"Demo at Putney 2016 4"

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My last demo at Putney was a palette knife cityscape. I used one of my photos I took at Nanping Village in September when I was visiting China. I enjoyed very much of using palette knifes and I hope this style will mature in the near future.

"Demo at Lancaster 2016 2" --- Sold

For the second demo at Lancaster, I showed painting architectural structure from photograph. This project gave me more chances of using palette knifes. The key to get a good architectural painting is to make sure the perspective is correct. I tried my best to manage the perspective on this one, but it still was not perfect. Well, I have learned.

"Xidi Carved Window 1"

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I am continuing on the research of the monochromatic paintings. I started to consider to remove the transparent oxide red off my palette. This painting was done with burnt umber, white and a little black. It looks the experiment works. This way will save me significantly on the expenses on paints.

I have a major computer crash over the weekend. I have lost quite a bit of information. If you used to receive my daily painting emails, but found you did not receive this post and posts in the future, please let me know, I have to manually put you back. I am sorry for the inconvenience.

"Xidi Doorway 7"

I used this ref photo the second time. Xidi village is the place that keeps coming back in my dreams. This morning I painted this Xidi doorway again. I want to practice this technique more to gain more control and gradually develop a style. There is a Chinese character on the red sign posted about the door, I have waiting the paint to dry to write it on.

"Xidi Doorway 6"

Now this is the last (No. 5) painting I did on Derek's workshop. I used my own ref. photo this time. You probably have seen my other Xidi doorway paintings before. They were more monochromatic. Now this one is colorful. Do you like it? I am not sure myself. The painting definitely not as rigid as before. I have enjoyed the freedom, which I did not have before. However, do you like the color? let me know please. Thanks.

"Demo in Austin 2016 4" --- Sold

The last day of the workshop, I did this monochromatic doorway from one of my photos I took in China. I used only black white and transparent oxide red, and mainly used a palette knife to paint this one. I really like this new direction and want to spend more time to develop this style.

" A Rainy Day in Chicago"

I feel happy about what I did today. I have been doing research on monochromatic painting for a while. The advantage of monochrome is automatic color harmony. I don't need to worry that color gets muddy. So I can concentrate on value design and texture design. You have seen a small version of this painting earlier.  This one is 18" x 24".

How to market my large paintings is a good question. I did show my large work in galleries, even very good galleries. However, the result was not very good. So I kind of giving up on selling my large paintings at this moment. If you are interested in collecting my large paintings, please send me an email. We can work out a deal.

"Chicago in the rain"

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This is another monochrome color study. My palette was the same I used yesterday. I used the ref photo I took in Chicago earlier of the year. I feel the color scheme is suitable to describe the rainy cityscape. With the monochrome approach, I eliminate the local colors. However, it still has color temperature variation. In this painting, black is my warm color and turquoise blue is my cool. With this mono approach I can effectively control muddy colors and keep the entire painting harmonized. I am considering of doing a few large paintings with this approach.

"Wuzhen Canal 2"

Came back from New England, I have only about ten days at home before I travel again for my next teaching trip. How to use my broken time to do some significant painting is always a challenge. You might have remembered this painting. I started in May, but didn't have enough time to finish it. Fortunately I paint this one from a ref photo I took from Wuzhen (a water village near Shanghai, China.) So I can continue painting it when I get time. I spent about 3 more days adjusting the color harmony and adding details. I tried to apply some of the knife technique I developed when I painted my Xidi series, but it did not work well enough. Anyway, that is what I got today.

"Xidi Village 1"

This is another large painting I did based on a reference photo I took at the Xidi village. I have extended my paintings from doorways to buildings, and from monochrome to color. I am really concerned that the painting will get muddy easily when I shift from mono to color. I have paid serious attention to the color harmony. Also I have realized that I may not want to paint this kind of archaic painting too large. I don't know exactly why. Some how I feel the history is too heavy on me. I feel pressured when I look at the aging texture of the ancient structures. I might have run into something in my previous life. Who knows.

I want to pause my Xidi series now. A new phase of my art starts soon. I will travel again and keep busy.

“Xidi Doorway 4"

This is my fourth Xidi doorway painting. The difference between this one and the previous ones is the size. This one is a 18" x 24", while my first one was a 6" x 8". I hope you don't see too much difference from the photo images. It is easier to show painterly effect with small paintings. That is why I did this exercise. I want to make sure I can maintain the painterly look with my large paintings.  I want to practice this style a little more to stabilize the approach. So I don't need too much warmup time in the future if I want to painting this kind of monochromatic works.

"Xidi Doorway 3" --- Sold

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Continuing on my Xidi doorway series, I did this one. The painting is slightly large (9" x 12"). I would not to say this monochromatic, because I did start to consider color now. I don't know how far I can go with this approach, but I really enjoyed what I am doing. The Chinese character above the doorway means good fortune. I hope this relatively new style of painting can expand my ability in art and eventually can bring me good fortune as well.

"Xidi Doorway 2" --- Sold

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Following the momentum of my monochromatic practice, I did another doorway painting. The simplification of the color portion of the painting allows me to concentrate on the texture manipulation. Aesthetically, the monochromatic harmony and the roughness of the texture gives the artwork a sense of time transition, a feeling of old age. Beauty seems closely related to old and imperfectness. That is why we collect antiques, and visit old places. I don't know why, but this is my intuitive thinking. If you have a more philosophical explanation, please educate me. I am very curious about this topic.

"Xidi Doorway 1" --- Sold

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Due to the jet lag, I got up really early. I started painting this one at 5:00 AM. This is a good exercise of monochromatic painting. This approach is suitable of presenting old architectural structures. During our China painting trip, we spent quite a few days in an old village called Xidi. Most of the buildings there are more than two hundred years old. This place is the paradise for me. I have seen so many paintings I want to paint. I was so excited the first night I couldn't sleep. I am sure I will go back to this beautiful place and paint more plein air. Now I am painting from the photos I took. For this painting I used only three colors: black, white, and transparent oxide red. It is almost done completely with palette knifes.

"Demo at Bolivar 2015 2" --- Sold

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My second demo at Bolivar was a plein air one. I used this painting to show how I manage the perspectives. The painting shows the quietness of a small town. However in real life, this intersection was quite busy. Big semi-trucks make wide turns right in front of my easel. They seem coming right at me. I really don't understand why these big monsters are called "semi".

BTW both of my demos at Bolivar are still available.

"Wuzhen Canal 3 (Day 3)"

This is another large painting (36" x 24") in progress. I like this composition. It has three layers: the far field, mid field, and the near field. I have given enough details on the boat, but I have not worked on the edges.

Currently, I have 6 large paintings going simultaneously. I work on one for a while then work on another one. Progress is rather slow, but I have a little everyday. Now I have felt that painting is a rather labor intense work. I wish I have more energy. It is very different from my old discipline of small daily paintings. I use to finish a painting in a couple of hours.

"Wuzhen Canal 1 (Day 5)

You might have remembered I posted the same painting on May 25. I thought I was very close to the finishing point at that time. However, I have spent 3 more days on it.  I have seen so much potential on this painting, and I might want to spend a few more days on it.

From my previous post on this painting to now. I have been working on the color and edges. I enhanced the warmth of the color in the light area so the painting gets much more colorful than before. Working on the edges was a tough task. I have already had a lots of details and the painting was very tight at the previous stage. I have to destroy unnecessary details to get loos. I like this painting today much more.

"San Miguel Street (Color study)"

This is a 9" x 12" color study before I do a large painting. Havng done a few large paintings, I have learn that doing a small color study is very important. It helps me to determine the general color scheme, harmony, and a general design. I don't have the habit of doing color studies because I used to paint small. 9" x 12" had been considered as a large painting for me. Now I play different game now. When I did my large Austin painting, I really learn the hard way. I directly jumped into the large format. Oh boy! I have wasted so much time and paints just try to get the color scheme I wanted. Now I always do a small color study before I paint on a large canvas.

"Wuzhen Canal 2 (Day 2)"

This is my Second painting of my "Wuzhen Canal" series. It is a 24" x 24". I paid special attention to the color harmony. It is so sensitive when I paint Chinese landscapes, because the color of grey is so subtle. If I am not care enough it goes to mud so easily. At this moment the painting is still look mechanical. Additional information is needed on the edge treatment to make the painting more painterly and dramatic. Quite a few years ago, I did a small 6"x 6" with the small ref photo, but now the large version really much stronger impact.

"Wuzhen Canal 1 (Day 2)"

This painting has been progress very fast. I have given almost all the details it needs. It may need more edge work and color accents, but I am close to the end of the painting. Compared with my downtown Austin painting (which takes me close to 20 days), It is amazing. I am going to start another large painting very soon.

I really enjoy my current mode of painting. Quiet and involved. Painting, and painting only.