Sarah K. Good

Portrait of Dad

A Father’s Day Thought

Today is the perfect day to tell your dad how much you appreciate him. Of all the blessings God has given us, parents are unfortunately missing from the list for many people. Thankfully, that was not the case for me although is easily could be. Despite the fact that I was orphaned as an infant, I was not deprived of wonderful parents. I was lucky to be adopted by a christian family. God really blessed my life when He gave me two godly parents.

One thing I really love about my dad is how seriously he takes his relationship with God. There is one particular place he escapes to for quiet time with his Bible. Camera in hand, I made the short walk with him up through the overgrown brush to the top of the hill. Once there, I took some pictures of him as he looked out over the ocean.

I painted this moment quite a while later. I wasn’t able to capture the ocean in the his portrait, but I hope I caught the special quality of the place and what it means to him.

Dad’s Quiet Place

By S Good | June 16, 2013 | art, artists, creative environment, Father's Day, Holiday |

Defining

Ownership, organization, clarification, information can all be identified in a tag. Endless stores, science labs, and manufactures tag their items to grab attention, to categorize, or to stake claim. Social sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pintrest (to name a few) all give us the ability to attach tags to whatever we want. What if we step away from all of these things, the manufactured goods, projects, and all of our devices and look at ourselves?

Defining words have been placed on you and can be identified by anyone who sees you. You have tagged yourself. Intentionally or unintentionally, what did you say about yourself? Others have tagged you, what marks have they left visible? No matter how visible your tags already are, people automatically conjure all types of tags about you the moment they see you. Whether burdened by tags left by other people or ones you have placed on yourself, none of us are unmarked.

As an artist, I don’t want my work, my abilities, or any of my own markings to define me. I don’t want other’s definitions to weigh me down. I want the powerful, masterful hand of God to over shadow everything else. Tags might label, but they can’t define me, God does.

By S Good | June 15, 2013 | art, artists, Defintion |

A Head Study of Nate

I want to share with you another step by step process of one of my paintings. Here is another alla prima head study that I did just a few months ago.

I chose a side profile this time.

Nate, The Model

Below is work completed after the first 20 min.

Nate Stage 1

In this next sitting, I tried to finish getting my proportions/drawing and block in some light and shadow values.

Nate, Stage 2

The next goal was to figure out my main color temperatures and slowly tighten my drawing.

Nate, Stage 3

Next came a stage I struggle with the most: mid-tones and transitions.

Nate, Stage 4

Finally, I finished it up for the night. If I remember right, we cut the last sitting just a little short. However, this is always one of the most exciting sessions for the night. Adding the last highlights and smoothing the transitions is as nerve-wracking as it is enjoyable. Nerve-wrecking because I don’t want to ruin any of my progress; enjoyable because this small touches add so much refinement and life to the painting.

Nate, Final Stage

I really enjoyed this particular painting session. However, I knew I needed test my limits because I have a lot of room for improvement. In future posts, I will share some of the fun ways I experimented.

By S Good | June 11, 2013 | art, artists, step by step |

Google Fame

I realized a curious thing on Google earlier this week. I will most likely never pop up on the Google sidebar. (If you try it yourself, I am not the Salem witch.)

Before I go any further, I must clarify that I am not seeking notoriety, fame, or fortune. I just take my epiphanies (despite how ever random they may seem) very seriously.

Admittedly, I am one of those silly people who enjoys looking up peoples names on Google to see what they are famous for. I see a movie and I get curious as to who is in it, what they’ve been in before, or who they starred with. I hear a singer and I must see what they look like, their age, and height. Sometimes I start typing a random letter to see who’s name will begin to form first and then continue on from there.

On one such occasion, I wondered, what are the chances of my picture appearing? There must be millions of names stored on demand… surely mine could be too? Shockingly, a picture did show up! Horrifyingly, it belonged to a witch. When I specified my search to the correct Sarah Good, the blank to the side was not surprising.

Of course, I know I am just starting out. If I wasn’t Sarah Good, I wouldn’t know to look her up either. I thought, surely more established artists will appear to the side. I tested the idea by typing in some of my friends and most admired artists. This resulted in very little… with the exception of illustrators.

I did notice that famous illustrators, such as James Gurney and Peter de Sève, did get a place on the side. Since it has taken me over 3 weeks to digitally illustrate a simple, cartoon, children’s reader, I seriously doubt I have any similar successful future in illustration.

What scares me about this discovery is that whatever appears on the Google sidebar readily, are the things that people find most interesting and care about. Fine art does not seem to be high on the list for the vast majority of the human population. It looks as though I doomed to be not only faceless, but also uninteresting.

