"AAU Figure Painting Final Project (Day 5)"

Today is my last day at AAU. The summer semester is over. I have learned a lot from Zhaoming in this short seven and half weeks. I really enjoyed this short semester. I made quite a few new friends. I start to miss them already. Now my dream have come true. You will will see more of my figure and portrait work in the future. My today's image is my final project after 5 days of hard work. I don't know if I call it finished, but it is a major milestone on my art journey. Now I can include figure painting in my portfolio. I  have enjoyed San Francisco very much I wish I had more time blogging what I experienced and saw in this beautiful city. I will be back to Texas this Friday. I can't wait to see Song and Jonathan. Thank you for monitoring my art learning process, and I will keep you posted for my future activities.

"AAU Figure Painting 5 (Day 4)"

It was Day 4 on this painting. I did the hand pretty much from my imagination, and spent sometime on the background and the drapery. I don't think I will do the face so to keep the painting semi abstract. I have exhausted what I can do on this painting. I will see what Zhaoming wants me to do on Day  5.

"AAU Figure Painting Final Project (Day 3)"

I never thought that painting a large painting takes so much time and energy. I am still moving but very tired. I want to apologize to many people who expecting my emails dealing with future workshop arrangement and other art business issues. Please give me some time and I will write to you. I want to thank all the friend commented on my recent figure work.

This image is my final project on day 3. I have learned a hard lesson. It is very hard to add a head after you have painted the body first. I have to re-do the face a least three time trying to match the body. I have measured the face with very very very high precision. If you draw or paint figures, you may have the experience that if you do the head first and body second, very often you will find that the location of the feet vary in a very large range. If you are not careful, the feet can go off the page very easily. On the other hand if you painted body first, you will see that a tiny movement on the eyes or nose will cause figure going out of proportion. Anyway, the painting is progressing ok so far. I will try my best to finish it this weekend.

"AAU Figure Painting 5 (Day 3)"

This is my 3rd day on this figure painting from life. I did more colors and details, but I don't see much of progress. I have two more days to go on this project. To be honest with you, I don't feel very enthusiastic about the model. I wish I were Lucian Freud. But I am not. I still try to find beauty and share it with you. Well this one is really a challenge to me. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

"AAU Figure Painting Final Project (Day 1)"

Time flies! One and half week from now, I will end my AAU journey for this summer. For the Figure class, I need to do my final project. This is again 30" x 40". The painting is from a reference photo. I started yesterday and worked whole day. This is what I got so far. I have spent most my time in the drawing stage to get the proportion, placement, and composition. Then I worked on the value with a monochromatic approach. Now the painting is just entered the third stage, which is color design. I got the shadow on the torso cooler and reflection on the leg warmer. The painting still has a monochromatic feel, but I am going work more today to show some color.

"AAU Figure Painting 5 (Day 2)"

The second day on this major painting project, I started modeling the figure. I tried my best not to get trapped in details so I have the freedom in adjusting my drawing. I have spent most my time dealing with the foreshortening of the legs. I made a large amount of adjustment in value to show the depth. Compared with my other second day paintings, I felt good about the progress. I think I am on the right track and looking forward to the Day 3.

"AAU Figure Painting 5 (Day 1)"

I am back to SF this morning around 1:00 AM. After a short sleep I went to my figure class. I started a new painting. This one is 30" x 40". It is the largest painting I have ever done. We will spend 5 days on it. I am deadly tired now. I really need to capture some more sleep. Bye now.