Plein Air @ Branscomb Farms Half Moon Bay CA 加州風景寫生


(May 12 2021)

Summer time really has arrived in the South Bay Area. Drove to Half Moon Bay this morning, definitely felt like traversing from summer to winter in about one hour. It was pretty cold, only 52 degrees at the location. And I didn't have any trouble to find the farm this time.  Painted watercolors on a grey day, so I decided to do a vertical one, only the easel were not designed for a 15" tall painting size, that was the reason I don't usually work in verticals.  It was a little challenging, besides the wind, I couldn't barely put any tiny bit weight on the painting for fear of it falling over.  Over all, I like my vertical layout today. 

The hostess, KC Branscomb has been very kind in allowing us to paint at her farm, but we have to follow her very strict rules for parking, not to close to the horses, because these are breeding horses at the farm, and young horses in training, etc.. Anyway, we only were allowed to paint in certain area.  In the end, she came to see our paintings during her busiest season spring schedule, gave us a quick training on how to respect horses for a few minutes.  Very knowledgeable lady, I wondered why her farm looks very well organized.

Also I met Daniel one of the managers on the farm.  He rode a very handsome horse passing by where I was painting.  He allowed me to pat this special Jumper.  



San Francisco Bay Area CA Half Moon Bay, 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

Original Art Story - The Colors of La Boca Argentina

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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)...
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The Old Man and The Sea - Original Watercolor

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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...
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Lady from Bangladesh

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There are many beautiful portraits that have visually showed us the subject's personality, history and culture.  I think facial expression is another very interesting subject in art.  That is why I love to study it.  I do it differently than some artists who just copying a photo.  I'd rather to know a little bit more about my subject before I start painting.  Here are some some portraits I painted and the stories behind them.  Please visit my online gallery at:  http://xueling-zou.artistwebsites.com/galleries.html to see more. Lady from Bangladesh was the portrait I painted in March 2011. We used to be neighbors for a short while. Her name is Tahmina. She was the mother of three very nice and well-educated boys, with such a sweet character. One early morning, I saw her dressed this lovely traditional pink/magenta sari in the garden, the morning light went through her veil, shining on her face... I went back and grabbed my camera imme...
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Short-pose live male model drawings

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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)
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Short-pose live male model drawings

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

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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...
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Plein Air @ A Private Property Los Gatos CA 加州風景寫生

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It was a gray, cold and rainy day. Went to a local artist's house for painting. It was a beautiful property with gorgeous landscaping. Hard to make a decision where to paint... Painted from this angle, I could imagine if it were a sunny day, the light and shadows could make a big difference. My watercolor refused to dry, so I had to stop... And we had a delicious lunch there. Thanks very much for such great hospitality!
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Peru Impression II - Machu Picchu

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(Please click the image to enlarge) Machu Picchu is located in the Cusco Region of Peru, South America, which is 2,430 meters (7,970 ft) above sea level. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 kilometers 50 mi) northwest of Cusco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built around 1450, at the height of the Inca Empire. The construction of Machu Picchu appears to date from the period of the two great Incas, Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui (1438-71) and Tupac Inca Yupanqui(1472-93). It was abandoned just over 100 years later, in 1572, as a belated result of the Spanish Conquest. It has become the most familiar icon of the Inca World. (Please click the image to enlarge) (Please click the image to enlarge) (Please click the image to enlarge) (Please click the image to enlarge) (Please click the image to enlarge) Breath taking scenes I sa...
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Plein Air @ Carmelite Monastery Santa Clara CA

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Painted Plein Air for the first time in a while, I really missed it. Today I went to Carmelite Monastery Santa Clara CA to paint this church building, which has been on my mind for a long time. It was a peaceful place, only saw a few people, including a nun who walked into the church from the side door. Drawing the architecture took me for a while, then painted the clouds with care. Because we don't usually have clouds besides during winter. Not much light and contrast. Then spent a lot of time for the details on the building. After that I realized that the details were too small and there wasn't any reason to include them in my Plein air work. Church bell rang twice during the time I painted there, it brought a lot peace. Hope it expends to the whole world....
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