Plein Air @ Chinatown San Francisco CA

There were twenty Chinese artists painting San Francisco Chinatown today, though it was Sunday just after Thanksgiving. 

Felt excited to accept the invitation. Drove about hundred miles back forth to Chinatown wasn't a big deal for me.  But it was extremely challenging to find a parking spot.  I knew there were a couple of garages for parking, but it can be difficult for me to find my car afterwards.  Chinatown is not big, but I caught every single traffic light before each turn, had to wait super patiently for the crowds to cross the streets on this Sunday morning.  


Finally, I parked my car on one street nearby a Chinese grocery store.  The sign confused me as to whether I could park there or not.  I guessed that was why no one was parked there.  There was an older Chinese guy parking his car behind me.  He looked like a local person and answered my question "It is Sunday, you can park here!"


Our organizer told us to start painting about 10:30 AM. It was almost 11 AM.  I dragged my stuff walking on Clay St, passing by a couple of artists who were started a long way ahead of me.  Found a street scene that inspired me, I thought I was well protected from the sun and passing by tourist because I set up my workstation halfway in an alcove of a front door to a small apartment building, about 10 mailboxes only.  Who knew later during my three hours of painting, there were about at least ten people in and out.  This was Chinatown I reminded myself...



Might be lunchtime, more people and cars in the streets.  Some people passing by complimented my work, others asked for directions, even for restaurant recommendations.  I laughed inside as I can count on my hands the number of times I'd been here in the past 20 years and I was always rushing in and out.  Today  was my first time painting here.  At the same time I felt happy, because they knew I was one of Chinese people here they could trust and could hopefully answer their questions.


Got chance to meet more Chinese artists at Chinatown Restaurant, which was one of the sponsors of the event and provided many delicious food dishes.  The restaurant owner and a couple important people from the Chinese Society gave us speeches.  Some part of the history I didn't know before was very inspiring... They, I mean we Chinese feel proud of Chinatown, one of places we could share our culture, history, food etc, with world.  We all turned in our artworks to support and rebuild the community's confidence through COID-19 and encourage health, love success and prosperity in the coming years.  (November 28 2121)



San Francisco Bay Area CA Chinatown, 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

A female model's first sitting

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It was a rainy Saturday this Easter weekend.  I went to an evening live model session at Lynn's studio by chance that I found through Instagram, also it was very close where I live.   About 10 artists showed up, and one came all the way from Oakland on such a rainy weekend.  Painting and photography are unique arts. As we see in the work of old masters, great painting captures instead the outward molding of inner feeling that is truer to the individual than any momentary expression.  Because artist adds emotion into the painting it is unique to the individual.  Different color palettes, brushstrocks, or different perpectives to catch the likelness of the model.   Painting a model in realistic style isn't as important to me as capturing the essence of the model's expression.  I don't use a reference photo to copy a model, instead I use my eye and my hands to capture the expression from life, practise during the precious moments of the painting session. Of course, I use r
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Plein Air @ Santa Clara University Santa Clara CA

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Nice weather in the afternoon, I wanted to do something different and escape from my current "bottleneck" situation. But I realized half way to the location that I didn't bring my tripod. Lucky it was not far away to go back and get it. All the students were on school vacation, so it was perfect timing to paint on the campus.  And the winter lighting is always especially beautiful. Found a corner of the garden and noticed that one side looked more complicated than the other one.  I chose the easier side to paint, and focused on a monochromatic expression to see what could make it look different.  In the end I added a small amount of color to certain objects, my work really looked different.   I decided to stop, but might continue this way of practicing... Started the new year without any resolutions, but frustration that I won't able have my home studio time undisturbed, I can not get 30 minutes of meditation time in. No one is perfect for sure. Who likes having argum
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Six hours study with the same sitter

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I thought I would paint a head portrait, but instead did a figurative study again on a used 16"x20" panel. Had to work on his legs more. Continued using my leftover Veridian Green.  Anyway the lighting system in the studio was cooler.   He was a very professional model, and we had him again for our evening short pose three-hour session.  He read a book instead of using his smart phone during each break, seems usual these days.   Pages of drawings I did,  and I was tired after two sessions total of six hours painting and drawing the same model. I was wondering if our sitter was exhausted too.  (March 19 2024)
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Sketching @ Apple Park Cupertino CA

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Thought to do something different, Apple Park was a good place for sketching and not far from where I live. and some of our local artists were meeting up there today.  Sun came out this morning after weeks of rain. I was not well prepared for it. Found my pencils, sketch book, eraser and outdoor chair in a rush. Felt I should have more hands to carry each of them, why didn't I grab a bag and have everything in it? Warm in the sun, but not in the shade. There were many young olive trees, I guessed that they were the same age as the Apple Headquarters. Tried one sketch that had architecture, and one very stylish artist I drew her into my work. Then I started to draw other artists. Walked through the Apple park's "mirage" sculpture takes shape as iridescent glass pillars winding through trees. Chatted with several artists to catchup, left after in the afternoon. (January 25 2024)
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Live study of a young model in a red dress

