Demos and Studies

Here are some recent demos from the classes I taught and some studies from the open studio.

Tools of the Trade, 11 x 14


Italian Bow Tie Pasta, 10 x 8


The Violin, 10 x 8


Red Apples, 11x14


Flowers in the Sun, 10 x 8


Colored Glass on a Windowsill, 6 x 8

Paintings from Teaching

I have been teaching at Chesapeake Fine Art Studio in Kent Island. Here are a few paintings from the classes I taught.

Oriental Jar and Grapes, 11 x 14

This painting was done to show students a split complementary color scheme, which in this case is red with blue-green and yellow-green.

Copper Pot and Apples, 11 x 14

After a class on strong Notan designs and brushstrokes, I painted the same setup with the students during the open studio.

Peonies, Tangerine and Pear, 11 x 14

This is done after my classes to practice what I preach: Direct the eye to the focus of the painting using the brightest color, the sharpest edge, and the strongest contrast. 

Painting from Photos

It has been a point of contention among artists for years: Is it a sin to paint from photos instead of painting from life, especially when the photos are not taken by yourself? The painting below are all done from photos I found online. I became tired of model sessions with harsh lighting and uninspiring outfits. So I experimented with different photos of Asian, Caucasian, olive-skinned, and African-American models. I think I learned from the experience. And the best part? I practiced painting different skin tones. 

What I learned: Simplify values, colors and shapes. Do not paint everything you see. Focus on where the light and shadow meets -- that’s where the most interesting drawing takes place and where local colors make an appearance. It helps to premix a few colors for the major shapes in your painting. Additionally, more nuanced colors can be achieved when mixing with a palette knife.

Summer Flowers

Oil on linen panel, 11 x 14

These flowers are from a local fruit stand. I love how organic and unique they look with an explosion of colors and forms, unlike the typical bouquets you find in grocery stores and flower shops. 

I remember the great artist, Quang Ho, said in his still-life painting video that the best still-life has a sense of randomness in it, as if you happen to find the objects in their current state. It does not look staged or forced. To achieve the unfussed look, you can experiment and put different things together, and see how they look. You might spend hours arranging it, yet it looks beautiful and effortless in a haphazard way.

These flowers are a testament to this philosophy. They fell into a graceful arrangement once I put them in a tall vase, bursting with colors and energy. I didn't need to arrange them too much. I truly slowed down for this painting. Usually, I paint flowers fast, carried by the initial excitement and the urgency that the flowers could soon wither and change their shapes. But this time I was drawn to study each flower closely to see its structure and character. There is clarity and satisfaction in observing those details carefully. 

That light green flower on the left took me over three hours to paint. Then I scraped it and started over the next day. It was an absorbing and engrossing experience. What I learned was -- if I stare at the flower long enough, I can actually paint its every petal and come to a better understanding of the light and shadow pattern on the flower. What's more, the silhouette of each flower is super important in revealing its distinct character.

Joshua Been Lecture and Demo

I attended a Joshua Been lecture and demo last Saturday at my friend Hai-ou Hou's place, Chesapeake Fine Art Studio. It was fantastic. He has it down to a science from figuring out a myriad of plein air gear to his approach to plein air painting. His method is very disciplined, which I lack, that includes always doing a pre-sketch with four value markers before starting to paint. This neat little pack is what he uses to make black-and-white sketches. You can buy it on his website.

 

The pen with a little white sphere on top is what he uses to determine the precise direction of the light source. 

He breaks down the visual language into four elements: values, shapes, edges and texture. The values are the foundation and you lay it down by doing pre-sketches. I use this method sometimes and make a thumb-nail sketch before painting. But it's usually for my studio paintings or for figuring out a composition for my ideas. When it comes to plein air painting, I feel an urgency because the light changes so fast, so I tend to jump right in. If the first composition doesn't work out, I'll just wipe it out and redraw it. That tones my canvas too. In a way, I like the chaos, the not-knowing, and the unpredictable nature of the process. My friend Janice has been doing these sketches. They do help make sure your painting come out better. Maybe I should start making them now!

 

This is his palette on the day-tripper easel he designed and sells on his website. Janice already bought one. It's very lightweight. He only uses seven colors: titanium white, lemon yellow(missing?), cadmium yellow medium, cadmium orange, burnt sienna, cerulean blue hue, alizarin crimson, and ultramarine blue. No black. He starts the painting thick, no thinned washes.

 

This compact little thing is his fly-on-the-wall easel. It's good for painting in tight spaces where you really don't want to cause a scene. He used this to paint the dinosaurs in the Smithonian museum in DC. I like his dinosaur paintings.

 

 

And this little sunset(sunrise?) painting.

 

Then he did a demo, a larger piece from a smaller study. 

 

 

He's a great plein air artist, and articulated his methods clearly. I bought his book. It will come in the mail. Now the thing for me to do is go out there and practice it myself!

