“Newton's Apple" --- Sold

Last Saturday I went to Marble Falls, TX. The Riverbend Fine Art Gallery was hosting the reception of a 3-man show of Rusty Jones, Bob Rohm, and me. All three of us did demos that day. This is my demo painting. Since I am working on leaves, I included some of them in my setup. I placed a red apple right under the leaves, and it feels like the apple has fallen right off the branch. It reminds me the story that Isaac Newton discovered the gravity because an apple fell on his head. So I named the painting: Newton's Apple.

This 3-man show is a new milestone to me. This is the first time I have shown relatively many paintings with a small group of artists. I met quite a few new friends and really had a lot fun at this beautiful Texas Hill Country town. I want to thank Marta Stafford for organizing this event. I want to thank all my collectors for their support.

"Live Oak Live Apple" --- Sold

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Finally, I got the time and painted this small painting yesterday and posted it on eBay. Thank you so many friends giving me support after my previous post. I restarted my learning. I am continuing working on leaves. I will work on this topic for a while until I feel I obtain the effect I really want. I have some ideas about leaves, but not much. My investigation will go deeper. I decided to go high key this time. My colors will show better this way. I believe low key showing light, and high key showing color. Don't you agree?

"Anna"

I have not been posting anything on the blog for a long week. I have not put any paintings for sale on eBay for more than a month. Wow! what is going on? I even have zero activities in these two most fundamental fields of a daily painter. I have been painting less and less now. I must do many "more important" things. I hear the saying: when something goes up, it must come down. I hope it does not apply to my art. But I feel I am gradually losing the battle. Because I paint, so I have no time to paint. This is so ironic, but it is true. I think that is the teaching of Taoism: the value of non-action.

Well, let us forget about all of those philosophical junk, and come back to art. I did this portrait last night. It is kind of interesting.

"Demo at San Antonio 3" --- Sold

After my previous post, a few artist friends sent me photos of my 3rd demo at the Coppini. I really appreciate their help to make this posting possible.

"Demo at San Antonio 2"

This is my second demo at Coppini. I selected a square shaped object to demonstrate how to manage the perspective and measurement. I felt good about those flowers and leaves. I also did the third demo in front of both the workshop artists and general members of Coppini Academy. The studio was so professionally built with large north light windows. I saw way much more colors on my setup than I use to. It was overwhelming. I did OK. The third demo painting was sold at the spot. I did not get a chance to take a photo of it. If you were at Coppini watching my demo and having a photo, would you mind send a copy to me? Thanks.

"Demo at San Antonio 1" --- Sold

I am in San Antonio teaching a 3-day workshop at the Coppini Academy of Fine Arts. This is my demo painting I did today. I want to thank Gladys, W. C., and Eric for working so hard to make the workshop location available. I am so happy to meet many new friends. I hope all workshop artists have enjoyed today. There are more to come tomorrow.

After I posted the question about the flexible palette knives, quite a few friends recommended Holbein Painting Knives. I think I am going to start from this one. Thank you so much for helping me out.

"Rose study 41211" --- Sold

To paint or to take a defensive driving class, that is the question. I was the bad guy, I was told driving 49 miles per hour on Hwy 290 went into Johnson City. Were I guilty for speeding, I do not have the time to argue. I paid what the police wanted and agreed to take the class to keep my record clean. Life is very short, let us paint as much as possible.

Now I want to learn the Richard Schmid approach seriously. I did this one last night, but I was very very tired. So I could not finish. Maybe I should have taken the defensive class instead.

BTW, can someone tell me where I can get very flexible palette knifes? Thanks a lot.

"Spring at Dallas"

I was at Dallas yesterday attending the annual Plein Air Southwest Show organized by the Outdoor Painters Society. This was my first time in the show. The event had two activities: quick draw at the Dallas Arboretum and plein air painting exhibition at the Southwest Gallery. This painting is my quick draw piece. Since plein air landscape is deviated so much from my still life painting, I felt out of control. Many effects that I wish I could make happen did not. I have run into many areas that I have been completely lost. It was a beautiful Saturday morning. There were so many people in the park. I was put at the spot. Since I didn't know what I was doing, I just let my intuition take over. I pretend to be cool. Oh boy! I was a true con artist that morning. Finally, I think the painting turned out better than I thought.

"Demo at Fredericksburg"

I was in Fredericksburg yesterday and did this demo for Die Kunstler Art Club. I hope you like it.

I am going to teach a 3-day workshop at the Coppini Academy of Fine Art on April 15 -17. We still have one opening left. If you are interested in attending please contact Coppini Workshops.

I have announced our 3-man show yesterday. However, the link does not work again. If you want to see the video, please click the new link. or search "3painters3vision" at the Youtube site.

I am in Dallas right now. Tomorrow I will attend the Plein Air Southwest Show with the Outdoor Painters Society.

Oh! boy. What a busy schedule.

