A Delicious New Commission
A Little Background:
When putting together workshop ideas, I always to try to create the kinds of classes that I want to take. I want them to be interesting, engaging, and encouraging. I’m always aiming for the right balance of challenging but approachable with a unique subject matter. And, I just love a snack. All of these brought me to come up with the idea of watercolor brunch (which has been a successful, reoccurring class!)
This summer, I wanted to create a nighttime version of watercolor brunch and came up with watercolor pizza party! We learn to paint greasy fun food textures while eating pizza. What could be better, right?! The next challenge: choose a local pizza place in LA (we shop small!) that was: 1. Close to the studio, 2. Accommodating of allergies/restrictions, and (most importantly) 3. Delicious.
Only one spot fit the bill: Prime Pizza.
On a whim, I reached out to them via email to see if they could help cater an event like this and they were in! Long story short(er), the class went off without a hitch in July and I thought that was the end of things (until the next pizza class, of course!)
But then!
The co-owners of Prime Pizza saw my coffee posters and had a great idea: let’s make a pizza poster. After a series of emails, we decided on the design and creation began! It’s been a long time since I’ve salivated so much while painting a commission, haha! It was easy to get into my groove and the whole drawing/painting process itself only took about a week and a half. I was so pleased with the results and was so happy when I saw the Prime owners were too! :)
Watch the transformation
Watch the painting transform from a digital mock up (using supplied photos of each slice of pizza and a jpeg of their logo) to the entirely drawn/painted version! For this piece, I used primarily watercolor with a little bit of colored pencil to add some texture and pen for the slice names and my signature.
Needless to say, this was a pretty exciting commission for me
It’s awesome to add a commission like this to my portfolio for a few reasons. Of course, I love the opportunity and excitement that comes with making something for a business and I love painting food but, more than anything, it was cool to create something as a collaboration with a business I already know, respect, and order from. If you’re in the LA area and are craving a slice, be sure to check out Prime! They now have seven locations all around the city. And who knows! You might see this piece again :)
And let me just put this out into the world: I’d love to work on some more projects with other businesses (restaurants or otherwise). Let’s make something together! Send me an email, I’d love to hear your ideas and help them come to life.
That’s it from me today! Talk soon,