However, God has given me a desire to create and portray things with great meaning. Things that will touch people’s hearts. Whether or not my profession touches any viewer stumbling upon it, I don’t need to worry. As long as I am doing the Lord’s will, someone’s heart will be touched. Even is it is just my own. With Him for me, what do I need to worry for?

1 PETER 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

By S Good | June 8, 2013 | artists, fame, google |

Work in Progress

It seems as though the process I take to get to my final product interests people just as much as the painting itself. Although I would rather my work to be seen once it is completed, I can understand the appeal of seeing all the stages before the finished product, because I find it intriguing myself. For those of you who appreciate the progress as much as the product, this is for you.

There is a group of painters that get together some weeks and paint a head study. On those nights I try to take a picture at the end of every break. These can be seen already on my site in Recent Works. I hope to share some of them with you from time to time.

If I arrive early enough, get to pick a good spot to set up. I got a nice 3/4 view. We then set a timer and get busy!

Tim, Our Model

This first stage is after 20 min. of painting.

Tim

After sketching out the head, I start to pick out pieces where I refine my drawing and add color. Each break comes a little too fast….

Stage 2

Tim, Stage 2

It is still a struggle to get correct proportions and color temperatures.

Stage 3

Time, Stage 3

After this amount of time, the model normally has difficultly staying alert after 10 min of sitting. This is really only the half way point. Thankfully for us, Tim braved it for another sitting.

Stage 4

Tim, Stage 4

The model actually left early on this night, but managed to stay for one final sitting. He seems a bit sleepy…

Stage 5

Tim, Stage 5

As always, when the end came it was hard to put down the brush and call the piece done. I know our model appreciated it! In this particular study, I really felt I had too much broken patches, and overly yellow areas. For the next time we met, I really tried to keep that in mind as I painted. Each of these is really just a “quick” note (at least in “painting time” it’s quick… kinda has the” dog years/inception” phenomena). They are nothing more than sketches or learning tools.

Have a wonderful week!

By S Good | June 3, 2013 | Uncategorized |

Privilege of an Area

Creative environments are a privilege to be apart of. I have recently come to the realization of how lucky I am to have grown up in such an “artsy” or “creative” place. Not just my home, but my school, town, county, and pretty much the surrounding area! I forget there are places that don’t have a need for a hundred different art stores.
When I say “artsy” and “creative” I am also thinking of unique foods, custom clothing, and quirky singers. I am saddened when I meet someone who has never eaten fresh avocado, doesn’t know that an artichoke can be eaten, and has only seen vineyards in pictures. I like seeing creative styles of clothing besides the standard jeans/t-shirt or high priced labels. Which is good for Pinterest!!! As to singers… Well, that’s a huge topic to dive into! I think I would need to start a new blog just to scratch the surface of that.
I recently visited the beautiful town of Fairhope, Alabama. Definitely one of the most beautiful “artsy” places that I have had the opportunity to visit while at graduate school. It’s an odd rarity for its surrounding neighbors. However, all over the part of California where I grew up, there were a million and one artistic opportunities for me. The surrounding towns are overstocked with creativity and “artsiness”! I am very grateful God placed me exactly where He did!!! I think my childhood would have been incomplete without parking garage murals, acres of vineyards/orchards/groves, and a regular intake of artichokes.

By S Good | June 1, 2013 | creative environment |

Big, Fat, Majorly Huge Thanks

I know some incredibly generous, stupendous, brilliant people. Largely due to the collaboration of these wonderful geniuses, I now have a functioning site!!!
Several individuals whom I have never before met, not only offer to help, but also patiently gave me their time and resources. Two of them I have yet to see face to face! Thank you so much to you all!
My friends here have been so supportive an helpful every single day about every few minutes 🙂 Thank you bunches, guys!
I am truly, sincerely, from-the-depths-of-my-soul completely thankful for everyone who has helped me from Florida to California! Most of the time I had no clue what I even needed. Thank God for blessing me beyond what I could ever ask or imagine! Eph. 3 (you should read the whole chapter)

By S Good | May 24, 2013 | Uncategorized |

Welcome to My Site

Thank you for taking time to visit my site.

The Lord has been so good to me. He has blessed my life with so many rich experiences and opportunities. I’m excited to share some of that with you through my artwork.

In future posts I hope to share things that I have found helpful, have tried myself, or that I am still learning.

I hope you find your way back to my site again!

By S Good | May 21, 2013 | Uncategorized |