"3 Painters 3 Visions"

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Yesterday I posted a link to a video. I am sorry it is not working anymore. Rusty has placed a new one on Youtube. "3 Painters 3 Visions" is the 3-man show of Rusty Jones, Bob Rohm, and me at the Riverbend Fine Art Gallery in Marble Falls, TX. The reception will at 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM on Saturday, April 30, 2011. We will do painting demos before the reception, please contact Riverbend Fine Art Gallery for detailed information. I hope to see you at this event.

"Roses in Spring"

We have some roses blooming so beautifully in the back yard. Song cut some and arranged them in a wine glass. In this painting I experimented quite a bit. It is not my usual dark background low key approach, and it is not high key either. I painted these roses like the way I painted portraits. I left large area in the background the toned canvas. I don’t consider this experiment a successful one. I don’t have my spot light effect, and my grays are not clean. I wanted the leaves showing more, but it didn’t happen. Anyway it is another painting day. Tomorrow will be a new day.

Our 3-man show is coming up on April 29. Rusty Jones, Bob Rohm, and I will show our paintings at Riverbend Fine Art Gallery at Marble Falls, TX. Rusty made a wonderful Youtube video to promote the show. Please click here to see it.

"Old Beauty"

This is a relatively large painting. I like that white blue pot. I got it from an antique store. I am not sure what it was for. Was it a soup container? Can someone tell me? It looks very old, and it makes a very good still life object. I like to paint old stuff. I know many (if it is not all) artists do. I am not very sure why the old stuff is better. Is it because old objects show effect of time or the timelessness. We are often nostalgic for our earlier lifes. Is it because our currently time so tasteless so we are long for the good old days. Anyway, the old stuff looks better to me.

"Ellen"

You see more of my portraits recently. It feels that my dominant genre (still life) starts change. Well, it is not the case. My real motivation is that I am preparing for my friend Zhaoming Wu's workshop in May. This is my first time to organize a figurative workshop. I need to have a list of models available. I believe that the best way to identify good models is to paint them. Hiring models is not easy. I have shared with you 6 portraits so far. However in 3 painting sessions, the models didn't show up. The rate of model absence is 50%. That makes me nervous. I don't want to see this kind of thing happen on the workshop. So if you are experienced in organizing life drawing and painting activities, I would like to know your suggestions.

Ellen is an artist friend of mine. She and I went to a life painting yesterday, but the model didn't come. Ellen volunteered to model for everybody. I really appreciate she did that. For this painting, I didn't do a good job. I didn't get the likeness and my perspective had many problems. Well, I know I have a long way in front of me if I really want to be portrait painter. I am prepared.

"Tangerines and Bronze"

I got this bronze thingy in Louisiana on our way back from Florida. Its color and texture are so amazing. In this painting, I really worked on the grays. It was not easy doing this one, and it took me about three days. This painting will be in my April show too.

"Heather"

I did this portrait study last night. Heather is a wonderful model. Her facial features are very strong and clear. Heather is not simply a model. She is the grand daughter of the "Jerry" (the founder of Jerry's Artarama) and a successful business woman. I enjoyed doing this portrait. Especially the hair texture. I like the dry brush effects. If you are interested in purchasing this painting, please let me know.

"A Small Cup" --- Sold

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Nowadays, I do not have enough opportunity to do small paintings. I set up for a larger painting this morning, and did this small one before I start the larger one. I feel my time is getting less and less. I spend most of my time dealing with and learning how to manage my art career. I don't have much experience and education in business management, so I am learning on a trial and error bases. Men! I learned the hard way many times, but I am getting there.

"Demo at Jacksonville 3" --- Sold

This is my third demo at Jacksonville. It has become a routine now that I allow the workshop artists set up the still life for my last demo. They want to see how I paint specific objects. This is challenge for me because I don’t have control anymore. But we all had fun with this method. I took it easy as much as possible. If I blow it, I simply let it go. This one has turned out all right.

"Sisters" --- Donated to Japanese "Aid for Bed" Directly Helping by Providing Shelter for theDisplaced

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On March 10, I was packing for my trip to Florida. Because I was in a rush, I pushed a small table and one of the Japanese dolls displayed on it fell off. Knocked on the floor tiles, her head was shattered into pieces. I felt pity about the accident, but didn't think too much and continuing on my rush. Less than 24 hours later I was on my way and stopped by a McDonald’s on I-10 between Pensacola and Tallahassee. I opened my Mac. Oh!! my goodness, I saw that horrible images of Tsunami and Earthquake of Japan. I was frozen by the terrible scenes the devastation, felt the world was ending. I am not really superstitious, but the shadow of my crashed Japanese doll was floating on gloomy images of the tremendous disaster.

I was back to Austin late last night, and felt obligated to do something. I did this painting this morning and hope to do a little help to the people in Japan. Now the Daily Paintworks website has posted a new challenge to all daily painters call "the Help Japan Challenge". I want to submit this painting to this challenge. I hope all my artist friends can join me to donate a painting to raise a help fund. If you are interested in join me, please check "the DPW Help Japan Challenge" for the detailed information. This is one way we artists can help. Thank you.

