Gossiping Ladies - 30/30 Challenge 2016

Gossiping Ladies, Watercolor on Arches #140 Cold Press Paper, 6"h x 9"w, 2016 #1

Bid in My DPW Auction (Starting Bid $95)

I can hardly believe that I have not posted on the blog since the last 30/30 challenge! I have actually been painting (mostly in oil) and having some exciting news to share, including getting included in the Splash and Stroke of Genius books of North Light Publishing, and winning the budding artist category in the Art Muse Contest, as well as being selected as judge's pick this month on Daily Paintworks! I am super excited about every one of these opportunities...

I have plans to paint more smaller oil paintings outside the atelier this year as practice, and try more diverse subjects as well as painting some larger compositions in my watercolor paintings. So for this September's challenge I would try to just do that. Here's the first piece -- an animal subject I have tried to tackle for a while but always felt inadequate at the moment. But the longer I waited, the more I felt that waiting along and think "one day when my skill has reached the level to tackle this subject" is never going to get me there. One can only learn how to tackle an unfamiliar and daunting subject by working on them again and again! So here we go -- these two colorful parakeets (love birds as they are commonly referred to in their native tropical Indonesia) whose body languages and facial expressions just crackle me up every time I look at them.   

Some New Directions -- Divergence from Florals!

Low Tide - Plein Air at Muir Beach, 

Watercolor on Richeson Zoltan Szabo #140 Cold Press Paper, 7"h x 11"w, WIP 1

I've taken a sabbatical from my floral watercolors lately to explore other directions, and I thought maybe I should be sharing some of them with you here. I was a bit hesitant since I have no idea how they would turn out -- it's both scary and exhilarating to explore new territories! Oh well, you, my blog friends have been very kind and supportive to me throughout, so maybe my worries are unfounded! Here they are:

The first one is another little plein air watercolor I did recently at Muir Beach. It's painted on Richeson Zoltan Szabo #140 Cold Press paper and the size is 7"h x 11"w. The sky was over cast that day, therefore all the colors are more saturated without being bleached by the all powerful sun, and I really wanted to accentuate this in my painting. I liked the result in the field and thought it was finished. However, after going back home and giving it a second look, I noticed that the center of interest - the dark rock - is almost smacked dead in the center of the painting -- a compositional NO-NO. I also think the dark shapes of the wet sand can be improved a little more as well... So, back to the drawing board it goes! I will post the modified version in a couple of days...

In Between, Watercolor on Lanaquarelle #140 Cold Press Paper, 15"h x 11"w, WIP 1

The second project is a found still life. Now, if you have followed my blog for a while, you probably have noticed that my florals are often very high in chroma, and seeing flowers in sunlight often make me feel inspired to work, but light is the first painter that reveals beauty in a lot of commonplace objects, even neglected corners. I found this dried leaflet and branch perched in between pebbles on the roadside while taking a walk in the neighbourhood a couple of years back -- and when the sunlight was cast upon it, the pattern of light and shadow is absolutely beautiful. When I pulled the photo out of a dusted drawer during spring cleaning (yes, even I occasionally do this!...) it inspired me to try a subject that is unfamiliar to me. The reference image is low in color saturation so it will be interesting to try different approaches -- increase the chroma or emphasize the value difference in low saturation -- and see which one I like best! (I am even thinking of starting a new series of still life paintings with the theme "Everyday Beauty". If you have reference photos of objects that often do not catch the eye of most people, but you find very beautiful and inspiring, please share with me by posting it here or email me at arena.shawn@gmail.com!)

