Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

Raining season finally has come.  It was the challenging part of Plein Air. Rained over night, a little unpredictable during daytime, not easy for painting outdoors. My husband pointed out the unique clouds outside our home window this morning. Fall colors were still there, also there were cooler colors in the distance with the fogginess. Wonderful for a watercolor work I thought. I brought my Plein Air painting pack upstairs, and started an "indoor" plein air landscape painting. Actually, I've wanted to paint the view outside our front of the window for over a decade of living at here, especially during the winter, when the scenery looks more beautiful after most of the leaves have fallen. There was an orange tree in the neighbor's backyard. I changed it to a pine tree, to carry some spirit of the coming holidays since there is no snow in our location. I enjoyed painting inside, didn't have to suffer from the cold or hot. windy or sunburn weather... but it

Good news to share for the coming up holidays, my figurative oil painting "Diary of Venus" won the 1st place in oil, juried by Pancho Jimenez at Great Bay Area Open (GBAO) "Potentiality/Actuality" biennial exhibition in the NUMU museum Los Gatos. There are many great works created by Bay Area based artists and the exhibition is open to the public at NUMU museum in Los Gatos until March 9 2024. I took a break from painting outdoors after Capitola Plein Air event. Of course I still paint at my home studio. Gorgeous day here in winter, it looked like fall. Though it was only 59 degrees, I felt warm in the sun. All foliage showing autumn leaf colors like yellow, orange, red, purple, and brown, which contrasted the blue sky and other plants of green were everywhere. It was great to go out and paint a day before the rainy season starts. Drove to Sunnyvale and the Heritage Park Orchard jumped into my mind. I think it is always inspiring when I drive on streets named af

Took a break and didn't go to the studio yesterday, I felt relaxed a little bit. The rain finally stopped, and it was clear but windy.  Drove to the Half Moon Bay Nursery but missed it because there are many other similar nurseries on the same road.  Got out of  the car to ask a guy working inside, and wanted to use the restroom.  The guy told me the directions nicely.   Got there and found a doorway to set up my painting stuff, so I could paint inside because it was quite windy outside.  I liked the way I could see the outside greenhouses in a row, and there was a single tool laying against an empty table.  A guy working for the nursery wanted to remove the tool, but he changed his mind after he saw the tool was in my painting. Took me three hours to paint this one, after all I always think that I should do another one, but I felt tired.  On the way back, I saw the snow was still on top of the mountains, snap shots for memory.   (March 1 2023)

My last Plein Air painting in Half Moon Bay was done in July last year.  I remember it was such a cold day.  Today I caught only light traffic and little road work on the way.   It was a gorgeous day, hills turned green, and flowers started blooming after days of rain.  I was looking for the Giusti farm in Half Moon Bay CA without knowing the address.  Luckily, I found it by noticing other artists painting along the High Way #1, only had one extra turn.  There were acres of mustard flowers in the fields and up to the hills. Some were lemon yellow, some already had turned to Indian yellow.  They were more attractive contrasted with the fresh spring green grasses in between.   Usually start with a small sketch, not this time since I was a little bit behind schedule.  I reminded myself that I should focus on the main subject to paint.  It didn't take too long, and I was happy with the result.   Very nice to see some old and new artists painting as well.   (February 8 2023)

My first time going to this park next to Vasona Lake County Park.  Nice fall afternoon with warm sunshine.  My artist friend guided me to this lovely spot with a railway racks in front of the old buildings.  Instantly a huge "wildcat" moving on the roof scared me.  Haha, there was Halloween decoration for the kids.  We set up our equipment and started to paint.  It was a quiet park, some people walking around, some of them took their dogs.  They gave us some compliments.  After our work was done, walked around and found several paintable spots for coming back to do more paintings.  (October 27 2022)

