Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

Got up with my lower back pain, and it was gray. I hesitated if I should go paint... I made up my mind to go after breakfast, just because it was a new painting location to me. There is always traffic on #101 now, no matter during the rush hour/hours or not. I got caught in it both ways. Felt happy to see that many artists already found their spots to paint after I got there and found this secret garden.   Beautifully designed building in Spanish Mediterranean-style architecture. I tried to find where I could paint, and realized that every turn I might block one of the artist's views. Finally, I stayed near the gateway area and painted this more complicated scene. A Chinese lady painter came back from Hawaii, I met her before padamic. Unfortunately her house was burned down their. She taught me some TaiQi for my back pain and report back on my progress after 2 weeks. She brought her 96-year-old father with her. I saw him sitting on a bench and drawing in the distance, I thou...

I have been thinking to paint at this location for a while. Today was perfect weather for outdoor painters, and I went there to paint with other local artists. Such a gorgeous place.  Each time I had a  hard time deciding where to start my work.  I even went upstairs to see the whole garden from above.  Almost every angle was paintable. Actually, I saw a guy who was doing flower arrangment on his knees.  I asked for his permisssion to take photos. he told me that he did this each Wednesday.  I would love to paint him someday in my studio.  Finally, I decided to paint from a similar spot as my first time painting there. Just like many years ago, there was a class of younger age children singing.  Tlhe teacher kept repeating the same song over and over... I thought I could remember the song, but I only remember the "miao miao miao" of the cat... LOL Some artist started earlier, and some of them were fast painters, they started theirs a little bit e...

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)

My third time coming to paint this Gothic Revival style church.  Once I painted it in the late afternoon.  Today I painted in the morning. There was a red SUV parked in front, but I had no idea when it had been switched to a white one. It was not a quite an intersection, cars and people were passing by, some of them on the bikes or other kinds of transports. I noticed that there was guy cleaning the front of the church, so I painted him into my work. (October 16 2023)

Before embarking on Plein Air painting, I had the opportunity to witness several artists creating their masterpieces outdoors during the summer of 2017. This experience sparked a strong desire within me to someday capture the essence of this unique architecture through my own artwork. Years later, I finally found myself at the desired location, ready to set up my work station on a scorching morning. It was no easy task finding a suitable spot due to the obstructing trees blocking my view. Without sketching a preliminary outline, I faced the challenge of depicting the intricate details of the building. To make matters more interesting, there were workers painting the adjacent structure. Aware of the limited time available, I knew I had to complete my work as swiftly as possible. After struggling momentarily with the initial sketch, I swiftly applied watercolors while standing in the middle of a narrow lane. A kind local lady informed me that Mondays tended to be quiet, and she didn'...

It was a pleasant day, I went to Villa Montalvo and did a Plein Air painting. Focused on the statues and was inspired by the curvilinear nature of the beautiful landscape, and tried to avoid painting a lot of the trees in the background to create this painting. Years of painting experience has taught me that I worked too hard on the areas that were not my strengths. Being artists, we should focus on freedom of expression to create what inspires us using our strengths. LOL, it is not too late to learn... (June 15 2023)x

Went to the beautiful Sikh Gurdwara located in South San Jose. My second time going there, not for Plein Air, this time I wanted to try drawing people indoors. The kitchen opened and served food when I arrived. I wore my black hat with a scarf over my head and shoulders.  Found a carpet to sit down on, where I could a better view of other people, mostly Indian I think.   I haven't practiced drawing people with clothes on for a long time, had noticed that Indian clothes were harder for me to draw since I never wear them, have no clue how everything connects on the body. And drawing professional models no matter for 2 minutes, 5 minutes or longer, they are trained not move.  But those people came to kitchen for food and socializing.  They moved their the hands, bodies, heads all the time, and never stop.   I had to draw them by memorizing.  Lucky I brought my favorite brush pen, it helped me draw better after I found it in my bag. A guy came out o...