The Gossiping Ladies, Watercolor on Arches #140 Cold Press Paper, 6"h x 9"w, WIP 1

The last one of my newest projects is really a step out of my comfort zone and something I've rarely tackled before: animals. This image of two parrots perched on mossy branch in bright tropical sunlight has caught my eyes a while ago and I've finally decided to tackle it after gathering my courage for a while. I love the bright plumage colors of these birds, and their expression really reminded me of some of my relatives gossiping about family matters while resting in the traditional front yard after a day's work -- a scene so common back in the days when the large, extended family still lived together in the countryside, but more and more rare these days with the younger generation moving away into towns and cities and forming their own nuclear family... My main focus of this painting is trying to depict the texture of the fur and feather without painting them one by one, as well as capture the individual personality of these cute little critters! I am a bit nervous about how they would turn out. Please feel free to give some critiques and suggestions!

In the mean time, if you have an image of a beautiful landscape, or a flower you like, or anything you might want to see painted, please email them to me at arena.shawn@gmail.com. I will paint them and post them here. From every 10 paintings I make from them, there would be a random drawing, and the lucky winner get to take a original back home for free! Interested? Then send me your photo!

You can now buy high quality Giclee prints of many of my sold paintings, both on paper and canvas, as well as some note cards with my paintings here:

Summer Heat, Central Valley -- 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge (Round Two), Day 14

Summer Heat, Central Valley,  

Watercolor on Arches #140 Cold Press Paper , 6"h x 9"w, 2013 #65

Bid at My DPW Auction (Starting Bid $55) 

This piece started quite a while ago as a study of negative painting in a workshop with the wonderful landscape artist and teacher Roland Lee. I saw this scene first when driving down to central valley on one of the little winding roads from Pinnacles National Park (at that time still only a national monument). The heat has totally scorched the land. There is only yellows, orches and browns in my field of vision. Now and then, a single, very skinny cattle or horse would been seen lying under valley oak trees, trying to get as much shade as possible from the what little shadow a lone tree could offer. It must be over 100 degrees even in shadow. Every inch in my line of vision is burnt by heat. Even the wind was choking hot, and when it titillated with the dried up grass it almost sounded like the vegetation were moaning out of pain and thirst. An old wind pump was slowly operating on the roadside, draining what little water it could squeeze out of ground into the huge rusty metal tanks standing beside it. I couldn't help but imaging how hot it would be if I put my hand on the shiny surface of those tanks... I can almost feel the thirst on my lips again when finishing this piece last night, although I was sitting in my cool, damp, comfortable San Francisco home...

I guess this is what I love most about painting -- it allow you to recall and relive the experiences that has once moved you, or forever scarred you. The pleasure and pain that has once changed us are, through the movement of a brush, fixed on a piece of canvas or paper for eternity...

You can now buy high quality Giclee prints of many of my sold paintings, both on paper and canvas, as well as some note cards with my paintings here:

Fisherman's Evening -- 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge (Round Two), Day 13

Fisherman's Evening,

 Watercolor on Arches #140 Cold Press paper, 6"h x 9"w, 2013 #64

Bid at My DPW Auction (Starting Bid $35) 

After a busy day at Filoli, I was happy to be able to still finish this little painting tonight. I used a very limited palette because I was inspired by some Sumi ink paintings and Haiku-like photographs I saw today. When I was painting it I thought about fog gradually rising on empty river surface, a lonely fishing boat anchored near shore, with its fishing-cormorants resting on the long pole at the end of it. The fisherman with a glass or two of hard liquor, resting after a day's hard work... It's a more and more rare scene even in rural China nowadays, the country being so rapidly developed. I know the romance in rural lifestyle is probably exaggerated while the hardship deliberately overlooked with people outside writing or painting about it, but still, born and raised in a mega city, I cannot help but being slightly nostalgia when thinking about such life of the past, which I have never experienced genuinely... :-P Life is full of controversies I guess. 

