Pleinair @ near St. Clare Parish Santa Clara CA


I thought I wanted to paint the church. Then I changed my mind after I saw the light and shadows on this building were so interesting.


Found a shady spot under a tree off the street, set up my workstation, and spent a little bit more time sketching out the details. Wish I was an architect, could get all the perspective correct in the first pass but it took a little longer.

A college boy walking by said "good morning" and startled me because I was so focused on my work. He was very polite though and apologized.

Later when I was almost done the painting, a lady passing by and said "so beautiful" and scared me again. I guess I haven't been out in the public painting enough lately. She apologized too, and I told her no need to worry and we chatted a bit. She had an Australian Shepherd dog with the most beautiful eyes. She told me that her dog was super-smart and sweet.

It was a nice day to enjoy the breeze and get out into the fall air.

(September 27 2023)
San Francisco Bay Area CA 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

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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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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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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Alameda Plein Air Paint Out -16th Annual Event 2021

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Alameda Plein Air Paint Out 2021 - my 3rd time here Joined the 16th Annual - Alameda Plein Air Paint Out Event from August 2 to 7. It was my third time joining the Plein Air event since 2018. Didn't apply in 2020 as Coivid-19 changed the world. August 1 in the evening, I moved into my host lady Ros' house on Bay farm island. I was so welcome by her, her dog Sparky and three of her bunnies. Not a good first night's sleep, might be the airplanes over head or the new place. Met many artist friends while we checked into the event the next morning. Ross' friendly dog Sparky Always started my first painting at Grand Marina, actually I painted at Fortman Marina at the Alameda Yacht Club. It was a gorgeous morning, met the Club manager Mark. He showed me the watercolor  paintings his grandmother and his mother did in his office and told me that he was an artist too. People were passing by and gave me some compliments. I remembered to give them the flyers inviting them t...
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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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White House In An Oak Grove

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Happy weekend :)! I saw the big Red Moon last night through the windows, did you? "White House In An Oak Grove", original oil on canvas panel, was a landscape oil painting newly finished. The reason I painted it was just because the longer I've lived in California, the more I prefer spending a couple days in the countryside during weekend. It seemed that white house was my dream place to escape from the surrounding high tech. I just wanted to smell the fresh air, enjoy hiking or sight-seeing, get inspiring from the nature, a few good friends visits, have some delicious food together, no need TV, internet or computer, maybe I should turn off my smart phone! But I realized, I already get used to taking photos from my phone, hahaha... What is your favorite thing(s) to do during your weekend? Have you written it down, drawn or painted it on a piece of paper/canvas yet???
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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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