It was a beautiful and warm day, first time I drove to this amazing Sikh Gurdwara in San Jose up in the middle of the hills after passing downtown San Jose.  From Google Search: The Sikh Gurdwara of San Jose is a gurdwara located in the Evergreen district of San Jose, California. It was founded in 1984 by leaders of the then-rapidly growing community of Sikhs in the area. It is the largest Gurdwara in the world outside of India. I could spot the domes through the trees on my way up the hill, the Gurdwara is nestled in the hills and I  really wanted to stop along the roadside to paint it from a distance, but I kept driving up to the location. When I arrived, I saw three generations of families in traditional dress, woman wearing beautiful saris and men wearing turbans together with their children.  While I was there, I walked around and got to say "hi" to some new and old artist friends.  I found a nice spot to the side and started working.  Took a long time to ...

My terrible memory put a Plein Air exhibit organized by local Chinese artists group. I went to see the opening at their show, many great works of eight artists. I didn't want to miss the chance to Plein Air with them. I was well prepared from a hot summer place to be in a winter climate, though it was only 40 plus miles away at the Moss Beach. My car needed to be charged in Downtown Half Moon Bay, because there was no other charging stations nearby. I did my first painting there with my down jacket on. Didn't realized that it was getting crowed around noon, it was an empty town in the morning when I arrived. My painting got many compliment by the passengers. Prefect time, my work was done and my car was charged. It was a gray day, and drove several miles to the Moss Beach. My first time to be the location, and ate a little snacks in my car. I could tell the temperature was just like winter outside, and had my light wind blocker on, pull my gear up to the hill to meet ot...

After picking my painting up which showed at NUMUNew Museum, chatted with a couple of artists. I painted at a corner of downtown Los Gatos too. It looked busy, not sure because it was Sunday noon or since masks are no longer required in public in California. Soon, most of the restaurants were occupied by many people. Some passing by me complimented my work, though it was not finished yet. I appreciate all the encouragement. A couple crossed the street to look at my work, they were a little bit disappointed that I didn't paint their restaurant. I told them that I will do it next time, and they said they prefer to wait till their patio is done. (March 13 2022)

Nice day, felt relaxed after seven days participating in the Capitola 6th Annual Plein Air Event.  My first time painting at the location. Met several artists I hadn't seen for a long time.  One even said "Nice to meet you", because she could not figure out who I was under my mask. Only two hours parking permitted, happy with my quick work. Went home tried to catch up with all week's house work. (November 8 2021)

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

(May 11 2021) I painted almost at the exact the same spot on April 5 2018. I pulled out my old work to compare with today's. Is there any improvement? Of course it wasn't painted on the same sunny day like today. I did plan to paint at San Francisco Botanical Garden today. And I found out my car didn't get enough juice to cover the mileage. So came back to paint at one of my favorite local places again. It wasn't as quiet as usual, some construction was going on. One of the guys came to check me out if I had gotten my professional photography permission, but fortunately OK to paint here. Started a small sketch, then worked on my regular Fabiano 140p cold press watercolor paper. Forgot to mention how much I liked my new purchased Fabiano paper, I can feel the improved quality of the paper, especially the "tooth" of the surface to hold on water and colors. It is getting hot here, over 80 degrees around noon. There were mosquitos flying around and botheri...

( Apr 9, 2021 ) In the morning I thought that I should go out to paint since my allergies didn't bother me too much. Arrived on location a little bit later than usual, instantly saw two people painting there, they were a mother painting watercolor and a teenage daughter painting in oil. I did one painting last November, and didn't like it. No hesitation, set up my station nearby the spot last year where I painted. I didn't realize that I was under a huge blooming tree, and at the entrance of the path from parking lot to main visiting area. More people were coming and leaving, mostly kids, I guessed they were on their spring breaks. A young girl about five years old stood next to me when my painting was half way done, she kept asking if I finished it or not... Then the leaves and flowers kept falling off the tree around me and my nose started running. Ignored it, I had my mask on. View my two paintings, not sure if I had made a little improvement yet? (November 12 , 2020 )  

Planned to join an online drawing with other artists. Rushed and got everything ready this morning, then found out it was already over. Hadn't painted outdoors for ten days, really missed it. Sunny day today, so came back to paint this unique architecture in a residential neighborhood. Overdressed, it was still feeling warm in the sun. Started with a little sketch study. Looked at the surroundings and stood cross the church, I felt fascinating by so many things hanging in the air and stuff on the ground; I never paid attention each time passing by. The longer I drew, the more things I discovered. Every object looked more interesting under the winter sun, because of the contrast between light and longer shadows I guessed. It was getting busier around noon. Spending almost an hour to finish the basic drawing. Even I knew that I shouldn't add too many details into my Plein Air works, but they were the parts of the local life, maybe the reason they attracted my attention. Brought p...

