Value study on a Monday morning


 
My annual allergies have started up again, and it has me "locked" indoors, can't go out painting often. Joined a zoom meeting for drawing minute sketches. Focused on value study. Frustrating and enjoyable at the same time...

San Francisco Bay Area CA San Francisco, CA, USA
Storytelling artist Xueling Zou who works in ♦️ watercolor & ♦️ oil mediums on ♦️ original art Plein Air paintings. Ship worldwide since 2010 @ https://about.me/xuelingzou@ about.me/xuelingzou or http://xueling-zou.pixels.com

Original Art Story

Paintings with Auspicious Symbols V - Peacocks 孔雀東南飛

Image
I was inspired by the Chinese traditional folk art style to create a couple of peacocks with eight peony-flowers oil painting on canvas recently, which I named "Peacocks Flying Southeast 孔雀東南飛". "Peacocks Flying Southeast" is well-known to Chinese and is a phenomenal poem in Chinese literary history. It is one of the collections of the Music Academy (YueFu) formed by the Han Dynasty (196—219 AD) courts to gather literary works created largely for the common people. It was about a tragic love story between a young couple, who promised to love each other forever. Perhaps the morbid mother-in-law could not stand the daughter-in-law coming between her and her son. Eventually she broke up the marriage when her son was working out of the town. The young couple’s dream and promise of living together was shattered. Both their families forced them to marry someone else. So this young couple took their own lives, fulfilling their commitment of love in a different world....
Read more

The Old Man and The Sea - Original Watercolor

Image
This original watercolor painting was inspired by Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and The Sea.  It is one of my favorite watercolors, and a great gift for Father's Day. (Please click the image to enlarge) I read this book in Chinese a long time ago, then I read it again in English when I was studying in Australia. Back to my overseas studying time, I had to take the ferries from the place I lived to school each day for a while. Not mention the terrible home sick I had, the ending of relationship with my first boy-friend, when I struggled with every single little detail in life. But nothing could stop my love of the ocean and I enjoyed taking ferries on beautiful and stormy days. Watching the sun-rising or sun-setting, sailing by the magnificent city landscape and the awesome boats out on the sea, I promised myself that I knew I would overcome the difficulties... Years later, I started painting watercolors after moving to Bay Area in California, and the first one in m...
Read more

Original Art Story - The Colors of La Boca Argentina

Image
Colorful La Boca grew to become an Italian (mostly from Genoa) district of Buenos Aires, Argentina in a very short time in mid-19th-century. It used to be the area where Italian immigrants arrived, and settled in the poorest of conditions. Their houses were built by the leftover corrugated iron and other waste found in the nearby harbour and industry on the Riachuelo river. In order to make the neighbourhood more interesting, they decided to paint their houses in bright colors by using the leftover paint from boats - hence the many different colours that can be seen. Where first a small river flowed, the area that now is Caminito had tracks installed, and when those were not used anymore, this developed into an ugly, abandoned part of La Boca. There were several museums with paintings portraying its hard-working inhabitants in the shipyards and on the docks. Local artist Quinquela Martín painted the walls of the street, which now we know as Caminito (which means little path in Spanish)...
Read more

Short-pose live male model drawings

Image
Always look forward to drawing nude models for their short poses. But I felt it was super challenging to draw this one. His body proportions were unique, long and slim. He posed in many twisty positions while standing, I only could try my best, many other artist said that they felt not easy to draw him too. Felt better by knowing I was not the only one that had a hard time. Hahaha... (April 26 2022)
Read more

Paintings with Auspicious Symbols III - Chrysanthemum Study with Chinese Symbols

Image
Hope my Chinese symbol study which I created this painting with could bring a great deal of positive aspects into your lives.  It contains a number of auspicious symbols including: one turtle, two butterflies and a pair of chairs (a couple of lovers), three Star Gods, three Mandarins, and Nine Chrysanthemum flowers in one vase. Hope my explanation of these symbols could help viewers to understand the meaning, and bring health, happiness and prosperity into your daily lives. Three Star Gods (fulushou 福禄寿) Three Star Gods (fulushou 福禄寿) symbols are on the vase - The Three Star Gods are the God of Fortune (fuxing 福星), God of Prosperity (luxing 祿星) and God of Longevity (shouxing 寿星), each recognizable by the characteristic iconography. They are often represented together. Vase (花瓶) Because of the phonetic sound of the vase is "ping' which also means "peace", vases are exceptionally auspicious symbols to have around the house since they signify "perpetual pea...
Read more

