Come visit our brand new store in Pasadena! We are just a block west of Pasadena City College on Colorado Blvd. We're stocked and ready to serve you. There's a giant parking lot adjacent to us and the Gold line stops a short walk from us at Allen. All week Sunday November 28 - Sunday December 5th our entire store will be an extra 15% off! Additionally, we are proud to announce, 5% of all sales during this week will be donated directly to Armory Center for the Arts, to help fund their child art education programs. Come visit us the weekend of December 4th and 5th to get prizes and participate in one of our many activities. On that weekend the 1st 75 people to spend $50 or more will receive a free tote bag stuffed with a variety of art supplies. Anyone spemnding $25 or more will get a roll of the die and are gauranteed a free prize. Check out the schedule below.
Jacquard Tie Dye Make and Take Saturday and Sunday 1pm - 4pm Both afternoons of the weekend we will have over a dozen colors of Jacquard's Procion Dye ready for you to go crazy with. Bring your own fabrics to dye or buy a white T-shirt or tote from us. Either way, you'll walk away with a unique creation just for you.
Blue Rooster Staff Art Table Saturday and Sunday 10am - 6pm We don't just work here, we like to make stuff too! Come check out what we do and maybe even find a treasure you'll want for yourself. 100% of the purchase of any art work will go directly to the artist.
Royal Talens and Silver Brush Demo Saturday December 4th 10am - 12pm Here's a chance to try out Silver watercolor brushes and Van Gogh watercolors. We'll be playing with watercolor on black and white paper for interesting effects. Do you have questions about other Silver Brush or Royal Talens products? Come by and get them answered.
Liquitex Holiday Make and Take Saturday December 4th 11am - 1pm Bring the family and come paint your own holiday ornaments with Liquitex acrylic paint. All materials will be provided, but if you have something you'd like to paint, feel free to bring it along!
GREX Airbrush Demo Saturday and Sunday 11am - 5pm No matter whether you want to paint on canvas, cars, food or people, GREX airbrushes is the way to do it right! Come learn the ins and outs of airbrusing from artist Sean Treves. You'll have a chance to not only learn best practices and techniques from Sean, but we'll also have a gun set up and ready for you to try. This is going to be fun!
Faber Castell and Holbein Saturday 1pm - 3pm and Sunday 3pm - 5pm Come test out a wide range of products from two of the world's best art materials manufacturers. They will be presenting old favorites along side some exciting new offerings.
ARMORY Printmaking Make and Take Saturday December 4th 1pm - 4pm We are super excited to teach you printmaking! This workshop presented by Armory Center for the Arts and Speedball Art is not to be missed! Teaching artist Gabriella Carboni will walk you through your very own relief block print. You will be taught the the process from start to finish, all materials provided. Dont miss this one.
R+F Demo Saturday December 4th 3pm - 6pm Perennial favorite artist, Caryl St. Ama, will be here showing off the luciousness that is R+F pigment sticks. Ever tried paint in a stick form? You can use them to paint direct or apply them traditionally with a brush. Either way these beautiful paints will open up your process. Come see for yourself.
POSCA Demo and Live Painting Sunday December 5th 2pm - 5pm These acrylic paint pens from Japan are well known for their beauty and versatility. They are used on surfaces as diverse as artist's canvas to clothes to surfboards and everything in between. Come see artist Sebastien Walker create a painting live using POSCA markers on wood panel.
KRINK Demo Saturday December 4th 3pm - 6pm Come gets some tips from artist and sign painter, Alec Pelsone, as he uses KRINKs to demonstrate different hand lettering styles. He will also be teaching you how to mix your own colors using k60 mop top markers.
LYRA Aqua Duo Demo Sunday December 5th 10am - 12pm You are going to like these markers more than you think you will. We do, that's for sure. Suprisingly juicy and available in a wide range of colors and tones, these double ended non toxic waterbased markers are terrific for hand lettering and drawing. They blow the competition away. Come see for yourself.
Speedball Screenprinting Workshop Sunday December 5th 12pm - 3pm Another terrific workshop brought to you from Speedball that we are super excited to host! Join artist Chris Estrada as he walks you through screenprinting in this Sunday afternoon workshop. He'll have everything set up for you so you can print yor own posters to keep. Good for all ages!
Paint Your Stuff with Angelus Sunday December 5th 1pm - 4pm Angelus Leather paint has donated a bunch of their product for us to get down with. Originally formulated to paint on shoes, Angelus paint can be safely used on any number of surfaces. But, we think it's most fun painting on stuff you wear, so come on down and bring some old shoes, a jacket, clothes, or leather and let's have fun painting on it. If you just want to try it but dont' have something you want to paint on, no problem, we will provide you something. Fun for everyone!
