at my Amsterdam Painter Workshop on his iPad (see iPad Sketching in Amsterdam). A year a half later, in January 2012, I went to see David Hockney’s Bigger Picture exhibition at the Royal Academy and was impressed with his display of huge prints of his iPad drawings, as he referred to them, in the spacious galleries of the historic and esteemed institution. For me that was the ahaa moment when i knew iPad art had arrived! On returning to San Francisco, I immediately bought a Nomad brush at Macworld and purchased all the cool iPad painting apps I saw they had on their demo stations, even before I’d purchased an iPad! I then got painting on the iPad in earnest, leading to my teaching iPad art workshops and performing live iPad painting at special events, including the Hockney show.


”Portrait
Lyana sitting for her portrait at an event organized by the Monaco Government Tourist Office. Notice that her name is in the structure of the brush strokes used to portray her. The next two portraits (below) were created at the same event. All portrait subjects received both a JPEG image of their portrait plus a video replay of the painting process of their portraits so they could watch it unfold brush stroke by brush stroke!

”Portrait
“Kyle” – painted from life on an iPad Air using the Sketch Club app and Adonit Jot Touch stylus, 2014

 


”Portrait
“Shambhavi” – painted from life on an iPad Air using the Sketch Club app and Adonit Jot Touch stylus, 2014

 


”Portrait
“In Thought” – painted from life on an iPad Air using the Sketch Club app and Adonit Jot Touch stylus, 2014

 


”Portrait
“Simon Playing Double Bass” – painted from life on an iPad Air using the Sketch Club app and Adonit Jot Touch stylus, 2014

 


”Portrait
“Tuyen Playing Piano” – painted from life on an iPad Air using the Sketch Club app and Adonit Jot Touch stylus, 2014

 


”Portrait
“Key West Patio” – painted from life on an iPad Air using the Sketch Club app and Adonit Jot Touch stylus, 2014

Rosa, created in Inspire Pro on the iPad, 2013

Rick and His Buick Beauty

  Rick and His Buick Beauty 2007 Mixed media on canvas, 20" x 24"

Rick and His Buick Beauty
2007
Mixed media on canvas, 20″ x 24″

This portrait of Rick and newly detailed and renovated 1936 Buick convertible was taken outside his Art Deco Oakland home on the shores of Lake Merritt. The painting features the Buick 8 logo he designed and the special red and yellow hub cub trimming he added. Also featured are depictions of him and his lovely wife Laurie, and him playing with his band The Martini Brothers at the historic Lake Merritt Hotel.

Me, Laurie and Rick with his Buick and the painting at the Hillsborough Concourse d'Elegance.
Me, Laurie and Rick with his Buick and the painting at the Hillsborough Concourse d’Elegance.

 

Moment in Time

Moment in Time 2004 Pigment ink and acrylic on canvas, 38" x 47"
Moment in Time
2004
Pigment ink and acrylic on canvas, 38″ x 47″

This painting is based on a photo I took of my good friends and professional Tango dancers, performers and instructors Christy Coté and Darren Lees, performing at Peña Pachamama restaurant in San Francisco to the live music of Trio Garufa.

Christy and Darren dancing in front of the painting at the Move to the Groove Art Show: Celebration of Art, Music & Motion, part of ArtSFest, San Francisco, 2005.
Christy and Darren dancing in front of the painting at the Move to the Groove Art Show: Celebration of Art, Music & Motion, part of ArtSFest, San Francisco, 2005.

Christy and Darren dancing in front of the painting at an exhibit at the Art Explosion, San Francisco, 2005.
Christy and Darren dancing in front of the painting at an exhibit at the Art Explosion, San Francisco, 2005.

rtSFest’s Spectra Ball guests take a gander at “A Moment in Time.” The Spectra Ball was held at the historic Old Mint in San Francisco on Saturday, April 9th, 2005. Chronicle photo by Christina Koci Hernandez

Moment in Time featured on the cover of the East Bay Monthly, February 2010.
Moment in Time featured on the cover of the East Bay Monthly, February 2010.

To purchase the original painting please either call 415-641-1221 or email jeremy@jeremysutton.com. Prices may be subject to change.

Andrius

Andrius 2012 Mixed media on canvas, 24" x 20"
Andrius
2012
Mixed media on canvas, 24″ x 20″

This portrait was created by hand in a single sitting from direct observation. The paint media used was digital paint which was then printed onto canvas and acrylic gel and paint was applied. Thanks, Andrius, for being such a great portrait subject!

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Dawn Hampton

Dawn Hampton Mixed media on canvas, 40 inches x 30 inches, 2008
Dawn Hampton
Mixed media on canvas, 40 inches x 30 inches, 2008

This portrait is of the inspirational and legendary dancer, singer and cabaret artiste Dawn Hampton, who performed with artists such as Cab Calloway and Bette Midler, and inspired Lindy Hop dancers all over the world through her teaching of musicality. Learn more about Dawn and her incredible family of musicians in the documentary “The Unforgettable Hampton Family”. This painting depicts Dawn dressed up for one of the theme nights at the Herrang Dance Camp in Sweden in 2008. The painting was displayed as part of Dawn’s 82nd birthday celebrations in San Francisco, June, 2010. Sadly Dawn just passed September 25th, 2016. She will be greatly missed.

At that same Herrang dance camp in 2008, Dawn sat for a 3 minute portrait I created as a live painting performance, “Happy Feet, Happy Paint”, during the weekly Herrang cabaret evening. Even in sitting she shows her humor, spirit and musicality! Enjoy the video:

Dawn and her portrait, the Harlem Hotshots, Chris Lee and I at the Diego Rivera Theater, City College of San Francisco.
Dawn and her portrait, the Harlem Hotshots, Chris Lee and I at the Diego Rivera Theater, City College of San Francisco.

Dawn and I at the Diego Rivera Theater, City College of San Francisco.
Dawn and I at the Diego Rivera Theater, City College of San Francisco.

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Dawn talking at the Rent Party, San Francisco, June 2010
Dawn talking at the Rent Party, San Francisco, June 2010

Here are some details of the painted canvas:

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dawndetail1-02-400_MG_7556

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dawndetail4-02-400_MG_7553

Elsa

Elsa
Elsa

Caran D’Ache Neocolor II Aquarelle on Canson Mi-Teintes pastel paper, 12″ x 16″

This portrait was created from life. Here are two photos (below) by Elsa’s Mom, MJ:

jeremyscrayons-02-600_MG_8243

jeremyscrayons-02-600_MG_8243

Thanks for sitting, Elsa.