Category Archives: figure painting

Conducting Business at Epoch Coffee

January 18, 2010 – 10:11 am

She came in and sat down with a coworker at the storefront table next to me. With her shiny black hair, and the widely woven houndstooth coat were just too good to pass up. I was in the middle of painting her profile, when her phone rang.  It seemed important. There was an interchange of […]

By Lavanna Martin | Also posted in alla prima, art, guerrilla artist, guerrilla portraiture, Oil Sketches Live at Coffee Houses, painting, painting live | Tagged , , , , | Comments (52)

I Painted the Guy in the Panama Hat at Epoch

December 9, 2009 – 12:20 pm

He was reading the paper, and chatting with two girls at Epoch Coffee.  He had his folded hands resting on his forehead for just a few moments – long enough for me to get the gesture. He seemed to be  filled with the youthful optimism that everything will work itself out for the best. But […]

By Lavanna Martin | Also posted in alla prima, art, artist, guerrilla artist, guerrilla portraiture, oil painting, Oil Sketches Live at Coffee Houses, painting, painting live, painting people from life, portrait sketch, portraiture, sketches | Tagged , , , , | Comments (12)

I Painted Enrique at the Apothecary Cafe

December 6, 2009 – 1:13 pm

The Apothecary Cafe is the new coffee house and wine bar that opened up its doors recently. It is in my neighborhood, and I can walk there. The young owners have done a perfect job of combining both the urban and the funk, all tied together with a touch of contemporary Middle Eastern decor. If […]

By Lavanna Martin | Also posted in alla prima, art, artist, guerrilla artist, guerrilla portraiture, oil painting, Oil Sketches Live at Coffee Houses, painting, painting live, painting people from life | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment

I Painted Martin Button in My Studio

November 9, 2009 – 9:05 am

Here is Martin. We all love him. Martin is originally from New Zealand. He first came over to America to attend college at Berkley. He is a seismic engineer, and a structural engineer. At the present time, he is working on Building No. 7 (WTC), the Chinese Ferris Wheel (largest in the world), and many […]

By Lavanna Martin | Also posted in alla prima, art, painting, painting people from life, portraiture | Tagged , , , , | Comments (3)

I Painted Ari Guerrero in 90 Minutes

September 16, 2009 – 2:09 pm

Since I’m out in the studio and unable to “guerrilla paint” this week, I’m going to post a “live’ portait that I did in my studio in 90 minutes: Ari volunteered to be painted in 90 minutes. She is a very pretty girl, and I was so happy that she showed up in the perfect […]

By Lavanna Martin | Also posted in alla prima, art, painting live, painting people from life | Tagged , , , , | Comments (1)

90 Minute Painting:Karla Pfennig

September 14, 2009 – 12:23 pm

My good friend Karla came over this weekend. I decided to paint her while she watched one of her favorite movies, “Hopscotch”.  It was the perfect opportunity to add to my new series of paintings: Now I am asking people to pose “live” at my studio, and trying to get a likeness in 90 minutes […]

By Lavanna Martin | Also posted in alla prima, art, painting live, painting people from life, portrait sketch | Tagged , , , , | Comments (6)

I Painted the Retired Military Man at Epoch Coffee

September 8, 2009 – 12:07 pm

I thought that I was going to have a nice, long time to paint this man, but he got a phone call, and left shortly afterwards. He was dressed in civilian clothes with a cowboy belt, but the look was definitely influenced by many years in miitary. He had on chinos, khaki double flap pocket […]

By Lavanna Martin | Also posted in alla prima, art, guerrilla portraiture, oil painting, painting people from life | Tagged , , , , | Comments (7)

I Painted the Girl with the French Haircut at FlightPath Coffee

August 14, 2009 – 9:32 am

Whew! This is really hard. She was sitting at the opposite end of the coffee house, at a direct right angle from me. I am shocked that I didn’t get caught painting her, because I was craning my neck to capture her.

By Lavanna Martin | Also posted in alla prima, guerrilla artist, guerrilla portraiture, Oil Sketches Live at Coffee Houses, painting live | Comments (2)

I Painted Maggie at the Spider House

May 21, 2009 – 7:33 am

I was there relatively early at the Spider House. Maggie showed up on the patio. She had on a flesh-colored sundress. She had brought along her needlepoint – how wonderful! That kept her quite still, but then her phone rang. I captured her anyway, thank goodness. She left at one point for the bathroom, and […]

By Lavanna Martin | Also posted in alla prima, art, artist, guerrilla artist, Oil Sketches Live at Coffee Houses, painting live | Tagged , , , | Comments (8)

I Painted Her at Epoch Coffee

May 4, 2009 – 6:53 am
By Lavanna Martin | Also posted in alla prima, art, artist, guerrilla artist, guerrilla portraiture, portrait sketch | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)