PAST EVENTS
Making Acrylic Skins with Golden Artist Colors
The world of acrylic paints and mediums is a world with endless possibilities! This in-store demonstration focuses on showing you the numerous ways you can create textures and skins by using fluid and heavy body acrylic paints, various acrylic mediums, and a sheet protector. You can cut them, glue them, and twist them, making them extremely useful in collage.
This demonstartion is free to attend!
Who says comedy and art supplies can't mix? Stop by on Friday nights and check out Faded, a new comedy show starring
David Gborie, Sean Jordan, Mike Mulloy, and Zak Toscani. Worried you'll get bored? They've thought ahead, inviting a surprise comedian to their show every week so things always stay fresh. Buy tickets here.
Their shows will run through November with a quick break in December! Dates of their return will updated in January after the holiday season.
Upcoming show dates: Every Friday through the end of September from 7:30-10PM
Every last Saturday of the month is Signature Drink! Produced by Libby Thomas Dickey and Liz Moore and hosted by Courtney Karwal and Megan Gailey this is a 100% run women's comedy night! Presenting new comics and featuring new cocktails every month ensures this show never gets old. Tickets are $12 and can be found
here!
Upcoming show dates: September 21st from 7:30-10PM
Can't make it to Faded on Fridays or just can't get enough of these comedy shows in general? On every second Saturday, we have On Deck Comedy in our very own backspace! What're they all about? They put on a stand-up show consisting of pitting two teams of three comics against each other and seeing who can destroy the other with humor first. Buy tickets for their event
here.
Upcoming show dates: September 14th from 7:30-10PM
Learn about single and three color monotyping using Golden's
OPEN acrylics and a gelli plate in this demo! Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a non-absorbent, flat surface. You essentially transfer the image to a sheet of paper by pressing both of them together. In this demo, Golden's OPEN acrylics serve as our ink instead of using an oil-based ink, like in traditional monotyping. Golden's OPEN acrylics are perfect to use as a water-based printmaking ink because of their slow-drying quality, meaning you'll have longer to manipulate the paint.
This is a free in-store demonstration that is completely free to the public and requires no RSVP.
Add another layer of dimension to your artwork by the use of masking tape and fluid! Regardless of what medium you work with, masking tape and fluid will open yet another door of options for where your piece can go. In this workshop, we'll be walking you through a few exercises that will have you applying and removing masking tape and fluid.
Free to the public! Beware: there are limited materials so first come, first served!
Skins, Pours, and Transfers with Golden Artist Colors
This demo is centered around showing you a glorious mixed bag of offerings by
Golden Artist Colors, the ones we feel are overlooked and deserve to be seen more. Acrylic mediums are almost intimidating due to the vast amount of different ways they can be used for different effects. From making your own "skins" from acrylic paint and clear tar gel to transferring images with their GAC-500.
We've all seen the videos, we've oohed and aahed over the visuals of altered acrylic paint being poured to create a colorful and stimulating piece. Stop by the shop on the date scheduled down below and we'll teach you how to make your very own! More info to come later.
We're sixteen years old! Come celebrate with us by taking an extra 25% off of everything in our store! Online too! We appreciate you supporting our small, independent business so we're honoring an old Blue Roo tradition by having anyone who spends $20+ play a game that results in winning more art supplies regardless of the outcome. We'll also be bringing out extra deals on items we don't normally stock just for the sale. Outside of the sale madness, we'd also love to connect with you all so on Sunday, May 5th we're planning a drink and draw party with more details down below!
What's a proper celebration without sketch party?! Nothing! Help us celebrate our birthday in an appropriate fashion by joining us for this drink and draw!
Sketch Party is composed of our pals Ken, Alex, and Kris who typically hold a weekly drink and draw at the Hyperion Tavern on Thursdays and we're happy to have them in our shop for this event. We're providing the beer and the paper, just bring yourself, your stellar, beautiful, great attitude, some pens, and a friend! Completely open to the public, no RSVP.
Hosted by the same human who curates the pop-ups that happen in our backspace from time-to-time,
Noah Harmon/Relax Adult is back with No Bozos Drawing Night on Saturday, April 20th from 6-9PM! If you’ve ever been to a drink and draw, this is similar with a BYOB (bud + beer) and bring your own supplies policy! If neither of those are your thing, that’s totally fine, we’d still love to draw with you. Cartoons will be curated by TV Dad, live comedy by Faded Comedy, and Madame Shugah will be bringing vegan cookies and MILKSHAKES. This is absolutely free to attend but there is limited seating! To ensure you’ll have a spot at this drawing shindig, RSVP at nobozosdrawingnight@gmail.com.
