Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

Thought I could check the painting location out, so talked to my host family about staying on Sunday night for an early start. First time in my life that I got a flat tire on my way up to Alameda. Lucky my husband was able to drive all they way and fix the tire before it turned 100 percent dark. (The little nail ruined my tire when I just arrived S Shore Center) Day one It was my fourth time participating in the event. After registering, I got my watercolor papers stamped, then caught up with a couple of long-time-no-see artists and volunteers. (First painting was done at the Grand Marina Boatyard) Of course I always start painting at the Grand Marina. Because I've found many subjects that I could work on there. It was sprinkling rain, so I had to move my stuff during painting to a covered place at least six or seven times. People working there mostly were Mexican guys. They were listening to the radio playing happy Mexican songs while working. One even sang loudly along. Took me l

There were many areas that bothered me on Tuesday's portrait study, so I decided to correct it. Worked on the panel for an hour.  Finally, I erased it all and spent a whole day repainting it. Checked my previous work, the last figurative portrait from a live model was nine weeks ago. No wonder I couldn't paint the way  I used to, lol  (August 26 2022) Can't believe that it was nine weeks ago that I did my last oil painting live model session study. Today's model was a good one too, but my process was much slower, and result was different than I expected. The short pose live model was late, a couple of people did several poses for us. I felt my sketches came out better than last week. Not kidding, every artist must keep practicing daily to see long term improvement.  (August 23 2022)

Our favorite model Leigh brought a bench, a stool, decorative stand, a backpack of clothing, an umbrella, a large folding fan and a huge pot of live plants. There were several trips back forth between her car and the studio. And she is never late, actually she always arrives earlier. One of the artists said that she was hired for a three-day workshop, she had been drawing and painting her four days in a row. Can you imaging that? Leigh was a professional ballerina in the San Francisco Ballet, her poses are stable and she always had her costume well prepared. How could she not be our favorite model.  (August 31 2022)

Followed Google maps, I didn't remember how many turns required to drive to this location. I didn't even know such a huge, historic mansion existed. My first time to come here and paint. I found a shady spot and set up my gear. It took me much longer to draw. Besides, walked into the building to use the restroom, I decided to come back to check out the rest of the  interesting parts of the Architecture and the park. It was so nice to see several other Plein Air artists I hadn't seen for a long time.. We shared our ideas about the paintings we did or had mostly finished. (August 22 2022)

Attended the evening short pose live model sketch practice again after three weeks. Definitely my brain and hands were not as coordinately as quick as before. After a while I was getting a little bit better. New model's poses were nice, and she was stable too. (August 16 2022)

Wanted to paint at this location for years. It might be one of the largest farmer's market in the South Bay, it attracts many people. Finally I decided to go and quickly made my up mind to paint in the shade. I had an 8"x10" watercolor paper was left over stamp from the Alameda paint out, so it was a good to use for this small study. An old painting friend talked to me, she came to paint as well. Nice of her to take a photo while I was working on the piece. She told me that she would paint nearby the entrance. Many curious people talked and complimented my work. Not every one was polite enough to ask my permission to take photo or capture a video. A lady pretended she saw me somewhere before, her daughter took a video from behind of her. I wonder if it was the right way to teach her child? Finished my small study, bought two kinds of fresh vegetables. dragged my stuff along the market, I could not find my painting friend. Getting crowded so I decided to leave.

Went to Portola Vineyard, my car GPS still directed me to the wrong spot, had to make a three-point turn on such a narrow road. Glad that I went there and met several other artists. Except for one artist who was at the Alameda Plein Air Paint Out last week, the others I hadn't seen for a long time. My subject was the pool house, because the grape vines have not changed colors yet. It was nice to see other artists, and make a little progress as well, though I felt burnt out after Alameda Plein Air event. (August 10 2022)