“Morning in Zhouzhuang (Day 3)"

I didn't have much time painting yesterday, but I still did some: working on the ripples. This painting has started to show the effect I would like to see. I simply want to present the simple beauty of a simple life, the life which is not purchased from market, the life which is submerged harmoniously in nature.

I have been trying to learn to live my life intentionally. I want to pay attention to everything I do. However, it is so difficult to do. I am always in hurry. There is always much more things need to be done than my ability to handle. Life is passing me without being noticed. I have been aware of this. These several days, I start to learn cooking, spending more time with Song. Life should be like this painting: no hurry, no pressure, and the time only exist simply at this moment.

“Morning in Zhouzhuang (Day 2)"

With this painting, I need to deal with many unknowns. The color scheme is cool and high key. I do most of my paintings with warm and low key, so I have stepped into the total opposite of my comfort zone. I chose this color scheme is not simply because it is different and new. I think I have seen new opportunities. The two days with Huihan Liu at the Scottsdale Artists School have turned on a few light bulbs in my mind.

I think you start to see the painting now. I have developed the center of focus today. and try to manipulate the purple and turquoise colors in the background. I want to see if I can involve some Impressionistic colors to the painting.

"Morning in Zhouzhuang (Day one)"

After I came back from Tucson, I must admit that I have burned out significantly. For several days, I did not go in my studio. I watched some TV, but very quickly I got bored with it. I tried to fix a few computer problems, but I got more frustrated. For instance, I tried to connect my laptop to my printer. I thought this is a small problem, but I spent at least two days on this task. However, no matter how hard or smart I try, it just simply do not work. Oh, boy! I thought I used these several days to recharge.

Surviving in today's life is definitely a special ART. I must become a real master of this art before I can do anything else. Being able to accept failure is what I am learning now. I must admit that we can not do everything, and we have to let them go, like my printer. Keep calm, even the world shattered into pieces right in front of you. Accepting failures is not giving up, because you know your priorities. One piece of advice for you: if you want to live a peaceful life, please make sure the core of your life is not controlled by IT.

I started painting again. This project will take me several days. You may not know what I am painting at this moment, but it will show gradually.

"Demo in Tucson 3" --- Sold

This is my third demo in Tucson. before I started someone wanted me to do a rose, and someone wants me to do a sunflower. So I did both.

"Demo in Tucson 2" --- Sold

This is the second demo in Tucson. There are quite a few abstract shapes. Still life painting is not copying nature. It is a design process. I really like the blue color on the left. What is that? who cares.

“Demo in Tucson 1" --- Sold

I arrived at Tucson yesterday, and workshop here started this morning. This is my first demo. I want to thank Brenda Semanick for putting this workshop together. I want to thank Marry Ann and Dennis Wilson for their hospitality and opening their lovely home to me. I want to thank all the artists coming painting with me. Tucson is very beautiful place. I really enjoy the special desert beauty here.

"Figure Study with Huihan Liu"

After my workshop at SAS. I decided to stay two more days in Scottsdale and sat in to a workshop by  another artist. I chose a figure class taught by Huihan Liu. I felt so great for being a student again. Huihan is one of the best figurative artists. He does spectacular narrative paintings of Tibetan people and American Indians. I felt very fortunate for being able to study from him.

This is the painting I did on Huihan's class. The value design is OK, but it has big problems in proportion. So I don't consider this painting is a successful one. Figurative painting is my weak spot. My foundation is not sound. I have realized that I can NOT paint what I SEE (like I do still life) when painting figure. I must paint from what I KNOW, and use the model only as reference. First, the model can not go back exactly the same pose after a break. If you chase the pose, you will doomed to fail. Secondly, the human body structure and foreshortening are so subtle. If you can't handle perspective and lack of knowledge of anatomy, forget it. All over places, I see beginner artists go to open studio to draw or paint nude figures. My sincere advice to my beginner artist friends is: If you want to be a good figurative artist, you need to know what you are doing. Please do not do parallel parking if you don't know how to drive straightly. Study perspective, anatomy, and figure illustration is a mandatory requirement for you.

"Demo at Scottsdale 2014 3" --- Sold

I usually do not do experiment during workshop demos, but I did this time. I put more stuff on the foreground and my reading path made a curve leading to the center of focus. I was not so sure how it would turn out, but it came out much better than I thought. I kept a part of painting unfinished to enhance more abstract effect. I hope you like it too.

