Plein Air @ Villa Montalvo Saratoga CA

Checked my Plein Air history, today was my eighth time painting at this location. Not only because it was a perfect day, also because another local artist would like to paint outdoors together. I suggested to start at Villa Montalvo, because there are plenty of subject choices to start a painting.


I spent a longer time to draw the building, and noticed later that I didn't really need all the details after all. But it was a good practice. (October 15 2021)



My first time painted Villa Montalvo on April 5 2018

San Francisco Bay Area CA Saratoga, 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

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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....
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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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Plein Air @ near Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport CA

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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...
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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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Plein Air @ home before sunset Bay Area CA

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After a hot summer, suddenly the temperature dropped down, felt like autumn this week. This is scene I see daily. After over a decade I finally decided to paint it. Setting up my workstation, I just drew what I usually saw, then started to paint with watercolors. Because summer was still in my mind, I used a little too much water at the beginning, so the paper kept wet for a long time, especially after sunset. Liked the vegetation over the fence, it was the overrunning green. I thought it could be green plants climbing over the fence. I could not complete the painting, not only was the paper too wet, also I felt cold and it was getting dark. The next day, I did my final touch and finished it. Maybe try another one again in the future, such a convenient spot. (September 19 2024)
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Paintings with Auspicious Symbols III - Chrysanthemum Study with Chinese Symbols

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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...
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Plein Air @ Old Mission Adobe Wall Santa Clara de Asís CA

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It seems that the rainy season is over.  The spring blosomes are beatiful but my allergies are back.  Carefully I started painting outdoors.  The campus of Santa Clara University looked gorgeous, painting the the old mission Adobe wall was on my mind. I guessed that the students and professers were in classes.  Quietly, I found a shady spot to set up my gear.  Started with a thumbnail for a black and white study, than proceeded to my work. Once in a while people passed by.  Roughly finished the painting, I will be back again soon. (April 18 2024)
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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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Plein Air @ Municipal Rose Garden San Jose CA 加州風景寫生

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Beautiful weather and went back to the Rose Garden in San Jose with a group of locacale artists.  This 5.5–acre Municipal Rose Garden is in full bloom with thousands of roses. It is named "America's Best Rose Garden." I have been here to paint a couple of times as I remember.  I hesitated to decide what to paint in such a lovely place.  I did a water fountain painting and the flowers arches before.   Saw another artist passing by, after chatting a little bit with her, I made up my mind to paint the artches again, and put her into my work. It still felt a little chilly in the shade while I was painting.  Another painter I just met named Allen was giving me a little feedback.  Always nice to hear other's opions. I wonder why I feel tired easier, the pollen made my eyes itchy and sensitive, and my whole body was fighting with it even though I was well protected with mask and sunglasses.  Finished around noon.  (May 13 2024)
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Paintings with Auspicious Symbols II - Chrysanthemum and Frog

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Chrysanthemum often called mums or chrysanths, are perennial flowering plants of the genus Chrysanthemum in the family Asteraceae which are native to Asia and northeastern Europe. It is one of the longevity or strengthened symbols in Chinese culture, which signify long lasting and has durability. Thus Love, success, commitments, luck - what you wish could last forever can be augmented by displaying these beautiful autumn flowers. Vases are exceptionally auspicious symbols to have around the house since they signify "perpetual peace and harmony in the home". This is because the phonetic sound of the vase is "ping' which also means "peace". The vase is also one of the eight auspicious signs of Buddhism being one of the objects found on the footprints of Buddha. One of the most popular words that is frequently rendered in calligraphy is the word that means Longevity. When the characters that are written are also auspicious words, those are usually regar...
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