Friday, August 12, 2011

"Submerged in Color"

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Today I painted completely opposite of my usual style. I turned off my spot light and opened curtains of my studio. I removed my shadow box so I had no background drapery. I had this white sugar bowl and no other color object in my setup. I had extremely high key design. All my colors on the painting is in shadows, but not in lights. All my colors are in background, but not in the center of focus. I used many cool colors, but not hot cadmium orange and red. Wow!! I felt I have entered the anti-world. Just like in physics, we talk about matter and anti-matter. I realize such anti-world is also existed in my art. I have mentioned before I don't like high key as much as low key paintings. That was because I had not entered the "high key" world. I was outside. In my bones, I start to feel what artists felt when the Impressionism started. It is so great. At the mean time I must remind myself: it is nothing wrong by going modern, but I will never ever abandon the wonderful traditional art. Otherwise I would get lost so quickly and my art would turn to trash, and "modernism" or "contemporary" would turn to be dirty words.

6 comments:

  1. I got so excited when I saw your painting! Love the "lavender cast" on the sugar bowl and the splash of olive which is adjacent on the right hand side. Color never fails to move me and when I saw this particular painting it was like fireworks.

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  2. I love your high key approach. This painting is like a breath of fresh air on a hot summer day.

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  3. Magnificent! Probably this is the "matter", and old colors were "anti-matter". However, you are a master of both worlds. Greetings from Italy.

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  4. Very good words Qiang, especially about traditional and contemporary art. Well said!

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  5. Love this new direction...oh, my, now I need another workshop with you!!!

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  6. I think it was a brave and wise choice to do the opposite of your usual preferences. The feeling of being "lost" and making "trash" is the price you pay whenever breaking new ground.

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