"White Rose" --- Sold

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I don't remember I painted white roses before, but with this one, I was working on painting the colors of "white", I did similar study on white cups and drapery before, but I feel I am still not there yet. I really admire those master painters who can put many colors on a white object, but still be remarkably convincing the object is white. If you have experiences of doing that, would you mind share your two cents?

"Small Beauties" --- Sold

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In front of my house, we have many kinds of bushes I don't know their names. At this moment, very colorful flowers are blooming. My wife got a bunch and I put it on my still life stand. I didn't do any adjustment (it was rare), and painted it as the way it was. Everything went smoothly. I started the painting around 6:30 PM. When I finish, it still had daylight. I had been a good day.

"Indian Blanket" --- Sold

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Having not paint small for a while, when I faced this 5"x6" canvas, It seemed so tiny. It took me quite a moment to reset my memory. I had a pretty busy setup as well, so I had to make a few decisions on what and how I should paint. Now in Texas, the bluebonnet season is over, replacing it, we see vibrant red, yellow, and purple out of many kinds of wild flowers. Indian blanket is one of them. I really like its down-to-earth property. It is humble and strong.

"Texas Bloom" --- Sold

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The blue bonnets in my yard are blooming now. I took a photo from the above and it shows an amazing symmetry. So here is my painting. Does it convince you it is a blue bonnet? If you do not have the blue bonnets at your part of world, I hope this painting can give you a feeling of how beautiful Texas is.

"On an Old Book" ---Sold

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The book is very old. The apple is very new. The book was used to be as new as the apple. The apple will be as old as the book very soon. Wow! that is some deep stuff.

"Red Rose 4" --- Sold

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With a similar treatment, I did another red rose. I must admit that roses are mysterious. It is a not a complicated flower, but it demonstrates emotions so passionately. Its elegance and freshness can only be presented subconsciously. It is no wonder that red roses symbolize the highest level of human emotion - Love.

"Red Rose 3" --- Sold

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I did a couple of red rose paintings not long ago. I was using light background that time. I thought the rose was so dark. Using dark background might not work. Well somehow I still like dark background more. I think it enhances the light and color better. Today I got more red roses. I painted this one with dark background, and it turned out good I think. For now on, I will not shy away from red roses any more.

"Colors of White 2" --- Sold

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I have received many comments and emails after I posted my plein air painting. Many friends shared their plein air stories with me. I really enjoyed reading them. Now my regular working week started and I lost my daylight again. So I come back to my still life studies. Similar to my previous still life painting, I try to use colors to present white. My colors scheme is purple for the shadow and blue for the light. I am sure there are other good color schemes for painting white object. If you have a good one, would you mind sharing with me?

"Colorful White" --- Sold

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This is the same cup I painted last time, but there are quite a few drastic changes. I didn't use any high chroma colors. Subtlety of the colors is the goal for this one. Using the variation of the color temperature, I make subtle value changes. Following is my color mixing for this painting:

Shadow color: Ultramarine Blue + Burnt Sienna + Alizarin Chrimson + White;

Light color: Ultramarine Blue + White + Shadow color.

I really like this one. I am glad I can make a painting work without using cadmium colors.

"On the Edge"

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We have this kind of odd shaped tomatoes growing in our yard. I balanced one of them on the edge of my still life stand to create the shadow shape I like. I am glad I am back to my classic style before I got lost in the "contemporary" la-la land. So I am a good boy today, but I can't guarantee you that I won't go crazy again. I like that odd shaped tomato balancing on the edge.

At this moment, I want to say "Thank you" to all of you, for your support. You make me very happy for this a couple of years. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

"Ajijic Impression" --- Sold

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I don't know this painting is good or bad, but it is definitely new to me. It is a pure knife painting and I have crossed the representational border. Doing abstracts is not my favorite, but it is kind of fun coming out of my comfort zone once a while. It is a good study on paint work and effects. Ajijic is the Mexican town I did workshop several months ago. It is really beautiful.

