The March 15, 2010 meeting of the Santa Clarita Artists’ Association (SCAA) will feature contemporary realist and portrait artist, Aaron Westerberg. He will be showing his figurative drawing and painting techniques at 7 p.m.
Westerberg was born in San Diego and raised in the rural, mountainous Ramona, one of San Diego County’s oldest communities. As a child he was inspired by the area’s picturesque surroundings, which included intriguing boulder formations. He took life drawing and illustration at a community college in nearby San Marcos, then traditional life drawing at the California Art Institute in Westlake Village, where he studied 19th century American and European artists. He found particular inspiration in the paintings of Edmund Tarbell (1862-1928), John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) and Anders Zorn (1860-1920), three artists whose sense of form, color and light, intrigued Westerberg.
Westerberg’s drive for advancing his painting skills ultimately led him to teach. From 2000 to 2005, he taught at the California Art Institute. Since 2005, he has become a popular faculty member at the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art where he teaches drawing and painting. His work received attention in several national publications, including the cover of Strokes of Genius: The Best of Drawing, and in 2002, Westerberg was listed in Southwest Art’s annual roster of “Twenty-One under Thirty-One.” In 2007, he was given a feature story in American Art Collector magazine, as well as being named one of the best 24 artists under 40 by Artist Magazine.
Aaron Westerberg is a member of the California Art Club, Oil Painters of America and the Portrait Society of America. In addition, he has a very impressive record of exhibitions and gallery appearances across the US.
The SCAA monthly meetings are instructive and inspirational and are held at the Westfield Town Center Community Room (located between JC Penny and the Food Court; 24201 West Valencia Boulevard in Valencia). Non-members are welcomed and may attend their first meeting for free.
For additional information, please visit the SCAA webpage at www.santaclaritaartists.org .