Happy Friday folks! I'm giving a shout out to my friend Andy Panda Montero who recorded his second podcast of "A. Panda's TIki Lounge." There is a mix of upbeat swing, lounge music AND an interview with Koop Kooper, host of the national radio show Cocktail Nation. Give it a go!
http://apandatikipod.podbean.com/e/pandas-swinging-cocktail-hour/ — with Andy Panda Montero and Koop Kooper.
"Come Together" my painting for Tiki Oasis 2014
August 18-2014
Here I am at Tiki Oasis for the first time with my Panda painting. Tiki Oasis was a sensory overload (in a good way!) of Polynesian inspired art, music, fashion and fun people.
The more I do the thing I love, the more I realize there is a niche for it...
I will step up and be a vendor next year.. I hope this inspires you to create what you love as well.
Pie Painting Exchange with Andrew Dost of Fun.
July 5: 2014
I don't know how to write about this without sounding like a crazy fan! The painting on the left "Kitty Pie" was created for me by Andrew Dost, one of the musicians of my favorite band Fun. As a fundraiser for an animal shelter, Andrew created 50 custom paintings for his fans. When I signed up for mine, I emailed and asked if i could create something for him.. Amazingly enough, he said YES!! So on the right is "Andrew's Pie Shop," which is the name of his project... It's influenced by his song "Some Nights," "The Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper, my Panda character and Andrew and his pie paintings of course! (His twitter quote and his pie paintings are on the "menu"). I am mailing this painting out to him on MOnday. It is so cool to get to give something back to a musician who has inspired so much of my art!!
The Painting on the left is by Andrew. The painting on the right is by me.
Day 2 at the Pasadena Chalk Festival
Behind the Scenes of my Panda Chalk Painting! (10 photos)
A behind the scenes look at how I created my Panda piece at the chalk festival! (Basically, 20 hours of work condensed into 10 photos for your viewing pleasure) — at Pasadena Chalk Fest 2014.
This is the final piece. Feel free to flip through the gallery below for step by step!
Day 1 at the Pasadena Chalk Festival!
June 15 2014:
12 hour day at the Pasadena Chalk Festival yesterday! Getting ready to go back for day 2! Thanks Christine Leahey, Max, Apple McKee and Kevin who came to visit. And of course thanks to Tom Fremgen, who is the best artist assistant that I can ask for! (if you want to come visit me, I am on the 2nd floor, infront of the ArcLight Cinema at Paseo Colorado, Pasadena, Pasadena Chalk Festival
Come join me at the Pasadena Chalk Festival 2014!
The festival takes place June 14 & June 15, 10am to 7pm at Paseo Colorado, located at 280 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena CA 91101
If you are looking for something to do this Father's Day weekend, may I suggest you come visit me at the Pasadena Chalk Festival? =) I will be recreating the painting you see above "Panda and Pandora's Box" in chalk pastels on a 5ft x 5ft sidewalk surface! There will be over 600 artists creating realistic portraits, animal paintings, copies of masterpieces, those amazing 3D perspective pictures... SERIOUSLY, ANYTHING YOU CAN THINK OF!
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New Painting! "Panda and the Informant"
"Panda and the Informant" 8" x 10" Acrylic Painting on Canvas by Sandra Fremgen
Hello... I am happy to share with you my latest painting "Panda and the Informant." **** Panda's night at the Tiki Bar is interrupted when a mysterious woman passes an envelope to him. She is overly cautious as Panda plays it cool like the professional that he is. Should she be trusted?! **** Every thing I painted here is something I LOVE. The dress is a traditional Chinese Cheongsam that American women in the 60's put their own twist on. The American twist here is featuring a Hibiscus Floral pattern instead of a traditional Chinese scroll or Dragon. The Informant's hairstyle and jewelry were lifted from Megan's character of Mad Men. I figured that I shouldn't be borrowing from Joan all the time...
Here is a preliminary sketch I did:
The "Panda and YOU" project starts now!
A sneak preview of the wonderful participants! =)
When I was at Wondercon last month, I spontaneously put down a blank sheet of paper and asked people if they wanted to stay in touch via email. Surprisingly, people were more than happy to!
On Sunday, I had a list of about 40 people. Even though I had briefly interacted with each person, I couldn't remember anybody specific on the list. I didn't want to just have a list of unknowns and so I started to brainstorm how I could genuinely connect with each person.
That is how the “Panda and YOU” project was born.
I emailed everyone and asked them to send me a photo of themselves and a description of their personality. In return, I drew a picture of them doing something cool with Panda! I've done about 6 pencil drawings so far and it has been a blast squeezing in all of the fun facts of each participant's life. It has been so enriching learning about each person's life.
As a gift, each participant gets a digital copy (to share to friends online about Panda) AND the physical copy. It's important that each participant gets a physical copy because this may be their FIRST PIECE OF ORIGINAL ART EVER. As an artist, it is my goal to help every one experience the joy of owning a piece of original artwork. It's so easy to just go to IKEA and pick out the classic Van Gogh or Da Vinci artwork. Yes those masterpieces are beautiful, but there is something so special about owning a one-of-a kind artwork. A person's artwork collection SAYS SO MUCH ABOUT THEM. In other words, an art collector tells THEIR STORY through the narrative of the artwork they collect.
A personal goal with this project is to improve my drawing skills. I want to draw more efficiently and not draw the same type of person over and over again.
Each month I will be doing a fan feature in my email newsletter. It should be exciting for fans to see each other's artworks.