Painting Again, Jordan Sabolick, And The Oxymoron That Is Holiday Breaks

[Work In Progress: Portrait of Jordan Sabolick.]

Why is it that vacations always end up tiring you out more than a normal work week does? My "holiday break" would have been more aptly titled a "holiday exhaust-a-thon" I crammed so much into it. Between Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Dressember photoshoots, ugly Christmas sweater parties, forced family holiday fun time, the Lakers breaking my heart, my 21 and 23 year-old cousins from Texas visiting (and macking on 40 year-old ex 49ers cheerleaders), and New Year's Eve I haven't had time to stop. Which is just crazy seeing as I made time to eat 4 hearty meals a day under the excuse, "It's the holidays!" 

Today was the first day where I had a few hours strung together to actually relax and get started on my "Things To Work On Over Break" list. I can now check off item number 2: Start my next painting. (Thus the photo above tracking my progress so far.) I have so many photos of friends that I've accumulated that I want to paint, but I wanted to do another more simple one before I got started on the more complex ones I've got locked up in my secret files (more complex meaning: multiple subjects and intricate props and backgrounds). So I chose to start work on a portrait of my friend Jordan Sabolick. You might know Jordan as the guitarist for OC band The Union Line, the boyfriend of my lovely co-worker Blythe Hill, or from his former days as barista-extraordinaire at the Starbucks in Aliso Viejo. Those of you who do know Jordy know he's one of the nicest, funniest guys around. But that's not why I chose him for this project. No, my motives were much shallower than that my friends. I chose him because he exudes that "I'm in a band" look that one only gets when they're European or - well - in a band. I think he'll make a great addition to my "The Beatniks, The Bastards, And The Saints" series.

I'm really excited with how it's turning out so far. Blythe helped me take the photo of him that I'm painting from and we took it in really high contrast lighting to get some really amazing shadows. God willing and the creek don't rise, it's going to be a painting worthy of the Master of Shadows, Caravaggio himself.

Happy New Year to you all! Don't miss a FREE SHOW by Jordan's band The Union Line tomorrow night at 9pm with fellow local bands My Pet Saddle and Pacific Hurt. It's at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa, so it's 21+. Sorry kiddies.

- Amy

Listening to: The Union Line's "Time Is A Seed"