Outdoor Figure Painting

Oil on linen panel, 12 x 16

This is my first ever outdoor figure painting. Can you believe it?! I painted this with my artist friend Abigail on my deck. Abigail has a lot of experience painting outdoor figures since she studied with John Ebersberger and at the Cape Cod School of Art. She's done many mud heads, figures on the beach, etc. She couldn't believe I had never painted a figure outdoors. But it's true. Somehow all my portraits and figures were done indoor with controlled lighting. But I'm liking the outdoor light with the cool reflected light on the model's face.

It was a cloudy day and made for an interesting study of the colors on the model's skin and kimono. But the sun kept going in and out of the clouds, making painting more difficult. It's a complete different painting when the sun came out! 

Kuniko is a wonderful model. She always arrives early, times herself, and holds the pose steadily. We are happy to have her working with us.

Azalea Garden

 

 

 

The weather is getting warmer and better for plein air painting. My artist friend Janice told me about this pretty azalea garden in Clarksville and I painted with her there a couple of times in the past two weeks. There are tons of azaleas in different colors -- white, pink, fuchsia, and violet. They peaked last week and are going away now. But what a beautiful sight when they are all blooming by the water!  

Figure Studies

 

Same model in both paintings. The first one was done in Zoll Studio, and the second one was done in the open studio of the Howard County Arts Council. I'll have to work more on the second painting in the second session. 

Self-Portrait

 

Self-Portrait, 9 x 12

Painting a self-portrait is always an anxiety-laden process, for me at least. I don't know whether to make myself prettier or uglier, since capturing an exact likeness is elusive. It's grappling with the awareness of your own identity. Out of the desire to paint from life, this is the model who's always available. I worked on keeping the edges soft.

It's hard to photograph this painting because of the glare. I feel the colors are cooler and richer in the actual painting. 

Fishing Boats

 

Fishing Boats, 16 x 20

This painting is based on a photo I took on my recent trip to China. My sister took us to a small fishing village called Nan'ao in southern Guangdong province and we had the best seafood there, as fresh as it can be. I hope I can go back there. 

Sometimes a painting just paints itself, and this one did. I was done in less than two hours. I think I'm getting more confident about leaving things out and not getting too hung up on details--spelling everything out for the audience. Case in point: those boats in the distance. I don't need to paint everything to death so people know those are boats. I only need to suggest there are boats and other things in the distance. It's actually more fun to paint this way and the painting comes out looking fresher and better.

Another thing is that this painting was actually painted over a not-so-successful portrait sketch. I start to like painting over old pictures. I just turn the old painting upside down and start painting over it. The chaotic background provides a nice counterpoint and creates some excitement for the new painting. My paintings are done faster and almost come out better because of the layer of paint that's already on the canvas. Additionally, I like to paint landscape over portrait and vice versa because the warm tones of a portrait make a nice background for a landscape, and the cool tones of a landscape (blues and greens) work very well as an undertone for a portrait. So maybe it is like this -- that no effort is ever wasted. But I do have plenty of old paintings that cannot be salvaged. They need to go in the trash.

Portrait Sketch

 

Jen, 12 x 16 

Just a quick portrait sketch, painted from life. The model is a friend of a friend.

Reclining Nude

Reclining Nude, 12 x 16. Painted last night at Zoll Studio.

I have realized that when it comes to a good painting, composition is probably the single most important thing. Because in the end, all the great drawing, value plans and pretty colors won't save a bad composition -- if things are in the wrong place.

Also it really helps to look at great artists' works, if just to train your eyes to get used to a higher level of drawing, color harmony, and edge handling. And to calibrate your brainwaves to vibrate on a higher frequency, so to speak. 

Sunflowers

 

Sunflowers, 11 x 14

Two Studies

Tuesday was a painting day.

 

Gisele, 14 x 11

 

Figure Study, 20 x 16

When I paint figures, I tend to elongate the form and the figures end up looking like super tall models in fashion illustrations (blame it on years of doodling fashion models on the margins of my notebooks in school). So this time I tried to correct that and went a bit too far in the other direction. The model looks short and stumpy. Oh well. Maybe next time I'll get the proportions right. 

Kuniko

 

Kuniko, 16 x 12

The model is a kimono consultant. She makes kimonos and teaches people how to wear them. She is also a Shinto priestess. I watched a video of her doing a beautiful Japanese dance with a fan. She has a powerful presence and carries herself with quiet dignity.

The Painting That Went Nowhere

The new year brings new hopes and resolutions. I remembered I have this blog and start to contemplate how this blog can sustain itself with my snail-like speed of posting three or four times a year.

I mean, do people still read blogs? It seems like everybody is on Facebook or Instagram now. But Facebook is not conducive to longer posts. So here's a long post about a painting of mine.

 

The title for the painting is "She Will Rule," 24 x 16 inches. Yes, you guessed it. I did it last year to support Hillary Clinton. Why can't we have a female president?

The idea came to me when I was taking a nap. I wasn't really asleep, just lying there. I saw a vision of the painting rose in my mind's eye and I had to bring it to life. 

Then I was like a possessed woman. I had to have everything ready. I searched for all the props. Found the crown and the scepter on eBay, and they came from China. I ordered two scepters, one silver, one gold. I liked the gold one better. Plus, I stepped on the silver one when it was on the floor in my messy studio and broke it. 

