“Guilin Color Study"

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This is a color study to explore the potential of monochromatic oil painting. I used a ref photo I took at Guilin three years ago. You have seen I tested monochrome scheme when I painted a few Xidi doorways. With that project I developed my warm palette. Now this one is my test of a cool palette. I used only three colors: black, white, and Prussian blue.

Monochrome is an abstract color scheme, because reality is always in color. However, monochrome images can have its own aesthetics. I think my today's palette will be suitable to water related landscapes.

"Wuzhen Canal 2"

Came back from New England, I have only about ten days at home before I travel again for my next teaching trip. How to use my broken time to do some significant painting is always a challenge. You might have remembered this painting. I started in May, but didn't have enough time to finish it. Fortunately I paint this one from a ref photo I took from Wuzhen (a water village near Shanghai, China.) So I can continue painting it when I get time. I spent about 3 more days adjusting the color harmony and adding details. I tried to apply some of the knife technique I developed when I painted my Xidi series, but it did not work well enough. Anyway, that is what I got today.

"Cedar Park Water Garden"

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Today I went with a group Austin artists to Cedar Park Water Garden. I did this plein air sketch. It was a overwhelmingly busy places, full of miniature ponds, fountains, flower pots, and other decorative stuff. I really don't know what to paint. So I found a shaded spot, observing the direction of the sun moves to estimate the light stability. Then I saw the scene. So if you feel hard to decide where and what to paint in a plein air situation, first make yourself comfortable. Secondly, you observe from your location.

Am I too abstract? If you feel I am going too far, please warn me.

“Demo at Landgrove 2015 4" --- Sold

The last day of the workshop I painted something new - the egg shells. They are not that hard than I thought. I am glad my painting ability has extended slightly.

Reminder - Chesapeake Maryland Workshop

I am so happy that I will go back to the Washington DC area.  On November 12 - 15, I will teach a 4 day still life painting workshop at the Chesapeake Fine Art Studio near Stevensville Maryland. Please check the workshop description.

Many years experiences in optical engineering and still life painting make me confident to say that this studio has the ideal lighting condition for painters. The huge north facing window brings massive amount of stable and cool natural light indoors. The natural north light has the highest color rendering index to surpass any artificial lights. No wonder so many master level artists come to Chesapeake Studio to teach, such as Scott Christensen, Kevin Macpherson, and Scott Burdick to name a few. I am so excited to go to this wonderful place also to share my techniques.

If you are interested in learning under the ideal lighting condition, the opportunity is rare, but at this moment, we do have a few openings. Please sign up by visiting Chesapeake Fine Art Studio website or contact the workshop organizer Hai-Ou Hou. The time is limited. Please decide quickly. Thanks.

"Demo at Landgrove 2015 3" --- Sold

This is my flower demo for the workshop. I really enjoyed the color stage when I painted this one. The vase at back I used almost pure ultramarine. The apple in the back I painted really abstractly. The roses, what should I say. If you manage the light shadow relationship, they will be beautiful.

“Demo at Landgrove 2015 2" --- Sold

I used this demo to show how I paint metals. The most enjoyable part was painting the handle of brass pot.

"Demo at Landgrove 2015 1"

I have arrived at Landgrove VT, and saw my first snow of the year. This is a very small town in the rural Vermont, but the Landgrove Inn conducts quite many art workshops. This is my second time teaching here. I want to thank Thomas Checcia for organizing and thank all the artists for attending. This morning I was jogging and found an apple tree full of small apples, I thought about the demo I would do. So I collected some of the fruits, and now they are showing here.

"Demo at Wethersfield 2015 3" --- Sold

The third demo involves flowers. The workshop went very well. Everybody was happy. Tomorrow I am on my way to Vermont. Another workshop starts in a couple of days.

"Demo at Wethersfield 2015 2" --- Sold

During this workshop I stay with my friend Victoria and Doug. They have a few apple trees bringing them ton of fruit. So I used two of the apples for my demo.

"Demo at Wethersfield 2015 1" --- Sold

At this beautiful fall foliage time, I have arrived at Wethersfield CT. I want to thank Wethersfield Academy of Art for organizing and thank all the New England artists for coming and painting with me. This is my first demo. Those pumpkins really makes the color of the season.

