Demo at Dahlonega GA

 

It has been more than two months since I posted previously on my blog, Facebook, and my painting email. I have received emails from my art friends asking if I am doing OK. I am so sorry I have not been up to the date on the Internet. I have to admit that I have been slowing down since my health issue last fall. Besides that I also have some IT challenges. I am in a transition time of moving out of Mac and going into the PC system. Without adequate know-how in computers, I am having a hard time to manage my online activities. In any event, I sincerely apologize my delay of keeping you posted. I have been busy in art. Since March to now, I have taught 4 in-person workshops, and attended two Plein air competitions. The painting image I posted here was one of my demos at the Dahlonega workshop. BTW, I do maintain active on Instagram because it is much easier to post with a smart phone. If you have missed my posts, I highly recommend you following my on Instagram. My Instagram ID is: qiang.huang. In a nutshell, I am doing fine. I am learning about life every single day, and hope someday I will reach maturity.

Eternal Glory

 

This painting has been done from the same bouquet of flowers for my previous floral work. There has been 9 days in between. I am so amazed that all those flowers did not collapse and die. I am even more amazed that most of them have even held their original shape for those 9 days without opening too big. The reason could be that they stayed in the dark most of the time because my studio is in the garage now. The existence of time is the biggest lie that we have believed.  The truth is that "Now" is eternal.

Life Manifestation

 

My obsession of painting flowers continues. I feel they really manifest the true meaning of Life. Beauty, freedom, egoless, and being at the present moment. They come and they go. They maybe short lived, but they exist forever.

Alive and Blooming

I named this painting: "Alive and Blooming". We are alive. We take this for granted until one day. Most people know it only theoretically, but some know it experientially. All those beautiful roses who modeled for me have passed away. They have demonstrated what "alive" means vividly in a very short period of time. However, we don't feel sad when those roses die, because we think flowers as entire species. Those individual roses have passed, but more will come. Similarly, if we don't emphasize too much our individuality, we will be a part of the eternity. 

Sunflowers for Mary Alice

 

This one is a commissioned work for my friend Mary Alice. There is no cadmium colors in the painting. I am happy my painting momentum has come back. Painting is therapeutic. I feel very fortunate I have something I can concentrate on and over-ride all the other mental chatters. Painting is a cosmos event, the individual who puts colors on a panel is merely a carrier of the universal energy.

Portrait demo in San Angelo

 

I wasn't prepare doing a portrait demo in San Angelo. It was cold and windy, but many demo artists were brave and painting in the cold wind. I decided to take it easy. I stayed indoors and did this portrait. The light was not ideal for a portrait, but it was interesting. I did a monochrome so I was able to concentrate on drawing and value only without worrying I might not have enough time to finish. My hand was rusty, but the result was not bad.

"Monet's Garden in Spring"

Today, I came out of my color research and temporarily to the real world. I did this painting from a ref photo from the Monet's garden. I did not do any color tweaking. So the painting is rather representational.

I know the country is open for business, but I still follow the common sense and stay at home as much as I can. It is so sad that today the death of Covid-19 has reached 100,000. I hope all of you are safe.

"Demo in Charleston 2020 2" --- Sold

Red roses in my 2nd demo painting.

"Demo at Paso Robles 2018 2" --- Sold

I wish I can post my painting more on time, but when life throws a curved ball, we must adapt. I have nothing to complain, just hope life can be a little easier.  This is my second demo in Paso Robles.

"Demo at Ponte Vedra Beach 2018 1" -- Sold

This is another palm tree demo. I did this at Ponte Vedra Beach Florida.

Thanks to so many friends responded to my last post. I understand there are issues we should not openly talk about, but have we noticed those issues are all important issues. Well, let paint more palm trees. because all those trees are supporting each other and forms a beautiful scene, and it helps us to make a beautiful painting.

"Demo at Ft Lauderdale 2018 3" --- Sold

When I was at Ft Lauderdale, it was just after the Parkland high school shooting. It was about 20 mi away from where I teach. I just simply can not understand that the current US government does not do anything on gun control. I thought we live in a civilized country. We have long passed the barbaric time that everybody have to bear arms to protect themselves. It was shocking that the government considers giving teacher guns is a good idea to make school safer. It is so sad to see Washington is not willing to do anything on gun control to protect its own citizens, especially children. The problem is the guns themselves, people can get crazy by zillions of ways. If they can not get the mass destructive weapons, the damage can be a way less. Why common sense is so difficult to grab for our "leaders"?

“Demo at Gainesville GA 2017 1" --- Sold

It has been a while I have not posted any still life paintings. However the fact is that I have taught 3 still life workshops after I came back from Sedona. I am so behind in posting. Well, this one was done on my workshop at Gainesville Georgia in November.

Now I have finished all my planned art activities in 2017. I am long for a break. I will have a relatively quiet holiday season this year. Pardon me, I will put art aside for a few days. This a couple of days, I have been modifying the electric system of my recently acquired camper trailer. I was surprised that I still can use Ohm's law and upgraded my system without spending a fortune.

"Demo at Florence TX 2017 2"

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This is my 2nd demo on my Florence TX workshop. I have enjoyed very much painting the water lily pads.

"Demo at Hinckley 2017 3"

My Hinckley workshop was arranged uniquely. First day still life, second day landscape, and third day portrait. This is my portrait demo. These a few years, I have not concentrated on developing my portrait skills. However, painting human is my true love. I hope someday I can have time working on anatomy systematically. I am confident I can be a good figurative painter, but I much across my own learning curve.

"L'Auberge by the water"

This plein air was done at the same location I did my previous water painting. I felt a little more confident I can paint this kind of landscape now. The painting is 9" x 12". It is another good exercise for me to practice painting rocks, tree and water. To appreciate my hosting family, Larry and Marcia Swearinggen for their hospitality and generosity, I give the painting to them as a gift.

“Head Study 081217"

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Since I am in the portrait mode, I will do more studies to see if I can improve a little. I did this one the day after I did the previous head study, but at different location. I documented what I have done with this two paintings, and figured out what I should present on the portrait day of my forthcoming workshop. I plan to stay with monochrome a while for my head studies.

"Head Study 081117"

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Coming back from Pennsylvania. I had about two weeks at home before my next workshop trip. Since the next workshop I need to demonstrate how I paint portrait, I needed to warm up and prepare a little. I have not painted human face from quite a long time. So I did this study. I used only transparent oxide red and naples yellow light. The monochrome approach allowed me to concentrate on the forms and features of the face. I was kind of happy for the turn out of this painting.

"T-Day in Bologna"

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This one is my studio work based on a photo I took at Bologna Italy. T-days are weekends and holidays for the people in Bologna. They block all the motor vehicles and turn the center of the city into a pedestrian only area. People enjoy T-days with music and wine. This painting was a challenge to me. Italian buildings have so much ornate exterior decorations, and the street were packed with people. I want to just suggest the T-day atmosphere instead of render tightly the details. I have spent about 3 days on this one. I still see quite a few places on the painting I don't feel absolutely satisfied, but I know I must stop. Otherwise the painting will lost its freshness and look too much labored.

"Demo at Fiesole Italy 2017 2"

This is my second demo at Fiesole. Italy has so many this kind of bell towers. They are not that easy to paint. I need think more how to handle it. I hope I can do a better job of painting them.