"Demo at Scottsdale 2014 2" --- Sold

This is the second demo at SAS. The background is so dark. It enhances the sunflower and the foreground. Now the workshop is over. I hope all the artists can practice what we have talked about. It will bring your art to a higher level.

"Demo at Scottsdale 1" --- Sold

My workshop at the Scottsdale Artist School started today. I did a very elaborate demo. I really enjoyed the atmosphere at SAS. There are so many great masters teaching here. I am humbled. I want to thank SAS for this honor. I want to thank art friends coming from so many places coming and painting with me.

"Demo in Austin 4" --- Sold

My Austin workshop has four days. I did this landscape (or cityscape) on the last day. It is from a photo I took in China. I feel my landscape still need lots of work. There are still many things in this genre I don't know. But it was fun doing this in front of a group artists. I am learning and teaching at the same time.

I have arrived at Scottsdale AZ today. Starting tomorrow I will teach a workshop at the Scottsdale Artist School (SAS). This is a very well known art school. I feel honored to teach here.

"Demo in Austin 3" --- Sold

The third demo on the workshop is about roses. I feel more confident since I did 10 rose studies before this workshop. There is no short cut in art. You just have to paint more.

"Demo in Austin 2"

This is my 2nd demo. It is a relatively simple setup. I did ok I guess, but I so happy seeing so many good paintings coming out from my students' easels.

"Demo in Austin 1 2014" --- Sold

I have started my 2014 workshop teaching. I didn't travel this time. My dear wife Song put this workshop together. My son Jonathan helped me to set it up. The workshop location is at the Anderson Mill Garden Club in the beautiful Texas Hill Country. Artists from all over come and paint with me. I really appreciate all the wonderful people for participating this event. Thank you all very much. This is my first demo.

"On a Guilin Street"

For these 3 days. I have been concentrating on doing one painting. I used one of my photos I took during my China painting trip. When we were in Guilin, it was a very hot day. The mid-day sun was so intense that people use umbrellas to shade. The pavement was marble creating beautiful reflections. The colorful umbrellas were like floating flowers. I shot this scene with my phone. I decided to paint very loose on a 12" x 16" canvas. It was a struggle.

For the entire year of 2013, I was so busy teaching and traveling. I did almost all small paintings and studied other artists' styles. One thing I should do but really have no time doing is provide larger paintings to my galleries. I hope my gallery owners do not get mad with me. So this one will be a gallery paining.

"Pink Rose Study 10" --- Sold

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After many experiences in life and diligent spiritual pursuits, Ms. Rose has reached her maturity. Although her physical body is no longer as sound as before, but with recent hip replacement, she stands straighter, with her lasik surgery, she can see better than her teenager time. However the most important, she has understood life better. Her time spend on the Earth is just a small (but significant) ripple of the universal eternity. Her body is simply the extension of everything around. And her mind (Oops, I lost my word). MAY ALL THE BEINGS ENJOY THE REAL PEACE, REAL HARMONY, AND REAL HAPPINESS. (The last sentence is not mine.)

This maybe my last painting of my pink rose study. I have a pile of workshop teaching coming soon, I need to be warm up for that. For this painting, I paid more attention on the color subtlety. Instead of too much alizarin or permanent rose, I have used much more naples yellow, venetian red, and cad green pale. I also want to comment on my model. I bought a pink rose from the local grocery store about 10 days ago. I was so amazed how long she has last. All the ten rose paintings I did were all from this one rose. She posed all the stages of the life of a rose. Even now she is still pretty strong. No single petal has fell off. I had experiences that I had roses for my workshops, some of them could not last even through my two hours demo. In comparison, this rose I am having is really a miracle. I will see if I have more time, I would love to do two more paintings from her poses.

"Pink Rose Study 9" --- Sold

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New Year's firework was shining on an abandoned Christmas tree lying on the side of the road. Life just like that, Ms. Rose has observed. Another year has passed. It seems the time goes by so much faster than before. There are endless things needed to be done. Preaching vigorously to their own choir, people on this small globe are clustered according to their specific opinions on economics, politics, and religion. Wars are fought, Tragedies are all over, the environment are getting worse. The only authority that can unite the human specie is the all mighty money. Life just like that, Ms. Rose has observed. But why? What is the power that is driving the world? ... Suddenly, Ms. Rose has realized she needs to go beyond speculating on the surface. We humans are involved inevitably in a game, we are forced to follow the rules. Life is not that bad. In the darkness she starts to see sparks of hope. She sees the conscience, morality, and love.  Although it is not the main stream, but the positive energy is there.

