10 Reasons to Hire Live Painting PGH for Your Wedding

1.      You LOVE art. If you are an art lover like us, inviting a live painter to paint at your wedding is just a bonus. After your wedding, you will have original art to hang in your home! Our paintings make great conversation pieces. Not many people even know what a live painter is (unless you’re on tiktok). Everyone is generally fascinated with the idea and our paintings!

2.      You’re looking for the perfect wedding gift. Well, you found it. We’re biased, but we’ve seen the happy tears too many times… we have the proof!  Gifting a painting to a loved one is as special as it gets. It’s thoughtful, meaningful, and makes everyone so happy!

3.      You need that extra something at your wedding. We are great entertainment for your guests! Everyone loves to see the progress of the painting throughout the night. As we paint your wedding day, we are mingling and letting people paint. Flower girls are always the first to ask if they can paint. 😊 If you watch closely, you may even see Jaison juggle his paint brushes. He’s got tricks.

4.      Investing in art is an experience! We work together to create your painting that you will have forever. It’s our mission to really understand your vision. Apart from our painting style, you have creative control (that’s if you want it). Some couples leave the decision making up to us, which is fun too! Do you have a specific vision in mind or do you want to be surprised? Both are great!

5.      We’re vessels for you wedding day. We essentially absorb the energy of the day and transfer it onto the canvas. We take in everything from the mood to the décor. You get to see one of the best days of your life through the eyes of an artist!

6.      You’re supporting local artists! ..and their two cats. While being an artist can be a rewarding lifestyle, it is not an easy one. It’s constant work. So we are extremely grateful for all of our couples that help us keep and maintain our livelihood!

7.      Our paintings are family heirlooms! I know if our parents had a painting of their wedding, we would cherish it forever and hang it in our home. It would be so cool to pass your painting down to family so they can always be in the presence of your love story.

8.      You will have a constant reminder of your wedding day. You will see your painting every day. So hopefully on those particularly hard days, you will be reminded of what’s truly important and why you fight so hard for each other. 😊  

9.      Our booking process is pretty low maintenance. We put a lot of thought into everything so the process is easy and fun! Once we have a strong idea of your vision for the painting, we take care of the rest. We are often hired as a surprise because of this very reason. On wedding day, it takes us just 5 minutes to set up and we’re ready to paint!

10.  Our style is the best of both worlds.  Our work is a dance between impressionism and realism. With every painting, we strive to not only capture the literal details of the scene, but also convey the unseen energy of the moment with our unique artistic style and expressive brushwork. In other words, we would rather paint the flying spirit of the bird than its feathers (this is a quote by Robert Henri, an artist and teacher that we admire with every fiber of our being).

Live Painting In A Nutshell

Hello! We are Jaison and Stephanie, the artists and owners of Live Painting PGH. We have been professionally bringing fine art and live wedding painting to PA and beyond since 2015. Painting is our passion, so for us, every wedding is a chance to create something truly special! Live painting is a genuinely unique addition to your reception.  The finished work of fine art will become a family heirloom to be passed down for generations!

We offer three main packages (Ceremony, Portrait, or First Dance). We even offer different “levels” for each package if you would like to upgrade to a larger canvas, larger or more ornate frame, or add more detail in your painting. Each package has its own charm and allows you to choose what moment you would like us to capture. All packages includes a hand-stretched canvas, the finest paints, live painting during your wedding plus 1 – 3 months extra painting time in our studio (we are perfectionists!), varnishing, frame, and prints of your painting. Upgrade your package to include even more. Don’t quite see the package that you’re looking for? We can customize one for you.

We start from scratch by hand stretching and preparing the canvas ourselves. We use the finest paints and materials to create a fully finished work of fine art of the highest quality. Each package that we offer is a little different, but we typically arrive early to set up and start planning the composition of the painting in the reception area. We bring out the brushes and paints around the time the guests arrive so they can see the process and enjoy watching the progress throughout the evening. Guests always enjoy watching and we welcome them to talk with us as we paint. We typically paint live for 5 – 6 hours on the wedding day, capturing as much of the feeling, mood, and detail as we possibly can.

To some, the painting may look finished, but we have much more in store.  After the wedding, it is back to our studio where we spend a lot of time and energy to make sure your painting is just right and has the perfect balance, likeness, flow, and harmony.

After graduating from college for fine art (Jaison went to the University of Pittsburgh and Stephanie went to Edinboro University), we began to focus our energies on portraiture and live painting at weddings. We love many styles of art, but we would compare our painting style to post impressionism. The beloved master painters like Monet, Sargent, Rembrandt, and Manet all painted in the impressionist style, capturing all the important details and likenesses while still preserving the energy, feeling, and mood of the subject. It is the best of both worlds. Our goal for each painting is to capture what is felt as well as what is seen. This is no easy task, which is why every live painting comes back to our studio for 4 – 12 weeks so we can continue the painting process and develop the painting into a true work of fine art.

What makes your work unique?