You can now buy high quality Giclee prints of many of my sold paintings, both on paper and canvas, as well as some note cards with my paintings here:

Awaken -- 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge (Round Two), Day 3, Some Thoughts on Why I Took the Challenge, and Show Updates

Dancing Tulip V, 

Watercolor on Richeson Zoltan Szabo #140 Cold Press paper, 9"h x 6"w, 2013 #54

Bid at My DPW Auction (Starting Bid $ 65) 

Day 3 of the challenge! I am still alive! When taking on this daunting challenge (again!) I was hoping that it could help me wrap up some difficult projects that has been lingering in my studio for way too long. So far it has been good -- I've managed to make paced progress on a few of such projects. In the mean time, I have also realized that the reason these project have been lingering without much progress is that I have been more or less stuck on one point of them or another. In other words, I've been having difficulties doing "finishes".

Finishes are hard... Starts are hard in a different way: that mental pressure of facing a blank piece of paper... But there would be a stage after overcoming the initial fear, that we (as artists) gradually let the piece sink in our mind, feeling really "at one" with it, and this middle stage is comfortable. Often, we (ok, at least I...) let this stage extend too long, subconsciously procrastinating on the difficult work of "finishing it up".

Why? Because finishing means you have to seriously look at the work in progress with critical eyes, and ask yourself: does this piece look like a coherent unit? Is there anything that stands out like a sour thumb? Can I adjust anything to add to it? If I add a stroke here, would it make the whole piece better, or is it just fiddling? You may have to stand back and try to evaluate from ten feet away, to see if the larger value pattern makes sense. You may have to look at it right under your nose, and decide whether any area is too empty therefore in need of a mark, a textural interest, a subtle color change... You may have to go back and fourth several times, until losing fresh sight of the entire process and cannot go on any more... Yet you are still not sure whether it is done finally!

It is mentally tiring. It is a lot of work. But learning how to finish is also a critical lesson of learning to be an artist. And I'm glad that I am now forced to do it every day because of this challenge. 

Maybe this is one of the real reasons why I took on this challenge again... How about you? What attracted you to it, my artist friend?

On a different note... I almost forgot to mention: I have an art fair coming up this weekend! It is organized by Silicon Valley Open Studio and as an artist participating in the open studio events, I was juried into this exhibition at Jennings Pavilion of Holbrook-Palmer Park, located at 150 Watkins Avenue, Atherton, CA. The show runs on Friday September 6, from 5 pm until 8 pm, and on Saturday September 7, from 11 am to 4 pm. Admission is Free! Painters, sculptures, watercolorists, and photographers, along with others will display and sell their latest (and finest) work. I will have two 6'x 4' panels to hang my framed watercolor paintings, as well as a 4' table to display smaller pieces. If you have time, please also join me on Friday evening for a reception and a chance to meet the artists participating in the exhibit and discuss their work. You can enjoy the refreshments and cast your ballot for the "People's Choice Award". When you are there, please do pay a visit both to the main exhibit in the Jennings Pavilion as well as to the Highlight Gallery Exhibit in adjacent Palmer House -- the print of "High Summer Dreams II" will be showing there as a selected piece by the juror, Claire Verbiest. Looking forward to see you at the exhibition, my friends!

You can now buy high quality Giclee prints of many of my sold paintings, both on paper and canvas, as well as some note cards with my paintings here:

Highland Dreams (30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge: Day 13)

Highland Dreams, Watercolor on Arches 140# Cold Press Paper, 6"h x 9"w, 2013 #15

Bid at My DPW Auction (Starting Bid $35)

Second day at school after the holiday break, I have to admit I am absolutely exhausted by the end of an 8-hour day of standing. Getting back to the painting table takes some discipline, but I'm glad that I did it -- pulling a large fluid wash across page has proven to be an effective way of distressing. This is a simple imaginary scene of a quiet mountain lake at sunset. I started it with a simple value sketch, and added all the colors according to the mood I wanted to achieve, responding to what's happening on paper, experimenting with wet-on-dry mark making to suggest vegetation and ground texture, putting emphasis on making interesting shapes since I have no visual reference. It was very different from how I paint normally, and it was a lot of fun...

