Wednesday, April 18, 2012

"Old Days Enthusiasm"

Yesterday was an ideal day for me. I spent about 11 hours painting. I rarely have this kind of opportunities. This painting is quite a challenge to me. All the objects I have not painted before, and the forms demand high degree of accuracy and need to be perspectively correct. Oh boy! Painting apples and flowers are much easier. But I really enjoyed the process. I paint it significantly slower than my demos,  did a lot of cleaning, and used knifes for straight edges. I was very tired in the evening, but my day was well spent.

This painting brought my childhood memory back. I was really interested in making radios and electronics when I was in elementary school. from small crystal radio to shortwave, I spent almost all my spare time on all kind of electronics projects. Many times I saved my meal money to buy transistors and other parts. The soldering iron, the diode, and the variable capacitor in this painting are all very special to me.  I got that radio showing in this painting about two years ago from an antique shop in Duncan Oklahoma. It was a home made one. Its previous owner must have the same enthusiasm like I did.

I have a show coming up at the InSight Gallery. This painting will be a part of the show.
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10 comments:

  1. carol morgan carmichaelApril 18, 2012 at 10:37 AM

    Love the painting and the story. You were a young engineer. Wonder if you loved to draw at a young age too?

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  2. Kirk WitmerApril 18, 2012 at 10:55 AM

    Your time was well spent. Love the crispness and all the straight edges. This almost a completely different style for you, much different from your apples and oranges! :)

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  3. Peter BarkerApril 18, 2012 at 10:57 AM

    Brilliant painting Qiang, a perfect mix of accurate drawing, great observation, superbly described detail, but very painterly at the same time. 10/10!

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  4. Valérie PirlotApril 18, 2012 at 1:14 PM

    What a beautiful painting. It shows it is painted with the same care and attention that you would you put into repairing a much loved radio. There are moments to rush and paint with excitement, and there are moments to saviour the process and take time to think about every brushstroke. Thanks for sharing!

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  5. hilda dadaApril 18, 2012 at 8:46 PM

    Thanks for an excellent article! I appreciate your insights and agree with what you wrote. phoenix house painter

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  6. juliefordoliver.blogspot.comApril 18, 2012 at 9:20 PM

    Great painting, Qiang. It is the mark of a master painter when you can switch subject matter and do them all well. I loved your story too.

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  7. Karen WernerApril 19, 2012 at 2:01 AM

    A great post. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself. You are such a masterful painter and humble as well. I look forward to every post.

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  8. JohanApril 19, 2012 at 9:22 AM

    Radios are AWESOME!
    Especially the old ones and the homemade ones :)

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  9. Sara D. BraswellApril 30, 2012 at 10:32 AM

    This piece is one of my favorites!! I can definitely relate to studio time. I am so refreshed and happy when I can spend a long period of time just painting, planning and drawing in my studio!
    Keep up the good work!

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  10. DonnaMay 10, 2012 at 1:50 PM

    I love this one too! And I still think about the old sewing machine masterpiece you did last year! Great work!

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