As a new addition to TROOP(read details below about website coming soon!) I will run an artist profile at least once a month. The first AP features good friend and wickedly talented artist, Sacha Penn who let me show off her painting which is the first of, I hope, many in a series of anatomic splendor in which Sacha dives beneath the surface of the human skin and makes even a mass of fibrous connective tissue curiously beautiful.
I'm excited to brag that I will be posing for the ocular muscle next week when I head down to visit her in Southern California and I can't wait to see the finished painting!
Sacha's Tools:
Paintbrushes - mostly sable, sold by the mysterious brush lady. "It's best not to question where or how she gets her brushes."
Shin Han Watercolor paint - sold in China Town in LA. Bad part of town, great paints.
Arches watercolor paper - ridiculously expensive paper found online or at art supply warehouse in westminster. It smells really bad. When I have time I'll make my own paper and not be poor.
Palette - can be anything, but I like to use something white and big.
I also spend a lot of time studying anatomy books and drawing the human figure so that I can understand how the muscles and bones relate to a specific pose.
AM:I see you have an interest in anatomy, is this a theme which carries through most of your artwork?
S:Unfortunately it isn't a constant theme. I am fascinated by human anatomy but it is rare that I get to indulge in it. If I had it my way all my work would in some way revolve around the intricacies and beauty of the human body inside and out - but a girl's gotta eat!
AM:Any artists that have inspired you? Mentors?
S:
Jenny Saville
Sam Webber
Vincent Van Gogh
William Wendt
Andrew Wyeth
Gustav Klimt
John Daugherty
and my mentors:
Peter Zokosky
Yu Ji
George Zebot
AM:What other interests do you have ( besides art)?
S: I have so many! Metalworking, baking, flying, nursing, farming, sewing, running, jumping and falling. I just love learning and working with my hands.
AM:Where do you see yourself in ten years?
S: I hope in ten years to be splitting my time between doctors without borders (as a biomedical illustrator/RN) and my ranch in Montana.
Finally, If you had to paint using only food items/ingredients what would your canvas taste like???
S: It would taste like the air on the first truly warm summer day after a long winter... and mangos