Gorgeous day for outdoor paintings. While I was drawing, a train was running on the railway, I took short video. I didn't know how many cars the train carried, but it ran at least ten minutes long. Struggling with the layout, and the details of the historic train I was painting. Came home I realized that I didn't need that much. Just cropped it, and it looked much better. And would you believe, I found some charming artwork in the public bathroom. Several years ago I went to this historic charming town for Plein Air. Walked around and found a good spot to set up my painting station, then found out I didn't bring any paper at all. LOL, had to go home... (October 24 2022)

Did not go out painting for almost three weeks, so I went to Elizabeth Gamble Garden in the afternoon. There is always something inspiring for me to paint. Several subjects were in my mind, but none of them I could paint, the teahouse was undergoing renovation, and the water fountain didn't look nice during this visit. Set up my stuff and painted the nursery. Warmer than I thought, overdressed, but I didn't have different layers to take off. Sunset time is earlier, so I didn't finished and had to pack up in hurry. Arrived at the studio, we had a male model tonight. Not often we have male model to practice, felt strenuous during the three hours of drawing short poses. Also I started using different a kind of paper today.  This type of paper doesn't have the tooth to grab the charcoal, too smooth for me.  But I just start using them.  Hopefully I could overcome it soon.. Had finished 500 pieces of paper in one year of studio figure drawings, hope to get a little improveme

My first time to this location delivering two of my Plein Air painting for the up coming POP group exhibit at the Manor house "Twin Pine Art Center", Our reception will held from 2 pm to 4 pm on October 9.Nice to see our organizer and the other artists. We instantly became volunteers, helping move our paintings from one room to the other. There were several shows of local artists', I checked them out upstairs and downstairs. Julia and I painted in the park. There was a memorial service at the lodge. We guessed that the people might be from Hawaii, because we could hear the music. There was a huge tree in front of the lodge, so it became my subject to work on.  Julia painted near the creek. Seems that summer isn't over yet with all the heat we felt. Caught up a little bit with her after our work was done. Unbelievable it was the last day to September. (September 30 2022)

Redwood City Port seems like a perfect location for practicing painting on a windy day. A year ago I painted at the location a couple of times. It was windy in the afternoon. I found a short tree to paint under to block a little wind. Took me almost an hour to finish the drawing. I tried to paint the kayak, but it was removed from the people working there. Lucky I had my reference photo. Not sure why I love painting fishing boats Later the owner of the boat next to it came to me, he took a photo and wanted me to paint his boat someday... Rushed to the drawing class...(July 26 2022) I have to get ready for the Annual Alameda Plein Air event, so I drove to the Campbell Community Center to practice, but I didn't know what to paint. Walked around and saw the Campbell Pool, then I knew it would be a good subject to practice. Found a corner and set up my stuff. For the composition purposes, I had to "move" and "reset" several little details. It wasn't a

It was a hot day for Plein Air at the location. There were many geese around while were painting. Good practice in such a hot weather condition, glad that I did it though. I finished mine very quick and watched  the geese and other artist painting. (July 11 2022)

Our first time to paint this new model Melisa today. I started with a used 12"x16" canvas.  One artist friend mentioned to me that she would be confused working on uncovered used canvas.  I felt OK, and tried to paint with new style after not working at the studio about two weeks. My speed and correction were not as good as two weeks ago.  The painting wasn't near finished after 3-hour-session.  (May 10 2022)  Spent two or three hours or more fixing this portrait.  Tried to work like expressionist with black outlines, sometimes using a palette knife.  Hard to paint with consistency, in the studio and at home.  I had to stop before I changed too much from my original idea.  That was challenging working at home without a model, I decided to leave the arm area the way it was, lucky it was used canvas, the colors  matched well...