Every painting starts from a blank canvas and is truly one of a kind. It does not get much more unique than that! You choose the moment from your wedding day (first dance, the ceremony, portrait, etc.) for us to capture live on canvas during your reception.  A painting of your wedding day can memorialize the moments shared, the love that was felt, and every detail that you planned – down to the last candle stick. A painting is timeless. It is something you will cherish forever and smile at every time you see it hanging in your home.

Visit our studio in the charming town of Saxonburg, Pa to see what we are currently working on. We are also more than happy to have an in-person or phone consultation with you to discuss your painting.

What is your ideal client like?

Anyone who finds joy and appreciation in the arts (which is pretty much everyone we’ve ever met)! Leave it to art to bring people together. Our clients are parents, engaged couples, and family members looking for something extra special to add to their wedding day. Couples often hire us as a wedding gift to each other. Many soonlyweds hire us as a surprise to their new spouse. Family, friends, and wedding parties pitch in and give live painting as a truly unique wedding gift. Parents will often spare no expense to make live painting happen at their daughter or son’s wedding.

The joys (and perils) of Plein Air painting

Our newest adventure has been taking our studio outdoors, Plein-Air style! This is a big leap and a fresh start for us because Jaison is finally recovering from Lyme Disease. We have honestly been hermit crabs for the past few years just trying to get back to normal.  (Please write us if you are battling Lyme. We would love to help!)

Painting Plein Air has been a challenge that we’ve been very excited about for a long time. It’s a way of better understanding atmosphere and light in nature and it’s an excellent opportunity to get some fresh air and exercise. (It’s also kind of like a date for us!) It’s also an Adrenaline Rush! The pressure to capture nature in real time is so strong that it cancels all the voices of doubt or laziness that might otherwise prevent us from working.

Working outdoors does however come with a number of unique challenges.. ex: your whole easel falling over from wind, sun in your eyes, cold weather, dirt/bugs in the paint.. Because of these challenges, it is so important to have a set-up that works for you! Everything we take with us can fit into our Backpacks for easy travel. Here are some materials that we strongly recommend for your own set-up!

ITEMS & RECOMMENDED BRANDS

• Backpack ~ Any backpack will do.. with lots of pockets!

• Foldable chair ~ OPLIY Camping Stool

• Portable easel or Pochade Box ~ Sienna Pochade Box or simply a cigar box

• Tripod ~ STURDY TIGER 56” Professional Camera Tripod

• Palette ~ Masterson Sta-wet Palette

• Panels ~ Hardboard Panels (any size)

• Wet Panel Carrier ~ PanelPak

• Chalk ~ White chalk for sketch on Panel

• Brushes ~ Long Bristle Flats #8, #12, Rigor Brush

• Limited paint palette ~ Trans Red, Titanium white, cad yellow light, yellow ochre, pyrrole red, burnt umber, ultramarine blue

• Rags ~ Cotton rags

• Cup for water ~ Container with lid

• Artist View Finder ~ View Catcher

How do you know when a painting is finished?

A lot of people ask us this question…. A lot. Every artist has a studio full of unfinished paintings. Paintings often become forgotten there, but on the bright side, it’s fun for us when we rediscover them later.

A painting could go on forever if you have zero intention for the piece. Happy accidents do occur once in a blue moon, but with no plan in mind it’s more than likely you’ll just paint on and on, never knowing when to stop. Usually you’re left with something that is overworked, muddy, & expressionless. Knowing your intentions, understanding your subject, respecting the process, and committing time to practice your art will result in a larger pile of finished paintings and more room in your studio!

We could tell you that we stop painting when we are happy to look at all parts of the painting and there is no little voice telling us to fix something, but it’s more than that. A painting should be more than a great composition or a perfect value or color study. A painting goes through many finales before we consider it finished. Knowing when your work is finished can be a very intuitive and personal process, which can often entail a certain level of anxiety.

For us, a work of art can stand on its own when it encompasses both elements of structure and expression or chaos and control.  When the balance is just right, a painting can take on a life of its own and let you know when it’s finished. Sometimes, it’s like magic.

Our biggest hope is to create an emotional connection between the painting and the viewer. A finished work of art should change the way you feel and stick with you.

How does Live Painting enhance your wedding experience?

Live Painting captures a moment in time of your wedding day, taking inspiration from the colors and energy of the environment. Because your wedding day may feel like a blur, it is our goal to convey all of the captivating moments on canvas that are distinctive to you! The people and moments that matter most to you will be artfully archived. A live wedding painting not only adds a unique touch to your wedding day, but is also a fine art investment to be treasured for generations.  

Hiring an artist for your wedding day also provides great entertainment for guests at your reception, as they love seeing the different stages of the painting being developed and sometimes even finding themselves on the canvas. Witnessing the creative process unfold, up close and personal, is part of the experience. Fascinating conversations develop around our easel during each event about art, life and so on. We encourage people to peek over our shoulders and we are happy to answer any questions they have about the painting. 

We both take on 25-30 commissions for Live Wedding Paintings each year. The demand for live painting is quite high, so we always recommend you inquire right away if you are interested in booking. Simply send an inquiry to learn more!