On a different note -- I am featured today! My friend, Taryn Day, who is an amazing painter as well as a virtual curator who runs the great artist interview blog, "The Art Room", which exposes its reader to many extraordinary painters -- past and present -- with a changing monthly theme, has run a feature of me today in the theme of "painters who blog". Taryn has asked each painter she interviews this month to pick one or two works they like most among all works they have created during the year 2012, and explain why. Taryn also makes a pick herself and explains her reason. It has been fun reading the daily updates of other great painter/bloggers for me and absolutely an honor to be listed among the array of painters who have inspired me and for whom I have great admiration. Thank you Taryn for giving me this opportunity to meet more art friends online!

You can purchase my 2013 wall and desk calendars here:

Fire... And Ice! (A New Finished Painting, and Some Progress in the Tropics Series)

Life has been a bit hectic this week... With somebody denting the front fender of my little car, I am running between insurance, car repair and police station, so the painting time get significantly shortened, much to my dismay. I did manage to finish another little landscape piece -- yes, it is a winter scene. Regarding what inspired it? Well, well, this may be a fictitious quote but I'm sure every tour guide here mentions it -- "The coldest winter I ever had was a summer in San Francisco", legend has it, by the famous author Mark Twain, go figure. :-P

Before the Spring Thaw, 

Watercolor on Arches 140# Cold Press Paper, 6"h x 9"w, 2012 #42

Sold!

(The truth is, I just love painting snow and fog. There a lots of room to play with wet-in-wet to create atmospheric effects in either of those, like the blurred tree line in this little painting...)

I also manage to squeeze out time to attend a one-day workshop with the wonderful artist Jeannie Vodden again, renewing my memory on her signature "multi-colored" glazing method. I promptly tried it out on the progression of my newest bird-of-paradise painting, and loved it! This method gives a little more control than my usual wet-in-wet technique, although it is much slower. Now I just have to figure out how to incorporate both of them into my normal painting procedures to the best final effect... Digesting a newly-learned technique can be confusing at times, especially if you want it to work with your old techniques instead of working against them. But, it's fun! The background is almost finished. I will put in the flowers tomorrow... That is, if I don't get side-tracked by other on-going projects :-P

Jungle Fire,  Watercolor on Arches 140# Cold Press Paper , 8"h x 10"w, WIP 2

Ok, I promise I will be focused...

Work in Progress: High Summer Dreams II & Petal Light III (Creeping Forward...), and News from A Small Work Show

A very busy day outside studio running around to shop for framing materials and replenish paints, unfortunately without a lot of time dedicated to the two bird of paradise paintings... I did manage to squeeze out a few minutes here and there to (almost!) complete the foliage on both of them. "Petal Light III", which is painted on Fabriano, looks so much darker than "High Summer Dreams II" (on Arches) right now, since I did go for that final dark value on shadow shapes of the leaves for this one, while "High Summer Dreams II" still needs a final wet-in-wet application of juicy darks over it underpaintings of leaves. I really can't wait to put in the flowers of complementary bright orange, but next week is the final week of the trimester at the Golden Gate Atelier where I am studying, I don't think I would be able to squeeze out much time during the weekdays to paint... :-(

High Summer Dreams II, Watercolor on Arches 140# Cold Press Paper, 10"h x 14"w, WIP 3

Petal Light III, 

Watercolor on Fabriano Artistico140# Cold Press Press Paper , 10"h x 14"w, WIP 3

I did get some exciting news in the email today to cheer me on -- two of my small paintings, "Hide and Seek" and "Dancing Tulip IV" are juried into Santa Clara Watercolor Society's Small Work Show, "Think Large, Paint Small" to be held at the Norton Gallery of Pacific Art League in July! The opening reception is during the First Friday Art Walk of Palo Alto, I am really excited to attend it and chat with all of the fabulous artists juried into the show... Well, time for more framing...

Hide and Seek,  

Watercolor on Fabriano Artistico 140# Cold Press Paper , 5"h x 7"w, 2012 #17

Sold!

