Category Archives: portrait sketch

He was in the Corner at Epoch

July 7, 2010 – 9:44 am

My friend Lauren Hamilton Levy and I set out for Epoch yesterday, and we got lucky – we found a pretty good table. The guy next to us, in the corner, was hunkered down for a long spell. He was very thin and East Coast in appearance. (We never wear NorthFace apparel in the summer). […]

By Lavanna Martin | Also posted in alla prima, art, guerrilla artist, guerrilla portraiture, Oil Sketches Live at Coffee Houses, painting people from life, sketches | Tagged , , , | Comments (5)

He was Working the Crossword at the Spider House

June 16, 2010 – 11:41 am

When he very first arrived during morning rush hour, I thought that he was going to be there for a very short time. I was wrong: he was still there, four hours later. My friend, Lauren, and I moved from our table behind him, and sat where we could see his face. There were so […]

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I Sketched the Tattooed Woman at SpiderHouse

June 1, 2010 – 8:30 am

She was a very pretty woman. She and her partner were conducting business with Conrad. I overhead a bit of conversation – they were talking about signage, in the fashion of the tattoo. The woman had several tattoos – the most prevalent was of a lioness.

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Hipster in Black Shawl Collared Coat at the SpiderHouse

February 27, 2010 – 8:47 am

I went to Spider House to meet my daughter, yesterday. It was sunny, and crisp. The two of us were not able to sit together because it was too bright for my daughter’s laptop. I found the perfect table, right in the sun. Very few people were outside, and I soon found out why: it […]

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

I Painted the Pretty Hipster at SpiderHouse

January 25, 2010 – 9:07 am

We had a beautiful, sunny and warm day here in Austin last week. I went to SpiderHouse with Erin Park-Markert, one of my art students, to meet my daughter. We sat out on the patio, right beside this large group of “hipsters”, as my daughter calls them. They had pulled two tables together to accomodate […]

By Lavanna Martin | Also posted in alla prima, art, Austin Hippie, guerrilla artist, guerrilla portraiture, Oil Sketches Live at Coffee Houses, painting live, painting people from life | Tagged , , , | Comments (20)

Girl Genius Writes Code at FlightPath Coffee

January 5, 2010 – 7:49 pm

My daughter and I went to FlightPath Coffee during Finals Week before Christmas. This young brainiac came in late with her friend, and snagged one of the best tables. I don’t know if she knew how lucky she was – probably not. These Einstein- types can be totally unaware of the world around them. She […]

By Lavanna Martin | Also posted in alla prima, art, guerrilla artist, guerrilla portraiture, Oil Sketches Live at Coffee Houses, painting live, portraiture, sketches | Tagged , , , | Comments (43)

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, figure painting, guerrilla artist, guerrilla portraiture, oil painting, Oil Sketches Live at Coffee Houses, painting, painting live, painting people from life, portraiture, sketches | Tagged , , , , | Comments (12)

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, figure painting, painting live, painting people from life | Tagged , , , , | Comments (6)

I Painted Two Men in Deep Conversation at Epoch

August 28, 2009 – 12:42 pm

The tattooed man was there earlier, sitting outside. He had a brief conversation with the baristra, Ben.  The man on the right showed up about fifteen minutes later, and they came inside and sat opposite each other. I could only hear “she blah-blah-blah” running through their conversastion. It is difficult to capture two people who […]

By Lavanna Martin | Also posted in alla prima, art, oil painting, Oil Sketches Live at Coffee Houses, painting, painting live, painting technique, portraiture, sketching | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (6)

I Painted the Sad MiddleEasterner in San Raphael,Ca.

August 11, 2009 – 6:35 pm

I’m not even going to pretend to know what was going through his mind. If he were native born, I could probably conjure up some explanations such as: poor screwed up SOB, had a fight with his wife on a beautiful afternoon, and had no where to go so he ended up here. Who knows […]

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