"Beauty at a Texas ranch

 

It was a good day with perfect temperature. I did this oil sketch. Recently, I have been pondering how to compose landscape paintings "correctly". When I started painting many years ago, I concentrated on still life and portraiture. I really like the high lights on an apple or someone's nose as my focal points. However, I hardly see any high light spots on an landscape scene. So I have lost the charm I am always looking for. To get an exciting landscape composition has been a constant challenge for me. So far I have not find my favorite landscape compositions yet. I just let my whim lead me to any landscape compositions spontaneously. In other words, I have painting intuitively when I deal with landscapes. This makes my engineering mind very uncomfortable. This composition is still whimsical, but I will figure out and get enlighten eventually.

Bull Creek Plein Air

 I did this small plein air painting a week ago. A week has passed without being noticed. It seems I  did a lot this week, but it also seems I did not do much. Painting is easy, but life is much more complicated.

Two Trees

 After I give up my identity, I feel I am lost in the woods. The senses of freedom and lack of security combined, my art path has led me to the big unknown. I suddenly realized I genuinely know nothing. Having a brain is a serious disease. If you let it go, you will get it.

Nature's Way

 

Painting a tree in detail is my first time. I usually paint trees as background to support a center of focus, but this time I just want to do a tree painting. I thought painting a tree is not as interesting as painting a building or a figure, but the result makes me want to paint more trees. The scene was at the Lake Summerville State Park in Texas.

Water Lilies Study 020222

 I did this small water lilies study to investigate the non-toxic green color family. I want to get rid of cadmium green. It is not too hard this time. I used ultramarine blue, radiant lemon, radiant green, Azo yellow, transparent orange. The green colors in this painting are high value low chroma. So it is not too hard. I have enjoyed my today's painting.

"Lake Brownwood State Park 2"

My 2nd plein air painting is the Recreation Hall in the park. It is ideal place for painting workshops. Well, now there is nobody here. I enjoy painting buildings and I was not in a hurry. So I got something like this.

"Water Lilies in Blue 2"

This is my 2nd try of the same painting. From the previous one, I have learned that I might have shift the reference photo too far to the blue, so the scene has deviated too far from the reality. With the 2nd attempt, I toned the ref photo a little less to maintain most of green colors, but the painting still has a dominant color tone to unify the color scheme. The trial and error approach gradually trains my sensitivity in establishing my color sense. It is tedious, but necessary.

"Demo at Templeton CA 2020 4" --- Sold

This is my last demo on my Templeton CA workshop. After left Paso Robles area. I drove to Sacramento and did another workshop. I am still in California and hope to get home soon. The world is so crazy. Who can imagine the entire mankind is in the same disaster. I may have quite few cancelations of my workshops in the near future. I will try to cross the learning curve as quick as I can, and establish an on-line teaching platform soon. See you in the Cyber world.

"Demo in Huntsville 2019 4"

After En Plein Air Texas, I really feel good about painting water lilies. I want to paint more of this topic. Maybe doing a few large ones. This one is a demo showing using multiple ref photos to do one painting.

"Demo at Easton 2019 3" --- Sold

With more than 10 quiet days on the cyber world, I have been so busy and exhausted in the real world. Many workshops have passed since I painted at Wayne, and Plein Air Easton competition has ended. There are so many things worth to talk about, but I simply have no time and energy to talked about. Our house has not been sold. Our new house has not been rented out. I have been traveling far away from home painting rich people's yachts and sail boats, but complete forget that I am current deadly broke.

"Volente Beach" --- Sold

I did a plein air painting workshop in Austin before Thanksgiving. It was a cold day. Thank God it did rain that day. I want to thank Linda Carter for allowing us to use her property for the class. There was an old sailboat in the marina. It is kind of interesting.

"Demo at Sedona 2017 3"

Demo 3 on Sedona workshop was at a state park north east of the town. There are a few nice looking old buildings. I have forgotten what they were used for. Vaguely in my mind, they did something with apples. Anyway, no matter what, they were fascinating to paint.

"Demo at Florence TX 2017 1"

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Three days after I came back from China, I started teaching a plein air workshop at Florence TX. It was a raining day. Water fell on my painting formed perfect pearl like beads. I was heavily jet-lagged,  mesmerized in the cool mist. But I like what I did that day. I want to thank Kirk Witmer and his wife for organizing this workshop and thanks to all the artists for coming and painting with me.

“Demo at Florence Italy 2017 2"

Because some Internet issues, I did not update you my activities in Italy. This is the second plein air demonstration I did at Florence. We are at the bank of Arno. There were so many old architectures in front of us. I didn't copy any structure "correctly". I painted my "feelings" of those beautiful houses. I was extremely humbled facing those beautiful buildings. I felt my art is really neglectable in the place  like Florence. Also I felt extreme fortunate that I was able to visit Florence as an artist.

"Demo at Lake Martin 2017 1"

Returned from from San Diego, I stay at home only one day before I started another teaching trip. This stop was Lake Martin near Auburn Alabama. Staying at the side this beautiful lake my fatigue due to heavy traveling was gone just like that. I want to thank Dorothy and George Littleton for organizing this workshop and thanks to all the artists for attending. This is my first demo, which is a plein air piece.

"Small house at Balboa Park"

On the 4th Day of the Plein Air Convention, we have painted at the beautiful Balboa Park. There are so many grand, elegant, and very ornate structures. I have shied away from all of that and picked up a small house near the parking lot. When I painting this one, I turned around and found surprisingly that Jeremy Liping was standing next to me. I was so excited. We talked for a while and he gave me quite a few tips. Thank you, Jeremy.