"Xidi Village 1"

This is another large painting I did based on a reference photo I took at the Xidi village. I have extended my paintings from doorways to buildings, and from monochrome to color. I am really concerned that the painting will get muddy easily when I shift from mono to color. I have paid serious attention to the color harmony. Also I have realized that I may not want to paint this kind of archaic painting too large. I don't know exactly why. Some how I feel the history is too heavy on me. I feel pressured when I look at the aging texture of the ancient structures. I might have run into something in my previous life. Who knows.

I want to pause my Xidi series now. A new phase of my art starts soon. I will travel again and keep busy.

“Xidi Doorway 4"

This is my fourth Xidi doorway painting. The difference between this one and the previous ones is the size. This one is a 18" x 24", while my first one was a 6" x 8". I hope you don't see too much difference from the photo images. It is easier to show painterly effect with small paintings. That is why I did this exercise. I want to make sure I can maintain the painterly look with my large paintings.  I want to practice this style a little more to stabilize the approach. So I don't need too much warmup time in the future if I want to painting this kind of monochromatic works.

The Xidi Village

You have seen three of my Xidi paintings, but what is this place called "Xidi". Xidi means "west post" in Chinese. It is a very old village in Anhui province. It was listed as one of the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 2000. Most of the houses were build in Ming and Qing dynasties, about two to four hundred years old. Following are a few of photos I took there. Our painting group stayed at Xidi for three nights. I felt I was back to the history. The last photo was our group photo there. I would love to go back to this place again in the future.

"Xidi Doorway 3" --- Sold

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Continuing on my Xidi doorway series, I did this one. The painting is slightly large (9" x 12"). I would not to say this monochromatic, because I did start to consider color now. I don't know how far I can go with this approach, but I really enjoyed what I am doing. The Chinese character above the doorway means good fortune. I hope this relatively new style of painting can expand my ability in art and eventually can bring me good fortune as well.

"Xidi Doorway 2" --- Sold

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Following the momentum of my monochromatic practice, I did another doorway painting. The simplification of the color portion of the painting allows me to concentrate on the texture manipulation. Aesthetically, the monochromatic harmony and the roughness of the texture gives the artwork a sense of time transition, a feeling of old age. Beauty seems closely related to old and imperfectness. That is why we collect antiques, and visit old places. I don't know why, but this is my intuitive thinking. If you have a more philosophical explanation, please educate me. I am very curious about this topic.

"Xidi Doorway 1" --- Sold

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Due to the jet lag, I got up really early. I started painting this one at 5:00 AM. This is a good exercise of monochromatic painting. This approach is suitable of presenting old architectural structures. During our China painting trip, we spent quite a few days in an old village called Xidi. Most of the buildings there are more than two hundred years old. This place is the paradise for me. I have seen so many paintings I want to paint. I was so excited the first night I couldn't sleep. I am sure I will go back to this beautiful place and paint more plein air. Now I am painting from the photos I took. For this painting I used only three colors: black, white, and transparent oxide red. It is almost done completely with palette knifes.

"Lotus Garden at West Lake" --- Sold

I have come back to the States last night. When I was in China, the internet assessment was not great so I wasn't up to date what I was doing. But it was a superb trip. I did 8 paintings and took a ton of photos. After I process my photos I will share some of the high lights with you.

I did this painting as a plein air demo at Hangzhou by the Xi-hu (West lake). It was a beautiful garden. It was quiet place and the weather was ideal. As a matter of fact, it was my first time of painting lotus. It was a wonderful experience for me. Quite a few artists in our group painted along with me. They did wonderful job as well.

Demo at Xidi 1 --- Sold

I painted this window as the demo for my group. We have wonderful time. I saw so much, but I am too exhausted to writing any more. I am going to bed. zzzzzz.

The Yellow Mountain

We are on the Yellow Mountain. One picture worth more than ten thousand words.

