Painting with Laurie Johnson

"A Moment" (c) Mary Hubley

I recently had an amazing painting session with the amazing California artist Laurie Johnson Lepkowska, and I'm excited to tell you about it.

When I visited Monterey this summer, I took my painting gear with me, on a mission to get some happy work done on the West Coast. A few weeks before the trip, I found that Laurie, one of the artists that I admire on Daily Paintworks, was located close to where I would be. So, I contacted her to see if she would please, please like to paint with me for a few hours. I was thrilled to find out that she was thrilled to do it!

Laurie Johnson and Mary Hubley painting in Redwood City

So, early on Sunday morning, I arrived post-coffee at her studio, ready to go. Such a wonderful portrait artist! Laurie is the kind of expert artist who seeks out the sweet whimsy and spark in her subjects. Her walls were covered with luscious images she was working on. After a quick tour of the Redwood City Art Center, where her studio is located, we painted.

We used the same reference photo - a striking woman looking off into the distance, leaning forward on a purple surface. We discussed the usefulness of using a subtle purple in skin tone, the importance of noticing the planes of the face, and how our painting subject looked much like John Singer Sargent's Madame X. You can see the beginning stages of my painting sitting next to me in the photo just above, and the final creation at the top of this post.

I was sad to leave - I could have painted with Laurie all afternoon, but time was short. While I didn't have time to finish the painting there, I took it home and completed it later.

I had fun in the studio with Laurie Johnson. See Laurie's Daily Paintworks gallery here. I now have a new friend... Thanks, Laurie!

Genre: Portrait
Painting Name: A Moment
Size: 12" x 12"
Media: Acrylic on Canvas


-- Mary Hubley