"Katherine"

Click Here to Bid

I went to portrait painting last night and the model was very beautiful. I enjoy painting people and try to make the composition of portrait painting more interesting. I am also very interested to know if this kind of portrait painting is marketable. So I am going to do a test. I will auction out this painting with very low starting price, and see how it goes.

"Anna"

I have not been posting anything on the blog for a long week. I have not put any paintings for sale on eBay for more than a month. Wow! what is going on? I even have zero activities in these two most fundamental fields of a daily painter. I have been painting less and less now. I must do many "more important" things. I hear the saying: when something goes up, it must come down. I hope it does not apply to my art. But I feel I am gradually losing the battle. Because I paint, so I have no time to paint. This is so ironic, but it is true. I think that is the teaching of Taoism: the value of non-action.

Well, let us forget about all of those philosophical junk, and come back to art. I did this portrait last night. It is kind of interesting.

"Demo at Jacksonville 2" --- Sold

This is my second demo at the workshop. I have never done a watermelon before, and sunflower is relatively new to me as well. But they all just shapes and colors to me. The painting has turned out all right. It looks that the watermelon and the sunflower go together nicely.

"Demo at Wilmington 2" --- Sold

This is my second demo at my Wilmington workshop. I am sorry the photo is a little blurred. My study of leaves starts to pay off. This one did show more mystery and drama.

After several days at the North Carolina beach, I am back to my lab this morning working as an engineer again. You know what, toggling between art and science feels like traveling on a Time Machine. I belong to two completely different worlds, in which people are expecting utterly different things from me...... Oh. I’d better to do my photonic measurement now. My boss will call me for the result very soon. He did not know I have snuck out for a while and taught a workshop. If you know him, please keep the secret, will you?

"Demo at Wilmington 1" --- Sold

I am at the Wilmington airport waiting my flight back to Austin. The workshop was very successful. I want to thank Sandy and Denise for organizing this workshop. Thank you all my new artist friends for attending. This is my first demo, very typical representation of my still life painting. I really enjoyed Wilmington, beautiful beaches, Good weather, quiet and cozy. The airport is small and convenient. I have no problem in travel and parking. People are very nice and friendly. The only issue is that I am always in a rush. I wish I had more time to relax on the beach.

"Demo at Newport 1"

Except issues with a pair of broken glasses, an expired driver’s license, and a few of Internet problems, I came back to Austin with a very success trip in New England. This painting is my first demo at my Newport workshop. I really want to thank Mrs. Judy Chaves for her wonderful job of organizing this workshop. I really enjoyed meeting a group of wonderful New England painters. I am sorry for posting painting on this workshop so late. I forgot to photograph them in time. If you have bought my demo paintings at this workshop, would you please take pictures of them and send the images to me so I can share them in this blog? Thanks.

"New England Forest"

After we met Richard and Nancy, my family arrived at Boston. We stayed with my friend there. They just moved into a new house, but there was no Internet yet. So I was out of touch for several days. I did this quick sketch at their backyard. You may see Richard’s influence on me right away. The painting needs more enrichment at the center of focus. I will get there after some practice. This style of painting is not what I used to do, but I feel comfortable with it. I feel confident I will get there soon.

"In and Out" --- Slod

I spent two mornings on this gallery painting. From the OPA show, I brought back some medium samples from Gamblin. I did an experiment on this painting. Instead of linseed oil, I used “Galkyd Lite” to coat my canvas before I paint. It felt OK, but the painting turned to a very “matted” look on the second day. I don’t quite like it, and I had really a hard time to photograph the painting. If you use Gamblin medium, would you please let me know how and why you use them. Thanks.

In my previous post, I asked questions about Facebook. I got many feedbacks. Most People who answered me considered Facebook is waist of time, and blogs are much better tools for artists. Thanks for your feedbacks. I will not spend much time to explore Facebook any more.

"Palo Alto Figure" --- Sold

The conference is over, but I am still in California. Today I went Palo Alto Art Center with two of my artist friends in the bay area. I did this oil sketch. I have not painted figures for a loooong time. It was a good experiment. If you like to have it. Please let me know. The price is $200 + $10 shipping.

"A Small Museum"

This is another plein air painting in the PAA member show. I was studying Richard Schmid at the time. I admire Richard's style a lot.

Well, I have not painted any still-lifes for quite a few days. After the New Year, my daily-painting exercise has shown a trend of slowing down. I think it is normal. I admit that I pushed it a little too hard on my art practice last year, because I wanted to know how far I could go in a year as an armature artist. I felt good about what I have done, but I also owed a debt to my family and my health. For this year (if we are talking about my new year resolution), I want to learn more to be a "human being" instead of a "human doing", and make my art into my life more harmoniously. I will emphasize on improving the quality of my paintings, and bring better work for your evaluation in the near future.

"Hill Country Cottage"

Welcome 2008! A new year starts. I wish all of you all the best for this year. Well, I haven't resumed painting yet. This one I did a while ago, and it will be in the Plein Air Austin (PAA) Member Show at the Corridor of Arts, Chase Bank Building, Lower Level, 700 Lavaca in downtown Austin, TX from January 7, to February 29. If you are in the Austin area, please check it out. I don't consider myself a landscape painter, but I really enjoy plein air painting with a group of artist friends. Plein Air Austin is a wonderful organization and I am really happy to be a part of it.

"In and out of shadow"

This is another painting I did at the workshop. I was experimenting different compositional ideas. All the objects participated to create an environment that formed an interesting light distribution. I am planning to submit this one to one of the gallery shows, but if you are interested in purchase it, please let me know.