 

I found the chair (the "throne") in a second hand furniture store. It took me a long while to search for the throne but I finally saw this one. It was expensive, but when I'm possessed I don't care how much I spend.

I designed and made the costume myself. It's really all pinned together and tied by ribbons, although I did sew the skirt by hand.

 

I had to buy the fabric twice because I miscalculated the first time and the dress turned out to be too short.

I asked my friend Joanne to model for me. She is such a sweet girl and wouldn't let me pay her. I treated her to some Chinese food. She worked and studied in China for three or four years. 

But she didn't want to be a queen. I wanted her to give me a regal and authoritative look. She just giggled. But she did a good job in the end and I got some nice photos. 

I did two quick sketches from life and then started on the big painting with photo references. I was still trying to get back into figure painting at the time and I can't say I'm very satisfied with the result. 

In the end, I can only say this painting did not turn out the way I wanted it to, just like this election. 

Now my paintings like this one seem to require much longer time to finish, from the idea to completion. But if it has to be this way, then so be it. Also a figure painting is a collaboration between the artist and the model.

Still Life Setup 2

This is another still life setup I did.

I found the table, the vase, the painting and the wooden screen from second-hand furniture stores. I love the antique vibe and character these old things have. When you paint still lifes, it's important to have unique objects to play with. I look for different heights, shapes, and harmonious or contrasting colors. 

I put the painting of the cat in there for more interest -- not sure if it's the right move, but I liked how these things looked together.

Here is the painting. 

The block-in stage.

The finished painting.

I think it looks okay. The background may be a little dark. At first I didn't paint the cat distinctly and my husband didn't know what it was. So I added more details and made the cat more recognizable.

Sometimes your viewers don't get the idea you want to get across. Then you have to fine-tune it.

This painting looks more somber. Maybe it's the cool lilac colors against the dark brownish background. It's not as cheerful as the pink roses painting. Maybe I just like a cheerful painting better. Or maybe it's the straight lines of the vase versus the straight lines of the picture frame. It's all a learning process. 

Still Life Setup

I thought it might be interesting to post how I set up my still life. Here is a photo of the setup.

I use a spare bedroom as my studio. Everybody knows the most important thing in an art studio is a north-facing window. But life is not always perfect and you need to adapt. There is a large window in my studio, but it's facing north-east. Actually, more to the north than the east, so it's good enough. I do get a little bit sun early in the morning before 10 am, but after that it's a pretty stable and cool light coming in the window. I do notice some fluctuations of the light throughout the day, but I think even the true north light changes during the day. So that's just something we as artists have to deal with.

I found the wooden screen with a floral theme in a second hand store. I love to go to second hand furniture stores to see what I can find. It's like a treasure hunt. The screen costed around $150, I think? I found the vase in a goodwill store nearby and it was only $5. It was dirty and hiding on a low shelf. I brought it home and washed it clean. Now can anybody tell that's a $5 vase? 

The little green desk was free. Our neighbor across the street from our old house put it by the sidewalk for anyone to take before she moved, so I carried it into my garage. I like it. It reminds me of a student desk in China when I was growing up.

I picked up the dozen pink roses from a grocery store (about $12?). Now when arranging flowers, one thing to remember is to not have all the flowers at the same height and same angles. I also look at the flowers in groups because you don't want to paint the flowers one by one. Make sure you have one big group--the main character, and some small groups--the supporting actors. And I strewed a few rose pedals and leaves on the table to break up the flat green surface and to repeat color notes. 

This is a pretty simple still life setup. Just the roses and the vase, and what's around it. Truth be told, I had very limited time to set up and paint this picture before I had to run to pick up my son. I practically threw the flowers in the vase and started painting feverishly. But sometimes this is for the better because I had to stop before I ruin the painting and there was no time to dwell on details. I can say I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Here is the painting.

20 x 16, oil on linen board

When I paint, I don't feel obligated to paint exactly like how things are. You are the artist and are free to use your artistic license. Because, in the end, it's the painting remains, not the setup. Your painting has to stand on its own. The screen behind the flowers is black, so do I paint it black? No. I chose a muted purple color because I think light green goes well with purple, and they look harmonious with pink. You can also strategically move things around. I used a big pink pedal to break up the bottom of the vase. We as artists can choose what to put in and what to leave out. 

The Victorian Room

This is the painting I did at the Johns Hopkins Evergreen Museum last December. It was auctioned off at their holiday show. 

A group of artists were invited by the Hopkins Art Center and the Evergreen Museum. It was a rare treat to be able to paint the interior of the Evergreen Museum and attend the Holiday Party at the museum. I have to say we all cleaned up nice -- changed out of our paint-splashed garbs and dressed up in holiday appropriate outfits.

10 x 8, oil on canvas

OPA National Show 2016

My painting "Lady in White" has been accepted into Oil Painters of America's national show this year in Dallas, Texas. Yay!

24 x 18, oil on linen board

The model is again my friend Joanne. The antique settee is from a second-hand furniture store.