Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

Gorgeous day in Carmel, we decided to paint the narrow road scene on the hill behind the Highland Inn where we stayed for two nights. It was just across the narrow road off the the parking lot of the hotel.  Afternoon light shone on a white house hiding deep into all the trees looked intriguing.  We wanted to paint it since our last trip. Set up our easels, straight away working on the painting.  A young woman came and told us that we were on her property, the little parking area off the narrow road.  And also she said that she would call the hotel and come out to check us too ...so we left, then did the rest of our 1st paintings inside our room, lol...  Wednesday morning we got up late, and went to Garrapata State Park.  Immediately I saw the sign of MPAPA's sign, so I knew that the local Plein Air painters were painting in  the park.   I saw Teresa first, she was from the South Bay area like us.  She was working on a beautiful pastel piece.  After chatting with her,  we then saw

In the morning on the way back from my dentist, found this old factory warehouse surrounded by new buildings. Felt an urgent need to paint it, because it might be gone someday soon... I painted under the open air roof protecting machines and tools from the sun, so I kept moving to stay in the shade.  A bell rang once for several times in the distance, I couldn't detect where it came from. A guy drove by in a pick up truck and stopped next to where I was painting.  He politely asked me if he could help.  I told him that I was painting the buildings.  Seemed that he really understood as he said that we need to keep record of it before they were destroyed. All the land is getting more expensive in Silicon Valley. But this area looked so peaceful, there were orange orchards and this precious old part of a warehouse remaining.  A couple of private properties were hiding behind but I couldn't go in to see them.  (September 23 2022)

We had a new model again, seemed that she had brought a lot of energy into the studio.  It is interesting that I have found that each model's pose really has his or her own character. They are all unique and special Of course I only had this short pose drawing practice for less than a year. Wish I could draw faster and then could have drawn their special character into my work. (September 13 2022)

I didn't go out painting last week, because of the dog day week. There were several painting location ideas in my mind this morning, so I drove the car to check out some locations. Non of them worked, might be the gray morning. So, I set my work station up in front of the catholic church so I could paint the old adobe building.  Spent a long time drawing.  I saw a guy was standing in front of the campus wall.  He stood there for a long time, I was able to draw him into my work. I always could get inspired by the beautiful campus at Santa Clara university. There was a construction nearby, I could hear the loud noise. A lady carried a child walked by asking me for directions, felt bad that I could not help. Later a Mexican gardening guy came blowing leaves by the church. He was kind and tried to avoid the area where I was painting. Took much longer to finish and it was getting hot around noon. (September 12 2022)

We've had an Indian summer for days now, around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It was challenging to go out. But I didn't want to miss the live model long and short posts today for six hours at the studio. It was showing 105 Fahrenheit degrees in my car when I was driving on the highway after lunch. There were many artists there, so was the model. Some of them already working on their second session. I started as quick as I could, it was my first session, and it will be a different model next time. Working on a used canvas panel 12"x16", I noticed that I had problem to mark the measurements, but my eye "measured" better. So I followed what I saw to get the sketch done, and continued with the portrait. The model told us that he had American Indian blood, but he didn't know what percentage. wondered why his skin tone looked Indian. Three hours isn't enough time for sure, but I know it was only a study. Anyway, I will do a little correction at home la

It is such a beautiful home and garden to visit. We came often whenever we passed by. Hadn't visited it for a long time, probably since pandemic. I always wanted to paint here too, though it was challenging, no matter how much I love plants, my reaction to pollen can bother me for days. Never mind, I told myself that I had to go. Surprisingly, there was no parking left in the morning, so I parked my car in the street. And saw many volunteers working in the garden. Most of they looked like seniors. It was not easy to find a subject to paint. So much variety, encompassing herb & rose gardens, a historic home, a carriage house & a tearoom... I walked around it twice, almost decided to paint the tearoom, because it was my first time seeing the door open, but I was fascinated by the gorgeous lotus glowing leaves in the water fountain under the morning sunlight. Immediately, I set up my workstation and started to draw. A small bird accompanied me less than ten feet away while I