Water Lilies for Helen

 

I did this relative large painting a few days ago. As a matter of fact, I was not feeling well that day. Partially it was because I had some reactions after my medical treatment, and the other part was my mood was unstable with all the challenges I have been facing lately. I started to paint without think about the results, I decided to surrender my self conscious mind to the flow of my body movement and what ever my heart leading me. During the painting time, I have bad body sensations and negative thoughts coming and going. I aware of them but tried not react to them. I was very surprised to find that my body is a way stronger than my mind. The best way to live is just let the body lead and do not think.

This painting was done for a friend of mine. I am so grateful that so many friends around me have helped me, and encourage me to come out this hard time, and became more mature as a human being.

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.

"Sister Bay Sail Boats"

 

I have not posted painting images on my blog and FB for a while. I am sorry. This is a small painting I did yesterday. 

Monument Valley 3

 

This is another color scheme study of the Monument Valley.

Monument Valley 2

 

I have taken many photos during our recent RV trip. This is my first studio painting based on one of the photos. The purpose of this painting is to re-present the color scheme that the Nature demonstrated in front of my camera. I don't think I can create, but I can simply document what has happened.

Snow in Texas

 

Can you believe I never painted snow before. That is true. Well, not any more. I painted this one after I returned from my plein air camping trip. This was our neighborhood during the deep freeze in February. I did this for a color study. I need to finish the 4th session of my online color teaching: "Color in the real world".  To my surprise, snowscape is one of the simplest color situations in representational painting. The reason is very simple. Snow does not have much of local color because it is white. It may not have too much influence of environmental color either because its size. Therefore, the dominant color contribution is the light source colors. In a sunny day like this one, the dual light source situation is obvious. For sure you have warmer light and cooler shadow. You know why. So if you want to understand color temperature, paint snow first before you paint other landscapes. It took me quite a few years to figure this out. Duh....

San Angelo Water Lilies

Painting plein air at the International Waterlily Garden at San Angelo with my friend Kyle Ma. 
 

Plein Air Tree Study 051421

 

We went camping for 3 days at the Lake Somerville State Park. I did a few plein air paintings. You know I seldom do pure nature landscapes, I like to put houses, boats, or other man made items in my painting as the center of focus. This time I was out of luck. This park is full of beautiful trees. So I must paint some of them. This is one of studies.

"Rock and Water Study"

 

How do you manage your colors to show something looks solid? How do you use color relativity to reveal subtle changes of the local color variation? How do you handle grays to achieve rich and sophisticated color designs? To answer these questions, I did this study. 

Thoreau's House

 

This small house is a replica of Henry David Thoreau's house at the historical museum in Concord MA. I have read Thoreau's "Walden" and admired his wisdom. I wish more people understand him. The world could have been much better if more people have practiced his teaching. I used the same reference photo and painted this small house many times. On my 2nd Zoom workshop I painted this house again as a demo.

"Spring in the woods"

 

Painting green is a challenge. I picked a photo that show all kinds of greens: the house with a green roof, The trees with fresh green leaves in the spring time, and the green grass in shadow and in light. I have spent two days on this small painting. It feels my handling of green colors has got more sensitive. All the efforts during the pandemic isolation have shown some effects. I am enchanted.

"Utopian Harmony"

 My very first Zoom workshop started yesterday. This is the demo painting (well, I did some finish touches offline). I consider this workshop is a new milestone on my art journey. If I can use one word to summarize this event, it will be "quantitative". You might think this word maybe the most irrelevant for an art activity, but that is exactly why this workshop is so significant. I have introduced "measuring cups" to my students, and "painting by numbers" will not be dirty words in art practices any more. 

"Tuscany Study"

 

I painted a small study today. The purpose of this study is to investigate the chroma of the color green. Human eyes are very sensitive to green. In the real world, It is rare to have greens with high chroma. Most of the greens are rather close to gray, but our eyes often give us the fake news. We feel we see very pure green, and we tend to use high chroma green colors to paint trees, grass, and other green stuff. Now I have the "Painter's Guide App". I can measure the chroma if I paint from photos. In this painting, all the greens in light are rather dull. Actually, the chroma of the shadow colors are much higher. Is that weird? 

"The Red Door" --- Sold

 

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.

"Water Lily Impression"

 

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.

Once Upon a Time

 

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.

"Gondolas in Venice" finished

 

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.

"Gondolas in Venice" Phase 3

Please be patient with me. This large painting will take a while to finish. For these a few days, I have been working on the figures. I don't want them to be detailed, but the drawing needs to be accurate, and the color needs to be interesting. This is what I got so far. I know some paintings take years to finish. I hope this one will not be that way. Well, I take it back. I started this one in 2017. Now it is 2020. At least I have not got stuck yet. Please wish me luck to have a smooth ride.

I hope you have checked the information of "Realism Live". I wish I could be a part of it, but I have a time conflict. If you have not checked the program, Here is the link: https://realismlive.com/register-now?affiliate_id=2533996. There so many superb artists will demo for this event. It is a great opportunity to learn from them.

"Gondolas in Venice" Phase 1

I am refurbishing a painting I did in 2017. I was stuck at the time, did not know how to finish. The painting was painterly and had some good parts, but there were something wrong with the color and the gesture of the main figure needed quite amount of work. It was a large one, 36" x 36". The correctness of the color relationship is crucial. I was not able to manage at the time. Now I am using my "Painter's Guide" app. I can mix color much more subtly and accurately. So color issue of large paintings will not be a problem any more.

Although my painting style is quite impressionistic, but I am always representational and realistic. If you are also a realistic painter, I recommend you attend an virtual event called "Realism Live" on October 21 - 24, 2020. The link is here (for Instagram users, please copy-n-paste: https://realismlive.com/register-now?affiliate_id=2533996). There are quite many excellent artists will share their tips. You will enjoy this great event.

"Mayfield Water Lilies"

I have finished this large (24" x 24") painting. I concentrated on the realistic presentation of the water lily pads and flowers. It is totally different style from my previous large painting "ICU heroes". When should I do a realistic painting, and when an abstract one? I feel the control is not up to me, especially large paintings. I need quite a few days to paint one, so I just go with the flow. The painting evolves right in front of me, Just like the flowers. I don't think I "created" this painting, I felt like an gardener. My job simply is to provide the as good as possible conditions for the water lilies to grow and bloom. If the painting turns out a good one. I usually spend a long time in front of it to enjoy the beauty of the visual presentation.