Dec. 10 I was excited to receive my orders from China - a new set for outdoor painting which I waited almost two months for. Went to paint this church, a gothic revival structure built in 1904. The winter afternoon light made it look so unique and interesting. The new painting set is much lighter in weight, but I have to get used working on two levels to paint. It is supposed to have more space, but felt like not enough space for keeping my stuff handy. The sun set before five pm - too early, so I only had a chance to lay down the first layers of color before I had to wrap up and leave. I checked my work through my smart phone's black/white photo feature and surprisingly the contrasts worked well. By the time I got home, it was already dark. The next morning, I resumed work on the painting, adding more details and darkening certain areas. Really liked working on solid, stable table to draw the light posts and lines better. After the painting was finished, I realized that I didn...

Nov. 12 Gorgeous day but cold in San Francisco. Painted at the same beautiful landmark I visited a couple weeks ago. After my work was done, I felt so warm inside my car. Drove through such a charming city. GPS guided me up and down hills. I felt it fun to see the city views, tried to snap a couple of shots at the beginning. Then driving on the Divisadero St, there were a few steep roads, at the first couple of intersections. I felt like the car was going straight up, even stepping on the brake I worried my car would slip backwards. My hands and feet were both sweating. Later, going down, my car stopped at what felt like 45 degrees downhill. The views were spectacular in front of me. I was so nervous, did not dare to take a glimpse. On the way back, a detour guided me to an even steeper road, one seemed like a thirty degree angle looking down. I almost wanted to scream and closed my eyes, but there were people crossing the road, so I had to stop and keep my eyes widely open. What an e...

Nov.9 Definitely it suddenly got so cold, I saw frost on the roof this morning, and snow on the top of the distant mountains yesterday. That couldn't stop me from painting outdoors. Came here and painted with other artists. Just followed my instant feeling for this angle to paint. Spent more time for a little sketch and a drawing. Thought I was ready to mix my colors. It was really hard to keep the loose feeling. I wasn't happy with the statues and the background. A watercolor artist Susan finished her Plein Art work and happened to pass by me. So kind that I had her feedback. Then my work started improving a bit... I remember that John Singer Sargent did some masterpieces of statues in watercolor paintings. My breath was always taken away each time I saw only the prints. So much to look forward to... seeing the originals someday!  

Didn't plan to paint outdoors, but the weather was so nice I thought that I could save some work for raining days at home. Rushed out the door, my car GPS refused to accept the address. And I still missed the entrance of the free way by listening to Google maps. It was a little bit late, actually it was good timing, as the sun just started shining on the roof of this historic St. Anthony Church on Bertram Rd. Learned so many lessons from my previous mistakes. focused on drawing patiently. Felt hot in the sun, watercolor paper and paint dried very fast, followed the flow to work. Happy I was out to paint, met a couple of watercolor artists as well.

There was little traffic inside the city of San Francisco this morning. My GPS signal got lost, I had to turn around before the Golden Gate Bridge. Gorgeous day being out and painting my one of the landmarks for the first time - Palace of Fine Arts San Francisco. Walked around this stunning architecture, saw mostly local people walking and chatting or taking care of babies; different kinds of birds flying over the lagoon, which reflected this magnificent building and surrounding landscape contrasted by the blue sky. A guy was playing guitar and sang songs to the kids behind where I was painting. A couple had their sweet memory wedding photo shoot at the waterfront. Who doesn't want a decent photo here! I knew that I should not paint it too complex when doing outdoor paintings. But I couldn't help myself and tried to squeeze in as much as I could into an 11"x14" painting. Beside the falling autumn leaves, a caterpillar jumped on top of my palette. I tried to...