I did another zoom demo on Monday (Dec 14). This demo was organized by the Working Artists Forum in Easton MD. Since this demo was for a specific group, I did not announce it. However, you can watch the complete demo on YouTube now. The link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQupKbChHVc&t=173s. Please enjoy it.
I have been slowing down and not posting paintings actively. Even the posted painting today was done about a month ago. The reason is simple: I have not painted for a while. The world is in chaos. I am having a hard time to concentrate myself to art. I try my best to calm my mind. I spend more time at my off the grid haven. There is no wifi and I force myself away from Youtube and other so called "information resources". If I don't know, I assume the world is still in peace. I know it is not true. I wish all the best to all of you. Please protect yourselves. It is cold there, we will hibernate and wait for the spring to come.
The calendar is $10 each. If you purchase before the Black Friday (November 27), you will get 20% off. Please allow me some time (before Christmas for sure) to ship the calendar to you. I will place my batch order based on the number of orders right before Thanksgiving, then send to you individually. Thank you so much for supporting my art.
This is my recent Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brEe-41ZLrg. Today's post is not about art, but it is about life. After the Covid 19 pandemic has spreaded everywhere, we must adapt the new way of living. I started to think seriously on how to live sustainably. Dominated by the consumerism for so long, we gradually lost the ability of doing things, We only buy things or hire contractors to do things for us. This video has documented a simple DIY project I implemented recently. It does not need a rocket scientist to do it. I hope all of us can be handy and be able conduct this kind of projects. If we can DIY (painting is one of them), our life will be simpler, less anxious, and more fun.
This is my quick draw piece on the EPAT 2020 competition. How can you paint a subject which moving in a fast speed? I think the key is take advantage of the "repetition" (of course the subjects have to be willing to do it). I was located at the outside of the "practicing ring", The riders were running in circles. I paid attention only on one of the angles when the horses came. I extremely simplified the painting by throwing away the light, color, background, and even value. It does not matter weather the horse is black or white, nor the rider is a cowboy or cowgirl. I don't really know the anatomic structure of horses, but I only worked on the silhouette of rider's gesture, so I have a plenty of time doing that.
I wasn't prepare doing a portrait demo in San Angelo. It was cold and windy, but many demo artists were brave and painting in the cold wind. I decided to take it easy. I stayed indoors and did this portrait. The light was not ideal for a portrait, but it was interesting. I did a monochrome so I was able to concentrate on drawing and value only without worrying I might not have enough time to finish. My hand was rusty, but the result was not bad.
I have made a new Youtube video of the accident during one of my plein air painting sessions on EPAT competition. A strong wind knocked my easel over and crash my painting into the dirt. I did not rescue the disaster immediately, but instead, I documented what was going on with my phone. I had put a footage on Instagram and got more than 7,000 views. Now I am back to my studio, so I v-logged this accident. You may view this at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jXDqzh-JOo and have a good laugh.
This is another plein air experimental piece. The location was at the "International Water Lily Garden" in San Angelo. The painting was relatively large (18" x 24"). My intention was concentrating on the color design and using as less as possible representational elements. I would not say the experiment was successful, but it was not a failure either. I did gain color freedom, but the harmony needs quite amount of work. I have learned.
The first day of the EPAT, we have stayed at this spectacular castle. I did this painting for the owner. We had a great day there.
I am on my way to San Angelo, Texas to participate the En Plein Air Texas painting festival. This is my first in-person event since March. I am very excited. I will let you know how it goes.
This is another plein air piece. The location was in our backyard. The time was about 2:00 pm. The painting was started a year ago. It was abandoned after it had barely a composition sketch. I did not know why I didn't complete the painting at the time. I worked on it a few more days recently and I may say it is finished. I would not say I really like it, but it did show some progress of my skills after I researched on color during this precious time of the Covid isolation. I become more sensitive about colors in the shadow. I like the color of siding of the shed in the shade. This one and my previous "Off the Grid" painting are two my most recent plein air works. I find I am slowing down significantly. None of these paintings was alla prima. I have been seen more and mix more colors. Although the resulted paintings have not shown significant difference from my previous plein air works, but some feelings are happening.
Recently, I have been learning the skills of making videos. I have made another one today and just posted it on my Youtube channel. Please go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1MiDqABpZM to watch it. For a while I have been painting relatively large paintings. I know it is hard to show the effects of large paintings if I only post static painting images. So I made this video and I can zoom into the details of the paintings. Since the Covid 19 Pandemic, fewer people go to galleries to see the shows. Maybe this video can give you some impression of my gallery paintings. This can be an idea of doing a "virtual solo show" on the internet. Nowadays, Youtube is so popular, but I have just started to use it to promote my art. I don't know I will become those who are called as "Youtubers", but I am willing to test the water. So please comment on my videos and give me suggestions. I appreciate you help me to grow.
I painted plein air at my "off the grid" haven yesterday. I remembered I have talked about my DIY project of building off the grid before. I was inspired by Henry David Thoreau's "Walden" and did this project mainly in 2019. This year, I have added an attached bathroom to the main structure, and built decks in the front. Nine solar panels provide the power so I can turn on lights, run a refrigerator, and the most importantly, drive an AC to beat the super hot Texas summer. I use rainwater for shower and other cleaning, and propane gas for cooking and heating in the winter time. I enjoy very much when I stay there. Now, all of us are going through the Covid 19, and it becomes more significant to know how to live sustainably.
