Panda Squares- tiny 4" x 4" paintings for Wonder Con

For the month of March I have been preparing for Wonder Con. Most of the merchandise sold will be Panda 8” x 10” prints and necklaces, but I wanted to have some original pieces as well.

Hence, I painted two 4” x 4” “Panda and Me” Squares!

“Panda Square” 4 “ x 4” by Sandra Fremgen

The Story about Panda's square:

Panda is suited up and ready to mingle! As you can see by the space age wall paper, Panda is hanging out at a mid century modern home. What kind of trouble is he getting himself into?!

The Back Story:

This painting is inspired by my love of mid century modern. The Popsicle orange, sea blue and silver are cheerful and optimistic. The background pattern of floating shapes and lines was inspired by the “Space Age” patterns of the 1950's. Since I am a pattern designer in my day job, I wanted to integrate those elements into my personal work. All of these loves were reinforced by a recent trip to Palm Springs when we went to visit Tom's family. I wanted Panda to look suave like Frank Sinatra.

“Fez Monkey Square” 4 “ x 4” by Sandra Fremgen

The Story about “Fez Monkey” :

Fez Monkey is one of Panda's many villains. He is the world's best jewel thief and steals more for the sport of it. He is a hipster and has taken over a year to grow his huge beard.

The Back Story:

This painting is inspired by my love of mid century modern. I kept the colors cooler (compared to Panda's bright and cheerful oranges) because Fez is a villain that wouldn't want to spread joy. The “Space Age” patterns in the background are more subdued than Panda's background design. I love the idea of patterns reflecting the mood of the characters.

Both of these paintings can be found in my etsy store! 

Finished! "Red Panda's Volcano Hideout" 8" x10" Acrylic on Board

"Red Panda's Volcano Hideout" 8" x10" Acrylic on Board By Sandra Fremgen

STORY:

In this painting, we finally get to meet Panda's arch rival, Red Panda! Just like Panda, Red Panda was a top notch agent at the CIA. He and Panda were the dynamic duo that saved lives all over the globe. Eventually, Red Panda grew tired of helping others and saw how much he could gain if he worked for himself. With all of his secrets of the CIA, Red Panda left and formed his own evil organization. Now he will stop at nothing to take over the world!

BEHIND THE SCENES OF THIS PAINTING:

In the summer of 2013, I was working with a friend to possibly turn Panda into a video game. I created many worlds and different allies and villains for Panda to encounter. I thought Red Panda would be the ultimate bad guy because his design could be the "evil" version of Panda. Panda is dashing and cute, while Red Panda is more angular and harsh looking.  For this painting, I wanted to explore more of a red, orange and gold color scheme.  I also wanted to play around with the concept of broad brush strokes. Hence you see Red Panda's face is more abstract and less rendered than the Tiki. 

ART TECHNIQUE OF THIS PAINTING:
This painting features bold brush strokes that show up on the surface of the board. The style is graphic to show Red Panda as a menacing character in a simple way. The hot color palette of reds, pinks, oranges and yellows is balanced out by cool browns. The sparkling diamond is rendered in different shades of browns, grays and blacks.

Here's an early sketch of Red Panda for the video game.

Finished! "The Enchanted Panda Room"

Personal note:

I am so happy to have finished "The Enchanted Panda Room." Overall it was a fun painting and I loved experimenting with the rock, water and cloud textures. Tom says it's my most ambitious Panda painting yet. Usually I only have 1 figure with Panda... but this time, i wanted to tell me a more elaborate story.

Story:
When Panda has some downtime, he likes to chill with his friends at the Enchanted Panda Room! Panda plays his Ukelele as the Hula Girls dance with their coconut fire pots. Whether there is a packed house or audience of 1, Panda and the Hula Girls always give it their all.

Back story:
This painting was inspired by the Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland. I love the singing parrots, the magical way that the water changes color and the Tiki decor, of course! I used to hula dance and used fire pots as one of my instruments. The song I danced to was "Kalua," a slow melody about a girl finding her true love. A dancer has to hold her fire pots evenly to avoid tipping them over. A firepot is simply a coconut shelled out with a candle inside.

This is a 18" x 24" acrylic painting on board