I am sorry I am sounding kind of blue at this time we supposed to be happy. As a matter of fact, I felt very grateful to all of you. I hope all of you happy at this great beginning of 2014. You are my source of that positive energy.

"Pink Rose Study 8" --- Sold

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Life is full of difficulties we must face. Ms. Rose has tried all her best to manage. She saw others get sick, old, and die. She had to see goodbye to ones who she really loved. She also met someone who gave her so much trouble.  She has dreams but cannot come true. She has experienced so much physical and mental pains. She feels tired, but in her mind, she still hope things can improve.

I am adding more colors to my rose painting. The secondary cooler light enhances the richness of rose colors.  I also start to pay attention to the edges. I really need to introduce more soft edges.

"Pink Rose Study 7" --- Sold

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Life goes on. Seasons come and go. Fruit juice has turned into red wine. It has much richer and more sophisticated taste. Ms. Rose has realized she is not the center of focus any more. The universe is a way larger than she thought before. She is perplexed. pondering in the dark night. What is the meaning? Who am I?

I have used all my engineering might and fixed most of my computer problems. Now my small Macbook Air has been forced to install so much more junk softwares I never thought I will need, and my little shoebox size brain has stuffed more junk knowledge I know soon will be obsolete again. It seems I have done a lot, but I know I have absolutely no progress. We have to run faster to keep still. My friend, have you sensed that all the people are busier than before, but have we accomplish more? Are we happier?....

Stop! Come on, Qiang. All what happens are tests for you. They are all REAL but not TRUE. Do you get it?

"Pink Rose Study 6" --- Sold

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Life is full of challenges, and Ms. Rose is getting stronger. She has started to know that the world is not perfect, and she need to face the reality and deal with problems. However, she is optimistic. Smile is still on her face even she has to work harder, because she knows her future will be better if she keeps going.

I made a very big mistake yesterday. According to Apple's recommendation, I upgraded my Mac into the new IOS X Mavericks. I didn't realized how big can of worms I have opened. It changed my painting email format, my imaging processor is no longer working, and my routine blogging activity has been stuck because many of my know-hows become obsolete.  This is our current reality. Our life is full of junks, including our knowledge. Your expertise of doing things can be wiped out just like snapping a finger. Part of your life can obsolete just like that.  I never believe the computer related know-hows are considered real knowledge, but our life has to be depend on it. That is unfortunate. On the other hand, I feel very fortunate. Because nobody can obsolete a piece of art. When all the hardware and softwares you are using today have turned into junks, the impact of your painting is everlasting.

BTW, I will hack back, and my online art business will keep on going.

"Pink Rose Study 5" --- Sold

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The life of Ms. Rose is in full blooming. Sweet and kind, generous and caring, she is so welcomed by the community. Her smile is so enchanting. The world is watching her dance.

I felt much freer when painting this one. I still keep a relatively tight style, but avoiding overwork is very important. BTW, quite a few friends asked how I painted the background so dark. Here is the secret: I painted two layers. First one was with acrylic ivory black. It dries in minutes. The second one was with oil colors ultramarine blue plus permanent alizarin. Now you know.

"Pink Rose Study 4" --- Sold

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Today my rose is no longer a child. She has stepped into her adulthood. She is full of love, full of passion, and full of energy.  She is the sun shine, she is the cool breeze. The sky is only the limit. Life is a beautiful song to her, graceful and elegant.

I painted this rose no longer using rendering. It is not necessary to copy all the petals in detail. More important is the value and color transition. The spontaneous brush strokes is critical to maintain a fresh look of the beautiful stage of this rose. I have spent much less time on this one than I did when the rose was a teenager.

"Pink Rose Study 3" --- Sold

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This study is so far the most difficult one for me. If we compare the blooming time of a rose to the life duration of a human being. This rose is approximately a teenager, charming but rebellious. I really had a long and hard time of dealing with this flower. There are in general two ways of painting a subject: rendering and suggesting. So far I approached these three rose paintings all by rendering. I depicted the subject by copying all the details I have seen. It is so tedious. It was OK when I painted the budding stage. Like playing with a baby. Simple and fresh, it was a lot of fun. Now my flower is a teenager, but I still treated her as a baby. I got more challenged. I saw more details and more problems. I got more frustrated. However, it is time to get my left brain functioning into a trouble-shooting mode. Be patient. It is the time now to really figure out the rosy structure anatomically.