This lecture-demo presented by
Golden Artist Colors and artist Christina Ramos will be a fast-paced, highly informative lecture covering a technical review of acrylic and their varied application possibilities. You’ll be presented information regarding pigments, viscosity, gels, mediums, and more directly from the source of this artist quality paint company!
The world of acrylic paints and mediums is quite extensive with boundless possibilities for use. To list a few that’ll be covered specifically in this lecture, you’ll learn how acrylics can be used as grounds for other media, such as watercolor or colored pencil; key information regarding color mixing, blending, and controlling drying time; and, lastly, you’ll see how gels can be used to modify paint properties or create textural surfaces. From traditional to contemporary to mixed, acrylics are infinitely versatile.
Artists of all levels will leave this lecture with broadened insights on how to feed their creative expressions.
All attendants will receive free product samples and a literature packet, including hand-painted charts.
Space is limited, so RSVP here to claim your seat!
Our bi-annual materials mixer is slowly creeping up, have you RSVPed? For those looking for a casual environment sprinkled with fellow professional creative types, you've found it. We want to get to know you a little better, your creative process, and your endeavors in the industry or in teaching. But most importantly, we want to create an atmosphere where you can connect with like-minded individuals. Invite your colleagues and artist friends for a night of getting acquainted with others and learning a thing or two about what everyone else has been up to. Join us for a FREE night of drinks, food, and (what we imagine will be) damn good conversation.
It's that time of the year again... time for another HUGE Blue Roo sale! How huge?! Everything in the entire store will be 20% off! Little items and high price items alike! So if you're finding you blow throw markers and pens, this is a perfect opportunity to stock up. Have you been in the market for some handmade oil paints or easel but know the price of quality can be intimidating? Perfect time to strike! We wouldn't dream of subjecting you guys to a sale without a little extra on top as we love to go the extra mile in the name of magical experience so if you're one of the first 50 customers of each day who spend $25 or more, you'll receive a lovely cluster of assorted art supplies and samples in a hand-dyed and hand-printed Blue Roo for free! Get your list order or get some holiday shopping out of the way!
Duration: Friday and Saturday, November 16th +17th
Whether you're just starting to dip your toes into watercolor or you're a diehard Daniel Smith watercolor admirer, this event will be packed with useful information regarding how they hand-make their paint, their philosophy behind it, the minerals used in their Primatek line, and how to bring out the most in their colors. Watercolor will be free-flowing after a 30 minute informative lecture, where you can really get a feel for it yourself.
This event will be free and everything will be provided for you, so invite a friend if you please. RSVP to guarantee a spot here!
Tiffanie Mang is coming back for a two day gouache painting class! This class will take place both indoors, where she'll go over all of the key points to gouache, how to make a palette, and how to mix and shade color, and outdoors, where you'll work on painting landscapes. Her extensive painting career, such as being an avid plein-air painter and having worked on projects like Loving Vincent, make her a solid artist to learn from.
This event is $265 and requires you to bring your own materials. Occupancy is limited to 20 people to ensure everyone gets the proper amount of one-on-one guidance, so if you're interested feel free to pay for your spot in-store until we get our web option up!
Duration: Saturday, August 18th and Sunday, August 19th from 1-6PM
Ever look at the work of plein-air artists and wonder how they’re doing it? What their secrets are? Well this if your chance to find out and get it right from the Warrior Painters (your local LA plein-air painting group) themselves! This three hour plein-air get together is
completely free and open to the public and will take place at Barnsdall Art Park right up the street from us. The Warrior Painters are fully equipped to help you get introduced to painting outdoors and are stocked with all kinds of information and techniques to share with you! You will, of course, have to bring your own supplies, whatever medium you wish to work with, but in exchange the experience and knowledge you’ll receive will be invaluable. This is part one of our all day long painting extravaganza! For something a bit more intensive scroll down below.
This event is completely free but you must bring your own supplies!
Duration: Saturday, July 21st from 10AM-1PM
Location: Barnsdall Art Park, 4800 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027 show map
Portraits in Gouache
Recreate the human form and portrait in gouache with
Kirk Shinmoto! You'll be walked through several exercises and Kirk will share his own techniques he's gathered through years of experience with you as you apply them to working with a live model. Struggling with lighting, proportion, foreshortening, or maybe even realism in general? You're guaranteed to walk out leaving with a sense of better understanding with this highly informative and hands on workshop.
