Live wedding painting
By Karen, edited by Elizabeth
We love finding uniquely talented wedding vendors. Recently, I came across the amazing work of Karen Wall Garrison, a live event artist. In real-time, she can capture the sentiment of a wedding with the stroke of her brush, and today she shares how she creates this magic.
Editor's disclosure: Shiny Orb receives no form of compensation from this vendor.
Walk us through how a live event painting is created for a wedding.
I arrive at the event about two hours before it starts to set up, and I begin painting the background: the environment and the surroundings. Then, as the people arrive and the wedding or reception takes place, I paint what I see, focusing the most detail on the bride and groom, the wedding party, the family, etc. (Usually the client will give me some direction and let me know specific things and people they want painted. But, sometimes they say, “You’re the artist—just do your thing!”) I work the whole painting, building layers and adding more and more detail, painting until the party ends. I use fast-drying acrylics on professional-grade stretched canvas sizes ranging from 28”x22”, 36”x24” to 40”x30”.How do you prepare? I will look at the website of the venue to get a rough idea of the locale. If my client has specific requests, I take notes. When I get there, I walk around to determine the best vantage point and set up my easel. Then I spend about 20 minutes wandering around and taking it all in, observing all the details of the surroundings. When I go to the easel, I try hard not to think and to just paint. I take pictures of the most crucial moment, like the exchange of vows, or the first dance; as a reference to work from to refine details on the bride and groom, and specific people. And I watch the time, knowing I have a deadline (the end of the event)! How long does the process take? I have painted an event as short as 2 hours and ones as long as 9. However long the event is being held-- that is my timeframe. What got you started? How did you get inspired to become a live event painter? As an “artist for hire”, I had always looked for ways to earn a living by painting. I’d done custom commissioned paintings, portraits, reproductions of masters’ works, murals and faux finishing. But, I was looking on Craigslist one day, and I found an ad from a bride looking for an artist to paint her wedding. I had actually never seen it done or even thought about doing it. I told her I’d never done it before, but I believed that I could because I paint fast, and I’m not afraid to let people watch me work.
From that very first wedding and reception I painted, I have been inspired to continue to focus on painting live events, weddings especially. It is the most incredible thing to paint the happiest day of someone’s life! Everything is beautiful, all the people who love the couple are there sharing their happiness. I sense the emotions of the event and that is what provides my inspiration. It’s as though I’m capturing the feelings of the moment on the canvas. I am making an impression of the essence of the event. As the festivities take place, things are moving all around me, colors are changing—it makes for a very lively and interesting painting.
Is there some historical context for live event painting? The Impressionists really were the first “live” painters. Paint had just become available in tubes, allowing the artist to venture out of the studio. Open-air (plein air) artists attempt to capture an immediate impression of what the eye sees, rather than what the viewer knows or thinks about the work. Many impressionists painted landscapes, but also captured everyday life, people in their natural settings, rather than posed in a studio. The term “Live Event Painting” to specifically paint a special occasion is fairly new, and it is becoming increasingly popular. While we are painting, we are also entertaining the crowd. People don’t often have an opportunity to watch a painting created from start to finish, and they enjoy trying to find themselves in the painting! Editor's note: you can find detailed walkthroughs of her live event paintings for weddings on her blog.Karen Wall Garrison is an artist and muralist, who specializes in live event painting for weddings. Though based in Southern California, she has traveled everywhere to paint events and weddings. You can find more of her work on her website and in popular restaurants such as NY's Upper Crust Pizza, La Creperie, and George's Greek Cafe along 2nd Street in Belmont Shore, Long Beach, California.
Comments [0]