Dancing Tulip IV,  

Watercolor on Jack Richeson Zoltan Szabo 140# Cold Press Paper , 9"h x 6"w, 2012 #18

Buy It from My DPW Gallery ($55)

Morning Fog, Tamalpais (Finished), and Keying Petal Light #1

I worked on several small landscape paintings today, some turned out better than others. My focus was on how to achieve believable effects of a foggy day. This often means a lot of wet-in-wet painting to create soft edges, adding more blues to the far-away objects such as background mountains, and neutralize color rapidly from foreground back. Some lifting with a damp brush and tissue paper near the base of trees may be needed, as well as adding water to created a graded wash when painting a group of trees from top down -- as their base are often covered by ground fog and appear lighter and more indistinct. I did all of the above in "Morning Fog, Tamalpais", and introduced my warm colors (Burnt and Raw Sienna) only in the foreground shrubs to make they appear forward.

Morning Fog, Tamalpais,  

Watercolor on Arches 140# Cold Press Paper , 6"h x 9"w, 2012 #29

Sold!

I sent out some packages of sold paintings during the week. One of them was a gift to someone living in the American River Delta so I included a little sktech I did the other day on a watercolor postcard by Richeson & Co. It was a scene right before the summer rain rolling onto the far horizon of the delta. The time constraints imposed by paper drying rapidly outdoors determined that a sketch like this cannot take more than a couple of minutes to finish, which I think is a great exercise for me -- since I am such a slow painter. I should definitely do this more often!...

Before the Summer Rain - Sketch of Delta,  

Watercolor on Richeson 140# Cold Press Postcard, 4"h x 6"w, 2012 #30

To switch gear a little I worked on "Petal Light #1" in between wet washes of the foggy landscapes. To gauge how much more work needs to be done to the leaves, I put down the local colors of the bird of paradise flower, carefully saving my whites on the lightest of lights by wiping away any astray colors in these areas with a damp brush. Then around the flowers I put down some of my darkest passages of leaves to see if the flower pops out enough. Putting down the darkest darks -- even just in small areas and lightest of lights (other than the whites you are saving) is very important in developing a sound value pattern of a painting. I often do this in small, isolated areas when I am developing a painting mid way, and get confused of how much darker everything has to go. I think I have a better idea now -- the bigger leaves on the top half of the painting has to go way dark, but maybe one or two value lighter than the leaves next to the center flower on a nine-step value scale. Now the challenge is to achieve that without losing luminosity and create a "black-hole" in the top half of the image. Some wet-in-wet glazing time...

Petal Light #1, Watercolor on Arches 140# Cold Press Paper, 10"h x 8"w, WIP 5

Work in Progress: Morning Fog, Tamalpais

More landscape paintings... I have to admit that they are extremely addictive once you get into the "zone"... This one is about the fog over Mount Tamalpais again. I am experimenting with painting with thicker and thicker pigments from background forward on saturated wet paper -- as the paper dries gradually during the painting process, the pigment would diffuse less and less and therefore give more definite forms to objects in the foreground. I've intentionally left some white passages unpainted to hint the veil of the fog around the hills, and trying to keep the far-away mountains cooler in color to be consistent with aerial perspective. It is challenging to paint the conifer in consistent but non-repetitive shapes to maintain interest in the foreground area, and I was trying hard to just use one or two strokes of a flat bristle brush on its edge to hint a tree... The foggy mornings in the redwood forest of California are truly beautiful and other-worldly. I just wish I have enough skills to do them justice on paper...

Morning Fog, Tamalpais,  

Watercolor on Arches 140# Cold Press Paper , 6"h x 9"w, WIP 1

Dancing Tulip IV (Finished)

Sometimes a painting just seems to paint itself -- I am shamelessly in love with this one, and all the stress-free feeling I have experienced painting it...