This event is $60 and requires you to bring your own materials. Occupancy is limited to 15 people to ensure everyone gets the proper amount of one-on-one guidance, so if you're interested book your spot here!
Attention sculptors and those interested in the like! We're excited to have the talented
John Brown in our store for an open demonstration on sculpting the detailed features of the face and head. In this three hour demo, he'll be walking you through his process and showing you how he carves out proportions, liveliness, and depth from a block of clay so you can hopefully do the same. Make sure to bring a pad of paper and a pen to jot down some notes. This demo is, also, right after our
weekly figure drawing class! So if you're ambitious, feel free to join both, or for the regulars feel free to stay and watch.
This event is completely free and no supplies are needed!
Intrigued by gouache and looking to gain some guided experience with it? Maybe you have the experience, but you're just looking for a new perspective by someone well-versed in it. Either or, this demo is highly informative and led by the master of plein air gouache painting herself,
Tiffanie Mang! In this workshop you'll learn the strengths and characteristics of gouache, how to set up a palette, and how to work with it. This demo does come with a $20 fee but in exchange for that we'll give you a $20 gift certificate to use in store while we hand the fee right on over to the artist teaching you about these great paints! All materials will also be provided for you, so just be prepared to bring your brain and your curiosity to learn.
As stated above, this event is $20 with all materials provided! Book your spot here!
What's that thing called again? Where you can drink, draw, and dance? And no one judges you? It's called
Sketch Party! Typically run by our pals Ken, Alex, and Kris at the Hyperion Tavern, we're thrilled to be hosting them for their five year anniversary of holding sketch party. The more the merrier, it should be one heck of a shindig! Bring your favorite markers and pens, your good attitude, and your dancing pants and we'll provide the rest!
Speedball Road Show: Printmaking Tour with Bill Fick and Carlos Hernandez
This is a single day workshop with
Bill Fick of the Department of art at Duke University in North Carolina and Carlos Hernandez of Burning Bones Press based in Houston, Texas laying down the fundamentals of screenprinting and relief printing. The instructors of this workshop will be none other than two humans who have truly mastered the art of printmaking. Speedball Inks is sponsoring this event and making it completely open and
free to the public so invite your friends or anyone who you know with a curious mind for printmaking!
Time to celebrate two years of being in our Hollywood location! Long-time regulars know how our previous location on Vermont was a fraction of the size of our current one and how far we've been able to come all thanks to you guys. It's been 15 years as an independent business run by artists for artists and here's to celebrating the years to come! As a big, fat thank you for your support
come take 20% off the entire store for the weekend, in person and online. Hand-dyed and hand-printed tote bags filled to the gills with art supply samples and goodies will be given out to the first 50 customers who spend more than $50 on each day as well. Tote bags with feature art works by two local LA artists, Mel Kadel and Allison Bamcat.
Weekend Breakdown:Friday will be out most supple stock for the sale with pride bags up for grabs! Saturday we'll have Allison Bamcat's design on the goodie bag totes being given away. Sunday will be the day for Mel Kadel's bag, with Poppy Lavendar Florals parked out front selling hand-crafted bouquets, our figure drawing from 1-3PM, and from 3-6PM we'll be cookin' up free hot dogs/vegan dogs with drink and drawing in our backspace! BYOB and BYOS (bring your own supplies!)
Duration: Weekend of June 8th and 9th from 10-8PM and June 10th from 11-6PM
On every second Saturday, we have On Deck Comedy in our very own backspace! What're they all about? They put on a stand-up show consisting of pitting two teams of three comics against each other and seeing who can destroy the other with humor first. Saturday, June 9th will be their very first show with us and we're happy to have them!
Buy tickets for their event here.
Duration: Every second Saturday from 8PM-10PM
Upcoming Shows: June 9th, July 14th, August 11th, and September 8th
Swing on by and come delve into the colorful world of M. Graham Artist Colors with us! Particularly their Northwest blackberry honey based
gouache and watercolor. A representative will be here to spread the word on what makes their paint different from all the others and walk you through all the details. Don't be fooled though, this isn't all talk and no play! How else are you supposed to see firsthand what their paint is all about unless you're given the chance to try it for yourself? You'll find plenty of paints to test out and experiment with! This event is completely free and open to the public, so feel at ease inviting friends!
Pasadena Grand Opening Sale and Events
<
<
<