Chinese Moon Festival II - A Classical Poem and Homesick 中秋节思乡

Image
Dream in the Night — Interpreted by Xu YuanChong Abed, I see a silvery light, I wonder if it's frost aground. Looking up, I find the moon bright; Bowing, in homesickness I'm drowned. 静夜思 — 李白 床前明月光， 疑是地上霜。 举头望明月， 低头思故乡。 (Please click the image to enlarge) This poem written by Li Bai (701 – 762) who was a major Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty poetry period  - China's "golden age" of classical Chinese poetry (  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Bai ). It was one of the first classical poems I was taught before my primary school. Of course, I would not know the meaning at that young age. The older I get and the farther I live from home, the deeper I feel this poem, which is more often appearing in my head. Hiding my tears used to be part my character. But now, I can no longer control it behind my eyes whenever I think of it... Another Mid-Autumn Festival is coming again, which is a popular lunar harvest festival celebrated by Chinese...
Read more

Plein Air @ The Western Shore Redwood City CA

Image
Besides being caught in not surprising traffic on U.S. Route 101 as usual, it was a nice breezy morning at the location. Walked around and instantly decided to paint those sailboats parked there. Might Be that I didn't paint enough boats at the event in Alameda, it was only ten days ago. It meant that I was physically recovered from exhausted. As an artist, I think that it is very important to be creative. So I decided not to paint all the boats parking in a row, and "moved" the warehouse building behind the three boats I painted. The composition of this painting looked better than exactly what was in front of my eyes. Saw several other artists painted there as well. Only talked a few, they seemed to all have found what they wanted to paint. (August 15 2024)
Read more

Camogli - Italian Riviera

Image
This painting took me so long to finish! I started painting it at the beginning of January this year, then I went back to China for a visit at the end of February. Coming back to my studio it was almost in May! I could not follow up with my own feeling to continue this piece. It did help me to complete this painting after I set myself a dead-line. Camogli (Camuggi in Genoese dialect) is a small Italian fishing village and tourist resort located on the west side of the peninsula of Portofino, on the Golfo Paradiso at the Riviera di Levante, in the province of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. The former fishing village of Camogli, which now lives mainly from tourism, is known for its colorful houses that line behind the beach.The colors once helped the fishermen of Camogli, easier to catch the way back to their port.
Read more

Original Art Story - African American Women Portraits

Image
BEAUTIFUL BLACK WOMAN - By Vernon J. Davis Jr. Author of " Love Is The Beautiful Black Woman" Beautiful black woman, Your beauty is surpassed by none. Beautiful black woman, Your sensuous splendor is like the shining sun Your wondrous ways come from your soul Which no one man may hope to control Beautiful black woman, You are the guiding hope of our people Beautiful black woman, your mind maintains your glorious power. Beautiful black woman, Your spirit is like a shining church tower which points the way to heaven above and which seeks to find true love. Beautiful black woman, you are the guiding hope of our people. Beautiful Black woman, Your time is like a precious commodity. Beautiful Black Woman, Your ebony will is strong and free, so take your precious time, and your determined will, and use them both to emphasize what you really feel. Beautiful black woman, you are the guiding hope of our people. Beautiful black woman, In you lies our future! Please view my portrait g...
Read more

Short-pose live male model drawings

Image
Seems that working in the studio and Plein Air outdoors are quite different in many ways. Went to Carmel Plein Air painting with my friends for four days, missed the last session for short-pose live model drawing. So I found that I had difficult time to draw. No matter two minutes, five minutes or ten minutes, I could not draw fast and correctly enough, didn't have time to draw a leg or arm. This model was good, he worked very hard, I saw his body shaking during the pose. Of course we all pay good tips to our models. (May 10 2022)
Read more