"Pink Rose Study 2" --- Sold

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The back side of the rose. I just love the translucent warm light going through the petal, and the cool reflection light in the shadow area. For this rose study I don't want to get loose to quickly. In stead of painting my feeling, which I do a lot, I want to be tight for a while. so I can examine the details.

Today is Christmas eve. I wish all of you Merry Christmas.

"Pink Rose Study 1" --- Sold

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I have mentioned that I went to a meditation retreat. You might think at this moment I had calmed my mind, levitated to the clouds, and reached Nirvana. Well .... I lied. I didn't get going. I got an email after I posted on my blog saying that my application was late and the waiting list was too long. I felt a little disappointed, but I will keep trying, because reaching my spiritual goal is important.

On the other hand, things are not that bad. I gained more time, so I started another round of painting studying. This time, I will concentrate on roses. Many people think I have known how to paint roses. I disagree. I might have done a few not bad rose paintings, but I only know the basics. This study will help me to improve.

"Demo in Dallas 4" --- Sold

This is my last demo painting on my Dallas workshop. It is very seasonal. At this time I want to wish all my friends a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

This post maybe my last post of the year. I am going to a meditation retreat and will be isolated for 11 days. If you follow my blog posts in June, you may have remembered that I went to meditate but did not complete due to my father's passing. Now I get a chance to go back. It is the holiday season. Many people want to spend their vocation spiritually. In stead of as a regular participant, I will work as a server this time. It will be a very different experience for me.  In this crazy world, we all more or less lose our mind in this material oriented game. I have been dreamed to find my Utopia. I have failed so many times. I may have a chance next week.

"Demo at Ada 2" --- Sold

This is another delayed demo painting post. I used this painting as a step-by-step guidance for students to following my procedure. I like the turquoise color pot. I feel most of my paintings are lack of good blue colors. That is one of the areas I need to improve.

Nowadays, daily life is getting harder and more complicated. After returned to Austin, I didn't get much time to rest. I didn't paint either. I have spent long hours on the Health Insurance Marketplace trying to get my application completed for the Obama care. However, the website is so bad. No matter how hard I tried (and how many Ph.Ds I have), I just could not get my application completed. I chatted and called many times as well. I finally get through this morning by phone. If you have similar experience with the Marketplace. Please call instead of using the website.

"Demo in Dallas 3" --- Sold

This painting I did during my Dallas workshop, but did not post on time. Due to the bad weather and road conditions, I stayed in Dallas for 4 days, so I did more paintings. I enjoyed painting silver and brass. This one is another example.

On the way back to Austin, we stopped by Dallas again. My friend Kae took us the Meadows Museum in SMU. There is a special exhibition of Joaquin Sorolla's work including his famous painting: "Sad Inheritance" and "Another Marguerite". I can't believe I have seen Sorolla's paintings in such small and quiet place. If you happen to be near Dallas, please don't miss this great opportunity.

Another FYI for you: Master artist and my teacher, Zhaoming Wu will teach a workshop in Italy for this coming summer. Please click here for more info or click the widget on my blog.

"Demo at Ada 3" --- Sold

I have three wonderful days at Ada. This is my third demo. This one has a very obvious "three value design": dark, grey, and light. Still life painting is not a process of copying nature. It is a very deliberate design process.

We left Oklahoma in the misty winter rain. The purplish grey sky overcast on dark silhouette of bare tree branches. We stopped by the school my son is in. Yesterday was his last day for the fall semester. Now we are in Plano, TX. We will have a gathering with a few old friends before we head home. Now I have completed my 2014 workshop teaching, and will have a short break. At this holiday season, I wish everyone of you Merry and Happy.

"Demo at Ada 1" --- Sold

We left Dallas, arrived at Ada Oklahoma yesterday. I want to thank Charlee Lanis and East Central University for putting this workshop together. I really appreciate Loretta Yin for her hospitality and offering her place for us to stay. Thanks to all the artists for attending. This is my first time teaching in a university. ECU has a great art department. This is my first demo.