Demo at Summer Palace

This is my demo at Summer Palace. It was a wonderful day. We painted at this lovely garden. It was very crowded. So many people surrounded us. I think we have inspired many local people and tourists. You never know. Maybe because this plein air event, some people will become future artists. That is my mission. I hope we will enjoy the beautiful world more this way.

We have ten artist in our "Painting in China" group. We have had great days in Beijing. Now we are in Xi-an, and will go to Huang-shan (the Yellow Mountain) this afternoon.

Beihai Park

I did this painting from a photo I took at the Beihai Park in Beijing. I gradually gained more momentum in painting. I started to see the grey colors in Beijing. There are more than 50 shades.

Yellow Rose Study 090315

I use this small floral painting as my warmup here in Beijing. I copied a part from one of Richard Schmid's paintings. I must admit that it was a struggle. I felt so many forces around me trying to stop me from painting. All of those forces are strong, full of charge and seem reasonable and legitimate. I felt I am fighting against my fate. This painting was not one of my best shots, but it is more significant because it is a proof that I am still moving forward. In front of my fate, I may lose eventually, but I will try all my might to go as far as I can. 

Beijing in the rain

I arrived at Beijing in the rain. This morning I walked on the street, everything is crispy clean. This erases my concern about the air quality in this giant city. I hope it can keep this way during our painting trip. My mother is doing greatly. She is in good health and practicing her recently accepted Catholic faith, which gives her peace in mind. I have pulled out my colors and set up my easel in my tiny bedroom. I will start painting very soon. I have adapted this super unstable life style. Time, locations, culture, and languages are so illusive. I feel I am living in a big dream. I must admit that this year is a more difficult in my art career. Being an artist, it needs not only talent, inspiration, and creativity, but also courage, patience, and tenacity. The latter is a way more important.

"My China trip starts"

I am leaving for China this afternoon. I will stay with my mother in Beijing for about 10 days. Then my China painting trip 2015 will start. I am looking forward to meeting my team and have a wonderful two weeks together, painting and sightseeing. Life is so dramatic.

I took this photo about two years ago with my 2013 team in Guilin. It seems like just yesterday. We had so much fun. I can' wait to see the beautiful places planned for this year. For all the friends who are following me on the Internet. I will keep you posted and share our trip with you.

"Demo at Huntsville 2015 2" --- Sold

The floral demo went well. I was happy that all workshop artists have benefited from those three days. Now the workshop is over, and I spent an additional day visit more of my old friends here. My art journey goes on. I hope I will like my students, practice and progress.

“Demo at Huntsville 2015 1" --- Sold

I am so happy coming back to Huntsville Alabama. I have spent 7 years here about 20 years ago. I left Huntsville as a rocket scientist. Now I am back as an artist. The city is the same and also changed greatly. I want to thank Huntsville Museum of Art for organizing this workshop, and thank all the artists coming from all over for painting with me. This is my first demonstration.

"Demo at Bolivar 2015 2" --- Sold

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My second demo at Bolivar was a plein air one. I used this painting to show how I manage the perspectives. The painting shows the quietness of a small town. However in real life, this intersection was quite busy. Big semi-trucks make wide turns right in front of my easel. They seem coming right at me. I really don't understand why these big monsters are called "semi".

BTW both of my demos at Bolivar are still available.

"Demo at Bolivar 2015 1" --- Sold

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I am now at a small town in Tennessee call Boliver. I want to thank Deborah Turner Brasfield for organizing my workshop  here, and thanks to artists from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Georgia for coming and painting with me. This workshop is a landscape one. I did this demo from a photo I took last year from Jeckyll Island, GA.

"Yellow Rose Study 081215" --- Sold

I did this rose study from life, but also referenced to one of the paintings that Richard Schmid did. The rose part is easy, but the whole abstract composition I am still having problems. Perhaps you have seen quite a few my rose paintings, do you feel that the compositions I used are rather similar and they are not rich enough? I admire Richard Schmid for many years, especially for his designs

I was asking my readers in my previous post. Do you prefer low key or high key paintings. By checking my Instagram, I got almost twice as many "likes" in comparison with my earlier low key painting. The result is obvious: Most people like high key. However, I am relatively weak in doing high key paintings. So more effort and time are needed.