Innocence - Day Thirty of the 30/30 Challenge

Innocence, 

Watercolor on Saunders Waterford #140 Cold Press Paper, 15"h x 11"w, 2015 #32

Master Study, Not for Sale

Day Thirty of the challenge -- I've made it this time! Yay!!!

This last painting I've completed for the challenge this month is also not done in a day's time, but on and off at every chance that a day's painting has not taken the entire time of that day. It is also a master study of Jan Kunz, as I have set a goal for myself to learn the basic of portrait and figure painting in watercolor in the coming year. I have learned a lot from doing this one -- from how to mix believable skin tones to the procedure of rendering the features of the face, as well as how to apply a background that does not detract from the figure. It's also done on a surface that is hard-sized, but for some reason dries much faster than Arches, so the window of time left to manipulate wet washes on it is not ideal. But it forces me to simplify and work fast, and in the end, I think I've learned to apply multiple light glazes to fix soft half-tone shapes that don't quite have the right value, color or edge quality. I would like to do some figure paintings of children in a simple, one-light-source setting like this one next. If you have a good photo of a child that I could use, please email it to me. Thanks in advance!

It Takes Two to Tango - Day Twenty-Nine of the 30/30 Challenge

It Takes Two to Tango, 

Watercolor on Arches #140 Cold Press Paper, 11"h x 7"w, 2015 #31

Master Study, Not for Sale

Day Twenty-Nine of the challenge -- never thought I would make the whole challenge again! Yay! It is almost the end!!! This painting is a study of master watercolor artist Jan Kunz, whose work I have admired since I took up watercolor a few years ago. The clean, colorful washes that radiates with light just grabs my heart the first time I saw one of her books. Since I haven't painted many still life setups, I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to experiment with different texture -- glass, silver, wood, etc., before to attempt assembly a grand still life and paint it. So this is my practice for capturing the texture of clear, thick glass. It combines something that I am familiar with and feel comfortable painting -- rose, with something I am feeling a little bit timid about -- glass. I had a lot of fun doing it, and painted it over a few days of this month, whenever the day's painting did not take up too much time and leaves a few hours to spend on other projects. I have discovered that painting glass is not unlike assembling a big piece of puzzle -- I have lost numerous times over the different patterns of reflection and refraction painting the ball jar, and it is just one simple little jar! Clearly I needed more practice on this subject, but it was so much fun. The next step is to assemble a still life of my own similar to this setup and see if I could carried out what I have learned doing this master study into my own painting. Can't wait to do that!

A Still Life Study, A Small Landscape, I Am Hanging on There...

It Takes Two to Tango,  
Watercolor on Saunders Waterford #140 Cold Press Paper, 7"h x 10"w, WIP 2

With a dear family member falling ill of cardiac issues and later myself getting sick with flu when in hospital taking care of him (thank you all who have sent me kind words and prayers!), I guess I have fallen off the bandwagon of "30 Paintings in 30 Days" challenge this time. I have decided not to beat myself up for it, and just try again next time in September when Leslie is hosting this challenge again. In the mean time, I found out that floral/still life painting actually suited the fragmented schedule I have in between hospital visits and bed rests better than landscapes, so to get back into the groove and also actually learn how to paint glass, I have resumed this study from master artist Jan Kunz's tutorial. Unlike most of my floral work, the two roses here are mostly done wet on dry, so that I could practice softening edges with a damp brush, while in the mean time try to make good shapes with each brush stroke. It's amazing how time consuming all the small shapes of the flower petals and especially on the ball jar are -- I have an increasing appreciation of the amazing work you do, Carrie!

Frosty Morning,  Watercolor on Arches #140 Cold Press Paper, 7"h x 10"w, WIP 1

When I actually have some chunks of time at hand, I worked on several more small landscapes. Most of them still have not taken shape yet, so I've only included one here. It started as a "Sky" painting in the challenge, and from that palette of Cobalt Blue, Turquoise and purple grey mixed with transparent primary colors, I decide to portray early snow in the mountain highlands, with lake water in the foreground, and some small shrubs still exhibiting fall colors reflecting in it. The focus here is to try to evoke the feeling of chilly late autumn morning air in the highlands. We'll see how it goes! :-) 

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:

Some Old Progress, Some New Starts, and Thoughts about the (Layering) Process...

Still working on finishing some older projects for the "Meet the Artists" event in the Filoli Show. I'm a bit stuck on this one (I realized that I have posted some of its earlier progresses on my facebook page, but not yet here on my blog) -- I feel the shadows on the water-lily need to be a bit darker to give dimension to the flower, but worry if I darken it, the entire painting would be way too dark -- it seems the leaves on the background are already getting to dark. What do you think?...