I got "tagged" lately by a marvelous artist and writer Jala Pfaff. Her work is very expressive and showing solid academic skills. according to the "rules", I must reveal some info about myself. Here they are:

1. I have a very good sense of directions. I can always find my destinations even crossing the glob if needed.

2. I cannot deal with numbers in English. So I often make mistakes when I communicate if numbers are involved. I was buying a piece of art once from a gallery online. I gave them the wrong zip code, the wrong phone number, and the wrong credit card number.

3. I did studied subatomic physics in college, but I don’t know anything about the string theory.

4. I got my first ticket before I got my driver’s license.

5. I belief the world will be destroyed by computers rather than nukes.

Now here is the artist I would like to tag:

FengWei Liu

"First Orchid" --- Sold

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This is my first try of painting orchid. I had some hard time with it. My palette did not provide the colors I need. I could not mix the purple I want. If you have the experience with orchid painting, please help me out.

"Halloween Is Coming" --- Sold

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Halloween is coming and I have a real ghost story to tell. You know I was in Mississippi about two weeks ago teaching a workshop. I stayed alone in a small cottage next to an old cemetery. The owner of the cottage has many antiques displaying in the room for decoration. I went to bed around 11:00 PM. I turned off the light…..and it was getting quiet. Well, I started to hear a faint noise. To be precise in the engineering terms, it was a low frequency, periodic buzzing noise –zzz---. Some one was breathing…. I jumped out of the bed and turned on the light. The noise was disappeared. I checked the refrigerator and bathroom, but nothing was looking suspicious. Maybe an animal was in or around the house. Maybe it was simply my imagination. I turned off the light and tried to sleep again. Well, the noise came back. It was REAL I swear. I felt a little scared, but I didn’t know what I could do. I thought about the tombs several yards from me and the spirits under the stones. The house must be HAUNTED…. I started talking to the “ghost”. I chose English for the obvious reason…. Of course, I hardly had any sleep that night. Next morning, I searched the house and inspected the antiques items as careful as I can. You know what, I found the “ghost”. Do you want to know what it was? It was an old electric clock. It has a motor constantly moving (not ticking). It makes a very faint noise just like someone was breathing…. I slept like a log ever after. The end.

"Mutual Support" --- Sold

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The shadow of the stem shows today's stock market. Red is THE color. I thought someday I could be a full time artist. Well, it looks like that I have to postpone my plan for a couple of more years. I guess we just have to hang in there, take the challenges. But, I believe there will be a rainbow after the storm.

"Green on Red" --- Sold

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I have violated the cardinal rule of composition by placing my painting object exactly at the center of the canvas, but I think the painting will still work because of asymmetrical background and light distribution. I hope you can enjoy the drama of the light with this supper simple setup.

"Schmid's Tomato" --- Sold

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This painting is my imitation of one of Richard Schmid's paintings. I believe studying the great master's work is one of the best ways of learning. With this painting I am practicing how to paint leaves. I really like Richard's colors and edges.

"Three Plums" --- Sold

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I usually do not use dark objects as the center of focus, but the texture of these plums really enticed me. The smoothness of the surface, the coolness of the highlight, the richness of the translucent colors are parts of the characteristics. I hope the painting not only reveals the visual effects, but also let you feel the softness and taste the sweetness of these common but magnificent plums.

"Facing the Sun" --- Sold

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I am back, finally. I tried to pick up my brush for a whole week, but I had no chance. Thank God today is the weekend. Now sunflowers are blooming, I see them every morning when I jog. The sunflower is strong. I am inspired by its vitality.

"Vibrant" --- Sold

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After my previous post, I have received many emails and comments from you. I am really really touched when I read your messages. Many of you shared similar experiences, and providing helpful tips and information of remedies. Thank you all very very much. I have started stretching and other exercises. At this moment, the pain is still with me, but I feel it is much more bearable now.

Positively speaking, this painful experience did open up new avenues for art. I painted this painting 100% left-handed. I highly recommend that you give a try as well if you want to loose up. My clumsy left hand brought me some good surprises.

"Beauty of Life" --- Sold

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The sale of this painting will be donated to the China Earthquake Victims. If you want to help please donate too.

Recently, I have almost no time to paint. I finally found some time and started to paint this one last night at 9:15 PM. I wish I can be less busy and have reasonable amount of time to enjoy this precious life, but ...