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We had a young girl sitter today who was wearing a red dress. She sat on a piece of greenish color cloth. I liked it, because I finally got to use some "left over" colors, expecially Veridian Green which I had a huge tube of for over twenty years and had only used a tiny squeeze of. Started sketching on a 16"x20" used panel, I painted in a more comtemporary color scheme by using Cadmium Red and Veridian Green together as complementary colors. I painted her full figure, just because I liked her black shoes. During each break, she studied with a pack of flash cards cards in her hands, seemed like she was in school and preparing exams. Three-hour sessions are never enough time for a portrait, so I went home to correct and add a few more details after. Happy with the result. (March 5 2024)
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Plein Air @ Mission San José Fremont CA 加州風景寫生

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I didn't plan where to paint today until driving down the road, I thought it should not be more than 10 miles driving, but I missed the turn and had to u-turn a couple of times. I decided to paint at Niles in Fremont again. I was surprised that there was almost no traffic on #880, but the traffic started after I got on the Mission Road. I waited inside the car patiently, noticed it was 96 degrees outside. Felt the waiting time was much longer than the travel all the way here. Passing through the Mission San José, suddenly I remembered that I wanted to paint this gorgeous historic building each time I passed by, why not today? Got off the main road, parked my car, then saw a better shady spot and parked the car.  Walked to see where I could paint.  Then walked back to my car and re-parked near where I painted. It was really hot, I set up my station under an old pepper tree that gave me the most shade. It was almost 4 pm by then and I had to buy bread, the shop closed at 6pm. I did
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Portrait and figurative studies of a model

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A good model can inspire an artist to be creative and productive. Studying from a live model is always challenging. We were lucky to have very profession model Zoe being our sitter for two sections. The first week I did a full body study. Though I went to the studio half an hour early, most of the good seats were already taken. I grabbed the last middle one, so painted Zoe straight on. A week later, I brought my first figurative study back and correct a little bit. Then I worked on a 12"x16" portrait. Both sections I used pallet knives mostly and painted on used canvases.  The figurative one is 16"x20".  Nice of her that she posed herself next to our paintings in the end. Went back home and worked for hours correcting as the limited time wasn't allow me to do the details. For instance, her eyes looked more like she was meditating. And I added to my own interpretation into the portrait. Short pose drawing in the evening, Short pose drawings from our favorite ball
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Plein Air @ Ed Levin County Park, Milpitas CA

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It was not a warm morning, but the rain finally stopped. My husband drove me to the location, then he visited a friend who lived nearby. My first time coming here to paint.  Peaceful morning with the other artists, only could hear birds singing.  It is still our winter time in 50's and partly cloudy, I did several sketches.  Tried a German made fountain pen lent to me from another artist.  It was really a nice one, I might buy one. Sun came out later and brought the temperature up a little bit, then I did a quick watercolor sketch. Saw our friend and had nice chat with her, she introduced us to another park nearby. I would try to paint next time. (February 12 2024)
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Plein Air @ Downtown Campbell Light Rail Station CA

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Planned to Plein Air in the morning, but there were some household things that interrupted that plan . It was about 4pm when I set up to paint at the Downtown Campbell Light Rail Station,  I've painted near this Light Rail Station several times over the past two years and have found it a very interesting place to paint from different angles in the morning or in the afternoon. For example just this red warehouse I painted from the other side in the morning on the last day of 2021.  This building had a "for sale" sign on it.  Today the sale sign still was on the fence, but the messiness I saw around before was all cleaned up.  It is unusual that a property could be on sale for so long in Silicon Valley. Many times I've told myself that I should not copy what I see exactly, so  today I slightly moved things around or implied things a little bit.  Slowly but surely I will get there for sure one day. There was a condominium behind where I was painting.  The residents had a
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Capitola Plein Air 8th Annual Art Festival 2023

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Laurie Hill, the organizer of Capitola Plein Air Evert, gave me a personal orientation before I started.  Weather was perfect, I was in a rush and felt excited to start working, but forgot my parking permit.  No worries, I saw a flower stand on the corner of Monterey St and Park Ave.  A Mexican Lady carried a baby, and two others looked like teenage girl helpers. Surprisingly, their business was very good.  Every several minutes someone stopped by and bought flowers. Not mention it was Tuesday.  I thought people usually buy flowers before the weekend. After my work was done, the younger teenager asked me if it was OK to take a photo, the lady with the baby she talked to me in Spanish, which I didn't understand. They took photo, then we had photo together. Next day, I met a newly wed couple from Texas while I was painting outside Zelda's on the Beach.  They seemed very interested in my work.  I gave them the Sunday exhibition info, hopefully they would come. Last year I almost m
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