We had a couple days of rain which is not good for Plein Air. But I definitely appreciate the rain because of the shortage of water in California. The rain stopped and the clouds were very beautiful. I drove to the Sunnyvale train station, and could not find a suitable place to paint a landscape with the clouds and some building. Suddenly, I saw a water tower with interesting buildings surrounding it. Parked my car, it looked like a big factory. The water tower against the clouds looked very interesting. Set up my station and started drawing. A black security guy came to me asked what I was doing. I told him that I wanted to paint the water tower. etc. He asked me to move, because I was on the private property. I moved my station to the public walkway. Overheard him reporting back to his team that I was drawing the tower. Guessed it was OK after he left. Several workers were on their lunch break, they came by and gave me some compliment on my work. I was curious to see their name bad

Usually painting at the studio, but there was an appointment with my new dentist. Called to confirm the address, and they moved the appointed to the next Tuesday. Went to downtown Sunnyvale to find some painting ideas. Ended up I painted Off The Rails Brewing Co. for Fresh Local Craft Beer & Food nearby the train station. (April 19 2022)

It has been over a week since I painted out. I always wanted to come back to this place and paint in spring, finally I made it before all the grasses turned yellow. Found a peaceful spot in the shade, watching all the girls cleaning the horses, then riding them on the trails while I was painting. There was a lady training a horse and made the area full of dust near me. That horse might be not cooperating. I heard the trainer using a whip in the air and talking to the horse, "what kind of horse are you" One young girl finished her riding and came to see my painting. She told me that she read books and found out she really loved horses since she was a child. Another lady Tania complimented my painting and we had chat. She told me something about horses I didn't know after she saw a horse in my painting. She wasn't Russian, but her name was given from her mother's Russian friend. What a lovely day and got to paint at this beautiful place! (April 15 2022)

Three of us artists decided to paint outdoors together.  Followed Google maps, directed me to the Campbell Library, but there wasn't anyone there.  Called the other friends and found out that Google map was incorrect.  So we were behind schedule a little bit.   I saw a guy playing his guitar in front of a coffee shop, asked if he wanted to be our model.  One of us painted him.  Crossed the street to paint the people in front of the coffee shop, including the guy and one of the artists friends, also I could be in shade. I painted in watercolor, the other two painted in oils.  It was a lovely day hanging out, then went to the other artist's studio to check out her work, chatting, eating, learning,  fun afternoon....

Weather report said that there was a storm coming today. The rain stopped this morning, I went out without a target for outdoor painting. Got lost in an industrial area nearby the airport, instantly I saw many interesting subjects to paint. But it wasn't easy to find a parking spot. I painted next to a camper parked on the sidewalk. The person owned it really made it looked like a home. There was a solar panel connected, and there were garden stuff, like potted plants, outdoor cook etc.  The clouds looked very unique, but they were not easy to paint on such a gray day.   Many airplanes flew overhead making a very loud sound, I wondered when I could get started traveling again?  After my work was done, I packed and it started  raining again.  Felt lucky that my painting and I didn't get a single drop, perfect timing without knowing in advance, lol...

After picking my painting up which showed at NUMUNew Museum, chatted with a couple of artists. I painted at a corner of downtown Los Gatos too. It looked busy, not sure because it was Sunday noon or since masks are no longer required in public in California. Soon, most of the restaurants were occupied by many people. Some passing by me complimented my work, though it was not finished yet. I appreciate all the encouragement. A couple crossed the street to look at my work, they were a little bit disappointed that I didn't paint their restaurant. I told them that I will do it next time, and they said they prefer to wait till their patio is done. (March 13 2022)

Painted at the same spot as I had last early spring. I moved the water tower to the right, and painted a a more open landscape by leaving out the old tree I included last year.  There were several parking spaces when I arrived.  I tried five times to park my car, almost every available spot. Finally I parked back into the first spot, just because I wanted to use my trunk door's shape to block the sunlight.  It was a nice day, not warm yet.  It was getting windy around noon, I knew it was the time to pack it up. (March 9 2022)

Nice weather, certainly it was getting warmer. I went back to Alviso Marina to paint a similar scene to one I did years ago. My annual allergies have started to bother me, so I used the mask for protection even outdoors. There are many paintable and historical subjects that I'd like to paint in Alviso.  I took advise from another artist that suggested toning down the colors, not easy but I practiced.  After my work done, I checked around and found my mechanical pencil on the ground.  Yes, I've learned my lesson, always double check before leaving my painting spot. (February 28 2022 )