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.

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!  

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. 

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