"Demo at Jacksonville 2" --- Sold

My dreams are going. My paintings are coming. This is my second demo at my workshop.

"Demo at Jacksonville 1" --- Sold

After my last post, I slept and had a wonderful dream. In my dream, I had driven 17 hours crossed Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and finally ended up at Jacksonville, Florida. I taught a workshop there, and here is my first demo painting. Now my dream is still going. I am not ready to wake up yet.

I want to thank Eileen Corse for organizing my workshop again. Thank you so much my artist friends. Many of you have driven long distance to attend this workshop. I hope what you have learned those three day can have some positive effect on your art.

"Sugar Bowl Study" --- Sold

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I got this small sugar bowl over the weekend, and decided to do a small study with it. I was so tired when I started, and almost fell in sleep in the middle of the process, but I push myself and got i t d o n e. B y e . z z z z z z ....

"Light"

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I try to dramatize the translucent light in this painting. When light goes through the tangerine, I saw the beautiful glow of the orange and red in contrast the dark background. The cool blue color of the pot enhances the warmth of the tangerine. It was so much fun doing this painting and it will be in my show as well.

"Night"

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It is night. It is dark. but I still have the color, reflecting the light afar.

This painting emphasizes more on light effect, not much on brush work. I planned the light carefully, and made my value distribution consistent.

I will have 3-men show coming up. I have to work really hard and quick to generate enough paintings for the show. This painting will be one of them. This show is a new real challenge to me. With my crazy life, doing solo and group shows is almost impossible. However, I am willing to give it a try.

"Demo at Magnolia 3" --- Sold

This is my 3^rd demo on the workshop. It is a rose painting. Up to the date, I have been doing rose demos for almost all my workshops. I like to paint roses in the bud stage. I don’t quite like to paint roses in full blooming. I like simple things. If you ask me if I have a secret of painting roses, I will say that rose does has an anatomy. You want to consider a rose is like a cylinder. You want to know well how the light shining on this cylinder, where the shadow goes and where the light goes. Make sure your value is correct. Painting roses has no room for overwork. So be careful with every stroke you put on. In addition, the stem and little green things under the rose are very important items. They provide shape and color contrast. So you want include them as much as you can. Now you know how I paint roses. I hope this small tip will bring many beautifully painted roses to the world. Happy painting to all of you.

"Demo at Magnolia 2" --- Sold

Spring has arrived in Texas. One of the workshop artists brought me this tree branch full of red flowers. So I did this demo painting. Please enjoy.

"Demo at Magnolia 1" --- Sold

I have just completed another workshop at the beautiful Magnolia, TX. I want to thank Marty Hatcher for hosting my 5th workshop at the wonderful ARLC. Thank you all great artists for attending. I made many new friends, and felt so good seeing quite a few old friends coming back. This painting is my first demo. It is very typical showing my design ideas.

"Addie 2"

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I did another portrait study. I painted her hair rather abstract. I tried to form some kind of design to make portrait painting more interesting. more paintings and experiences are needed, but I surely had a lot of fun.

I am on my way to my next workshop teaching, and I will let you know how it goes.

"Red Table Cloth" --- Sold

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After my previous post, I have received so many kind emails and comments about the magazine article on my art. I feel like a marathon runner passing a milestone. I am really touched by your cheers. I took the water bottle you handed to me, quenched my thirst, energized my body, and kept on going. I know well I have a long way to go, but I believe I can make it, because you are with me no matter where. Thank you very very much.

I want to share this small painting with you today. I am exploring new possibilities of using light. I like the reflections from the red table cloth to the small white pot. I can't believe I can put cadmium red light directly on a white object. I like the drama.

A magazine article about my art

Please allow me to brag a little today. I am so excited that I have been featured on the March issue of the Southwest Art Magazine. You can read a rather detailed story about my art and me. If you don't have the hard copy of the magazine, you may read the article online from the Southwest Art Website. Recall the journey I made so far in the art world. I feel very happy. I really enjoyed this big and wonderful community. People in it are so positive and supportive. I want thank you all. You make me feel meaningful.

"Heating Up the Water" --- Sold

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This small painting was done at my country home. I didn't use artificial light at all. Both the setup and my canvas was under true north light illumination. I really enjoyed the subtle color changes on the kettle. After cutting down my engineering working hours, I can paint during the day sometimes. I am amazed what natural light can offer.

I talked my country home before. It is two acres in Texas Hill Country. There is a mobile home on it, not in good shape. I am off the grid. I made a solar panel that provides me lighting during the night. I have to haul water from the creek down in the valley. I can cook with a camping gas stove. Last night was my first night staying here. Everything is rather primitive, but I feel good because I am in control. Not like my city home, I feel I was controlled by the house. My country home is my experiment of real living. I am reading Henry David Thoreau, and my country home is my Walden.