Summer Glow, Watercolor on Arches #140 Cold Press paper, 5"h x 7"w, WIP 1

When not sure how to "conclude" a certain project, I usually turn to a new one and making a fresh start -- nothing liberates the mind more and gives it more energy/stimulation than beginning to create and solve a complete new set of problems! I've started a couple of portrait and figure master study projects this way, which have led me to reconsider carefully the "paint by layers" process of watercolor (which I realize that I have actually never mastered). I am trying to do these paintings more consciously, and more structured, trying to block each of the major shapes (face, hair, clothes, etc.) with its lightest tone first before adding any middle-value forms later and applying any darks, and trying my best to resist the urge to put a second layer anywhere until I've put the first layer everywhere. Of course, the first layer does not have to be a flat wash -- I mingled a couple of analogous colors on the boy's face, and his jacket has quite a bit of color and value changes painted wet-into-wet when doing the first layer of wash...

Out Fishing (Study of Jan Kunz), 

Watercolor on Lanaquarell #140 Cold Press paper, 15"h x 11"w, WIP 1

When painting the initial underlying wash, how careful should the application of color be? I think it depends on the following factors: 1. Is your style casual or painstaking? 2. Is your subject even, smooth or rough in its texture? Does it contain quite a bit of color and value variations? 3. How much of the first layer would be visible after the application of the second, third, and the rest of subsequent layers? Is a "bloom" or uneven spot really going to be visible after all the other layers are applied? 4. Is there anything that needs to be painted around, and if so, how complex is the shape that needs to be painted around when applying the first wash? And most importantly, immediately after the first layer is painted (or better yet, before doing this first wash), I try to ask myself -- is there anything I should do while this layer is still wet? Any variation of the color (subtle color shifts), touching in a pattern of soft-edged marks and so on are best done while the first wash is still wet, which leaves the window of application very narrow. It's both nerve wrecking and exhilarating!...

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:

Back from Neverland (Actually, China...) with a New Direction

Ok... I cannot believe more than two months have passed since I last posted here. Such a long lag is not entirely due to my laziness -- I have traveled back China during this period of time, to accompany my father for his cancer treatments. This has been a difficult year -- I lost two dear art friends to cancer and one to suicide. Suddenly death has become such a close-by acquaintance, a vivid face instead of just a distant whisper, a blurred shadow. In this difficult summer, I feel that my entire self has settled down, precipitated into a more pure, more sensitive and deeper being. 

Run, Baby, Run (Study of Jan Kunz), 

Watercolor on Saunders Waterford #140 Cold Press paper, 15"h x 11"w, WIP 1

Art, fortunately, has always lingered in the tense air through each difficult and surreal moment. I have painted -- off and on, enough to not let the once familiar brushes fall back into becoming strangers again, but not really enough to show anything significant here to you, my friend. More time was spent looking at the amazing works of Chinese artists -- watercolors, oils, charcoal sketches and pencil drawings -- as well as the drastically different land that has inspired their artwork. For the first time, I took in this land I grew up on with a fresh eye and revived interest, and absorbed it as a returned stranger, a guest, a returned travelling soul. I visited quite a few art exhibitions and artist's studios with every bit of free time I have, although it is hard to squeeze time out during this visit. And for the first time, I feel inspired and a little more confident to try some subjects that I have always avoided due to their difficulty, including figure and portrait paintings, because I felt so inspired by the amazing portrait work done by contemporary Chinese masters of watercolor.

Uncanny Smile (Study of Jan Kunz), 

Watercolor on Winsor Newton #140 Cold Press paper, 15"h x 11"w, WIP 1

I've always been scared to try my hands on this daunting genre, I know. But during this trip, for the first time of my life, I felt really compelled to put my brush to paper in order to capture the different souls I encounter -- old, young, fresh and lively, or tired and burnt out -- I never felt so close to every single one of them, because of the clear understanding -- an understanding beyond the abstract knowledge of death -- that each unique soul can only exist for a brief moment in the ever-running river of time, like a bubble in water. Being able to capture the impression of them as their lives cross path with mine is such a exhilarating experience, yet the process of recreating that moment in time for that particular soul is such a humbling struggle! I could not help myself trying again and again, despite of all my fears and incompetence dealing with such subjects...

Best Friends (Study of Jan Kunz), 
Watercolor on Lanaquarell #140 Cold Press paper, 15"h x 11"w, WIP 1

The few pieces I've shown in this post -- all of which still works in progress -- are projects following master watercolorist Jan Kunz's tutorials. Jan is a master of beautiful figure and portrait paintings whose work I greatly admire, and she is a very inspirational teacher through her books and dvds as well. Despite of my best efforts, I feel all of these paintings are still a bit stiff in their gesture, and the colors of the subjects' skins are not as fresh and delicate as they should be, but they are my first tries of this daunting genre (at least to me it is!), and I'm really happy that I've finally started my exploration, instead of putting it off to the indefinite "tomorrow"... Better late than never, right?

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: