Live Wedding Painting Tasmania Part 2
Imagine painting love stories, not at home, but right there in the middle of someone’s wedding. That's what I got up to recently, painting at not one, but two weddings in a weekend! And get this – the first one? It was a surprise for the bride, a gift from her sister.
I'm talking about LIVE wedding painting – turning special moments into art on the spot. Let me take you behind the scenes of these two love-filled events, where I worked as quickly as possible to create wedding day magic.
So, first up was Emily and Jason. They had their beautiful reception at Lark Distillery. They walked into their reception, thinking it's the scene they planned, and there I am with my paints and ink pens – surprise! Emotional vibes all around.
Lark Distillery, with its rustic charm, was the perfect spot. Warm tones, beautiful decorations – a dream setting. My job? Create quick sketches of guests. Different groups popped by my station for a snapshot, then back to the party they went.
Here's the tricky bit: it was a last-minute surprise, so I didn't know who's who among the VIPs. I tried to capture the heart of the celebration and did some last minute prioritising. There are a few leftover that I am continuing after the fact.
The next wedding of the weekend was Susannah and Kieran's love-filled day at Stefano Lubiana Winery. Picture this: an outdoor ceremony, an indoor reception with live music and tons of close knit family.
What set this wedding apart? Well, for starters, it wasn't about sketching guests this time. Instead, my task was to capture about 5 key moments of the day. I had to be quick on my feet, deciding which moments would make it. Susannah had a wishlist – their son, the cake, and the couple during the ceremony. Having a starting point helps, and knowing the family personally helps even more.
Here are some more snaps from the day. The trickiest part was not having daylight towards the end of the evening. I was adding finishing touches in the dark. Time to buy a portable light for my painting kit!
Looking back at this busy weekend, these gigs were more than just drawing. They shaped my style and how I approach each celebration. I have so much to learn and that’s what makes it so fun!
Tips for Future Couples:
For couples thinking about live illustration, here's a tip: If you have lots of guests, think about a different style – maybe capturing key moments instead of individual portraits. It's not just about the amount of art, but showing a unique perspective. If you do prefer guest portraits, be prepared to potentially have some of them finished afterwards.
Feel free to reach out to me if you want to find out more or check availability.
Until next time…
Follow the journey on Instagram:
Joints for Jabs - A Pandemic Story about My Mom, Part 2
This is Part TWO of Joints for Jabs. If you have not read Part ONE, click here.
My mom told me this story the day after it happened. I could in her voice that she was giddy and excited about what she wanted to tell me. She’s a pretty animated storyteller so it was nice to hear her so happy. She was beside herself laughing.
Here’s what happened on 4/20/21:
There were actually more parts to this story. Linda’s first day out continued with walking to Washington Square Park where she was stopped for another unrelated interview. It seemed like everyone needed to hear from her that day after not hearing from her for so long. She literally saw butterflies in both parks that day.
And now, months later with everything gearing up again with the Delta variant, my mom describes being more at peace with spending so much time in her apartment. She says she will be wearing her turbans and caftans inside until it’s safe to emerge again. Her pandemic adventure continues.
Until she is allowed to come to Tasmania and stay with me…
Fashion Illustration Night!
One of the silver linings of the pandemic has been accessing virtual events that I normally would miss out on because I am far away and in a tricky time zone for New York events. I used to attend the Society of Illustrators sketching events and am so happy that I’ve been able to join here and there via Zoom.
Today was Fashion Sketch night and luckily it was a Friday morning for me. Usually Friday mornings I am teaching painting, but it’s the term break so my schedule was more open. This one was hosted by Ted Michalowski featuring Cabaret Couture. The model, Janet, was unbelievable and wearing the most fun dresses to draw that I could ever imagine.
More about Fashion Sketch night and other Society of Illustrators events: https://societyillustrators.org/events/
Here are some of my two-minute sketches while working on my Cintiq monitor in Photoshop:
I then really wanted to figure out how to add the color quickly. Here are some 5-10 minute poses. She did this amazing makeup with white eyeliner and disappearing eyebrows, so that was a fun challenge!
Then she changed outfits to another UNBELIEVABLE dress. We had some more time with 15-minute poses and I think I finally figured out what colors were working better digitally. I wish I had more time with the second one. What a dress!!!
I also remembered to screen capture some of my drawing process which I sped up into a 5 minute video. Check it out to see how it all works!
That’s all! I hope to be able to attend more of these going forward.
Rock Climbing Models
Tasmania is chock full of climbing culture - so many different types of rocks and climbing for all of the varied climbers. I am married to an enthusiast so naturally, I am embedded into this world now too. Sometimes I get on the wall myself (top rope only) or try to learn less strenuous parts of the challenge like belaying. I have to protect my drawing hands after all, haha!
Going along for the ride can be pretty spectacular in itself though, with so many of the climbing locations being in remote and beautiful areas of Tasmania. This past weekend we travelled 4.5 hours north to Sister’s Beach.
The Tasmanian coastline is insanely beautiful all around.
After walking in to this area of national park, everyone got setup and the ink pens came out!
It’s kind of amazing how good this is for an illustrator - always trying to capture the essence of humans. I’ve attended life drawing classes/sessions of some sort since I was a teenager, so I am used to drawing fast. You kind of get to know the repeated moves that climbers make on the wall ( I still don’t know all of the lingo for it though).
This one is probably my favourite drawing of the weekend.
Dynamic posing in pristine natural environments - what could be better?! I was also obsessed with all of the amazing quartz rocks EVERYWHERE.
Closer to home, I tagged along on another climbing afternoon on kunanyi/Mt. Wellington. This spot didn’t offer the best drawing views so the results are mostly butts from me having to look straight up.
Well I won’t be sendin’ anything big anytime soon, but I will certainly enjoy drawing others who do! Stay safe!
The Eyebrow Incident
Dear Diary, So this week started off like a nightmare. I was just SO mad at my face…
I am working on a full manuscript these days for Big Apple Diaries, which is based on my experiences and diary entries from 7th grade. I recently read this diary entry aloud at a Hobart event, Read To Me:
Yes, I did shave my eyebrows like that in 7th grade.
Capturing TMLA Continued...
My semester long ink sketchbook captures everyday life at TMLA
Click through for more images--