Dancing Tulip IV,  

Watercolor on Jack Richeson Zoltan Szabo 140# Cold Press Paper , 9"h x 6"w, 2012 #18

Buy It from My DPW Gallery ($55)

Work in Progress: Dancing Tulip IV (Continued), & Finishing Work on Hide and Seek

A little more work on what I started yesterday, "Dancing Tulip IV":

Dancing Tulip IV,  

Watercolor on Jack Richeson Zoltan Szabo 140# Cold Press Paper , 9"h x 6"w, WIP 2

I also revisited some older pieces that are still not finished, and decided to experiment with richer reds and oranges on "Hide and Seek":

Hide and Seek,  Watercolor on Fabriano Artistico 140# Cold Press Paper , 5"h x 7"w, WIP 9

Work in Progress: Dancing Tulip IV

It's been warm and sunny for a few days in San Francisco, and I'm totally caught up in the beautiful mood of spring... So, here's the start of another pink tulip painting, which I am experimenting on Jack Richeson Zoltan Szabo #140 Cold Press watercolor paper. So far, I am totally in love with this paper -- it's pristine white, does not lift easily when glazing, but can lift easy enough when being scrubbed with a synthetic hair brush (not a scrubber), and the surface of the paper does not get easily damaged!

Dancing Tulip IV,  

Watercolor on Jack Richeson Zoltan Szabo 140# Cold Press Paper , 9"h x 6"w, WIP 1

Work in Progress: Summer Heat, Central Valley and Winter Mirage (Master Study)

More landscape practice today... And I have to admit I am more and more hooked. I took out another piece that was started in the same Roland Lee workshop as I mentioned in my last post, and tried negative painting again in the foreground grass land... This time I was quite happy with the result. The almost monochromatic yellow-brown palette was chosen specifically for the impressions I got driving on the winding roads down central valley in the heat of June and July... Every inch in view is burnt by heat. 

Summer Heat, Central Valley,  

Watercolor on Arches #140 Cold Press Paper , 6"h x 9"w, WIP 1

After several hours' careful painting around little shapes, I felt that I needed a change and took out a fresh piece of paper, completely soaked it with water, and laid it on a piece of plexglass, which is non-absorbent and therefore slowed down drying to the minimum. I flooded in the sky and snow colors and charged the bright orange hues when the paper gradually dried. When the paper completely lost its sheen, I dropped in the tree and shrub shapes with smaller, stiff brushes. Until this stage, everything was painted in one wet cycle. I have very little control of the process and cannot lift much without affecting the colors which had been flooded in first. It was very scary, but exciting in the same time! I love watercolor in its free-flowing state...

Winter Mirage, Watercolor on Arches #140 Cold Press Paper , 6"h x 9"w, WIP 1

First Snow (Something Slightly Different)

This June I took a workshop with a very good landscape watercolor painter, Roland Lee, to study his methods of negative painting. It was not a difficult concept to grasp, and he was an amazing teacher who gives clear, thorough explanations of every "how"s and "why"s. However, when I was sorting through my studio mess, and came across a piece that I started at the workshop, deciding to complete it as a refreshment of what I have learned, I found out that it is really not easy to paint this way -- my mind's eye kept on switching between the positive and negative shapes, and my hands just was not able to paint around the shapes that are suppose to be lighter -- it kept on filling them in!!! I have not painted many landscapes, so this one, although simple, has been a true struggle for me. I am also feeling a bit confined by the limited palette of blues and browns... But I felt that it was needed to create the slight melancholic end of fall, beginning of winter feel. 

It was suppose to be a quick piece but it turned out to be everything but... I guess I do need to practice more landscape painting -- it deals with a whole different set of problems and corresponding solutions. Omission, simplification and suggesting with texture is much more important to landscape painting than to floral and still life paintings. A lot of times landscape painters have to be more liberal with their shape making and mark making, be more indicative than literal... It is difficult for me, but I do love it. After all, practice makes perfect! 

First Snow,  Watercolor on Arches 140# Cold Press Paper , 6"h x 9"w, 2012 #10

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