The weather is perfect. When I was painting, all the details I went through during the construction came alive. It was a good moment. I realize that I can not be only a painter, I must know all the skills to survive.
I did a painting demo live on Zoom today. It was problematic, and it might have caused some artists who has registered, but not able to watch. All of this was due to my lack of knowledge of using Zoom. The problem was that I have sent out the wrong invitation. I copied the invitation info and pasted to the email I sent out, and I did not know how to verify the correct meeting ID until the time the meeting started. I copied an different meeting invitation and sent it to you. Fortunately, my son Jonathan figured it out. and helped me to start the meeting with the ID I have sent. If you have missed the live demo, I sincerely apologize to you. We live in this so called "Information" age, but the fact is we are lack of more information. Just a few days ago, I knew nothing about Zoom. I jumped into the water without knowing how to swim. I am learning dangerously. I wish I could have prepared thoroughly to start to do things, but we don't have that kind of time. Life is too short, we have to take the risk. I am glad this live demo was not a complete failure. The result is better than I thought.
Now I have put the demo on Youtube (it is another deep water I need to swim through). Please go to the above link to watch. I hope this video helps you. For the people who have seen the demo live, you may watch the painting getting finished in this video.
I made a quick video to talk about some issues I have been going through in preparing for the painting demo on Zoom this coming Saturday. Please watch it on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ1n37JIW5I. We all work hard to make the new life working. I have learned a lot just this a couple of days. Yesterday, I have sent more than one hundred emails one - by- one, because I did not know how to send a group email for all who have registered for my demo. I felt clumsy at the beginning, but eventually I will figure out, and things will get more smooth. Thanks to all of you for your support to my art and teaching. I will try my best to teach more often and more effectively.
I would like to do a free Zoom painting demo for you. The time will be on October 3 at noon CST. The demo will last about one hour. You will see me live, and I will show you my general painting approach. No painting experience is required for watching my demo. I am learning new ways to continue my art teaching. This demo will be an experiment for all of us to test out if Zoom will be a viable method for me to teaching virtually. If you are interested in attending this zoom demo, please register at: http://www.qh-art.com/zoom-demo.html (or go to my website then click "Zoom Demo" tab). Since I have only 100 seats available, please sign up as early as you can. See you Saturday.
I finished another painting. About a year ago, I attended the "En Plein Air Texas" competition in San Angelo Texas. I did a plein air sketch of this old truck. to show the feeling of the old time, I thought I would use a monochromatic approach. But the result was not ideal. I came back, and the painting went directly to the storage, started its own hibernation into the forgotten past, just like the old truck... Recently, I pull it out. Since I am in the mode of working on colors, I decided to paint on the top of the monochrome, I turned it into a true color painting.
In order to adapt the new way of living in the isolation of the pandemic, I started to pay more attention to the Internet. I have been ignoring using Youtube for a long time, but now I want to develop my channel. After I posted my instructional video on using my "Painter's Guide" app, I am happy of seeing my subscribers increased from 55 to 118 in about a day. Thank you all so much for your support. I felt deeply the connection between us. Now I am learning to make time lapse videos. I have documented when painting this old truck. Please go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAGW64xhYbA to watch my painting process (for Instagram users, please search: "Qiang Huang" on Youtube). I appreciate you subscribe my channel.
I uploaded a new instructional video on Youtube to demonstrate how to use my "Painter's Guide" app. Please go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYWzG4JLpSU to watch it (for Instagram users, please search "Qiang Huang app" on Youtube). I hope all of you can benefit from this free tool to improve your painting quality. Having been teaching for so many year, I feel I have a mission to accomplish: I want to boost up the general capability of representation art creation. I will try all the ways to achieve this goal. Creating apps is one of them. Youtube will soon be another one. At this moment, I have very few videos on Youtube and only 55 people have subscribed my channel. From now on I will use this tool proactively to provide my painting tips and other educational information. I sincerely hope you can support my effort. Please please subscribe my channel. I am serious about art and teaching, and know well that there is too much junk in the world now. I will and am obligated to keep my channel clean. Let's work together, to survive, to grow, to excel, and eventually to make this world more beautiful. Thank you so much.
I chatted the art publisher Eric Rhoads for about an hour last Tuesday. Now this conversation is on Plein Air Podcast. Please check it out: https://www.outdoorpainter.com/pleinair-podcast-189-qiang-huang-on-art-as-a-science-and-more/. This podcast covers my recent research on color, how I started plein air painting, what I have learned from the master painter Richard Schmid, my teaching experiences, and some tips about painting. I hope my experience as an artist and teacher can be informative for you. I am going through a transition during this special time. We will go through all the difficulties, learn some new skill in life, and be ready for the next phase of our journey on this planet we call the Earth.
I have finished this 36" x 36" large painting. On and off, it took me about two weeks. I have learned a lot, especially on color management on large paintings. Painting grays in the background was difficult. I don't want the paint look muddy there. It took me a few iterations to figure out. After this experience I have gained more confidence to paint large, without worrying the painting showing overworking or color getting dirty. I have gone through the transition from an alla prima painter to a true studio painter. I will summarize what I have learned and hope in the future I can share with you on how to paint large.
The "Color Mixing" class has gone through the evaluation successfully. Now it is truly online. You can take this class on the internet without the concern that video takes too much your computer space for downloading. Please visit: http://www.qh-art.com/online-teaching.html for details. Thank you so much for supporting me. During this difficult time, I have seen more the beauty of the human nature. Let's help each other, we will go through the hard time, and the world will be more beautiful.
