A Sandlot Inspired Painting

I was probably 6 or 7 years old the first time I saw The Sandlot, and since that time I’ve watched it at least once a year. That means I’ve seen it approximately 22 times. I love the way it captures the spirit of summer, even if you didn’t grow up in the 60’s. Just like Big Chief – it’s “the best”! One day I would like to have some nice art in my house, but for now I stick with thrifted art or handmade art. As a tribute to one of my favorite movies, I made a Sandlot Inspired Painting.

All of the characters in the movie are fantastic, but when it came time to choose a scene to paint, I went with Wendy Peffercorn. This is partly because I was also a lifeguard, and partly because I adore the scene after Squints gets kicked out of the pool and she peers out at him from her lifeguard tower and smirks. Now Wendy peers out over my living room with a half smile, half smirk. It’s cheeky and a little kitschy and that’s just fine with me.

This painting took about two weeks to complete. Most of that time was waiting for layers of paint to dry or touching up the shape of her face. I started with a VERY rough sketch just to get a general outline for the painting. Poor Wendy. I’m sorry! Then I got to work painting. Because she was going to need a lot of depth, the first thing needed was the base color. IE peach skin, red swimsuit, yellowish hair. After the base was painted, I could blend in shadows and create texture.

In the process of adding texture, I was able to better shape her face. She has a round face, but my initial drawing gave her more of an oval shape. As I painted, I realized that her glasses were also too small.

That was a bit difficult to fix. I had to wait until the paint completely dried because I was working with black and white. I also had a hard time with all the shadows in this picture. When you’re painting close up, the dark colors look so harsh. You really have to step back once in a while to see why the heck you’re painting half her face grey. Don’t be an L7 weenie and just do it! Trust me, it will turn out great in the end! Enjoy your Sandlot Inspired Painting!

Materials used:
Canvas
Oil paints – you need at least black, white, red, blue, and yellow
Set of brushes – craft stores sell these in packs. I didn’t use anything fancy!
Paint thinner