Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

Planned to go further today, but the news report said that coivd-19 infected numbers increased dramatically. I thought I should stay at home and maybe clean up my garden. Then the temperature went all the way up to 70 degrees, I thought what a waste of a perfect, beautiful winter day for painting outdoors. I drove around and found two almost identical houses next to each other. What attracted me was the shadow from the tree traced on the yellow house as a background. But my painting was not big enough to show the details. Good exercise to paint a residential house. Usually all the leaves on the trees block the full view of houses. Today, I spent a lot of time and tried to understand how each part of the house connected together. In the end, I had to break up the fences to make my painting not looking monotonous. A lovely afternoon being outdoors and painting!  (Jan 14 2021)

My first time painting at this location near Half Moon Bay. Followed Google and found this unique, old western town nestled in the rolling countryside along the San Mateo coast. Such a unique place, I had a hard time to make decision, then I saw a real cute pig alone sleeping inside the Jail, felt quite some pity for it. So painted next to the Jail, at least provided companionship to the little sleepy, lonely pig. The building I focused on to paint was next to the fence. Wondered why there was so much dust in the air. Finally I saw a horse next to wall, might try to communicate with me. Gorgeous day after I had so much delicious food and celebrated our shared birthdate together at one of my girlfriends' house yesterday. But this morning I was a little bit frustrated, my car GPS which had the options of the shortest distance choice, but Google map showed the fast way. I usually use both in case the signals lost. There was almost ten miles difference between those two, who I should f

It started a grey day, went to this paintable ranch, felt chilly. Did a small study sketch, it didn't help me for some reason. Well, I guessed that it was one of the days I just could not paint, two paintings in a row all failed. Sun came out, walked around the property, took some photos, young cows nearby looking at me. One goat mom with two kids they were calling each other... A wonderful Californian ranch life, the moment inspired me to paint the third one, and I added the goats into it after came home. (May 6 2019)

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!

Not a rainy day, sun came out around noon. What attracted to me was the light and shadows of this house. I guessed that there was nobody at home, the dog barked like crazy... Tried a couple of times, I couldn't tell this neighborhood that I just came to paint, so I had to give up. I brought my stuff back to the car, suddenly the dog stopped barking. All right, I painted inside my car, though I wasn't in the right position to paint, but I did it and retouched a little bit more after got home.

Please view my online galleries @ https://xueling-zou.pixels.com/index.html?tab=galleries This morning painted at a private property in Los Gatos, I was fascinated by the shadow of tree leaves on my paper. I will try to paint abstracts someday, I always want to... Ultramarine blue is always one of my most favorite colors on my palette and in life. I just realize that I have almost run out, have already ordered a new watercolor tube last Friday, keeping my fingers crossed that it will be delivered this week. I don't think I could live without it, especially for the Alameda Plein Air event I am participating in next week. Wish me luck!

It was raining in the morning, I thought that I couldn't paint out, might be stay in bed a little longer... Ended up Google maps directed me to a wrong location. Finally, I found out that we painted warm and dry with the other artists at an artist's gorgeous home. I felt regret that I had chosen today as my first fasting day of the new year. In addition to the wonderful people, there was delicious food, wine and snacks served at this artist's home. Sun came out finally, everything looked more beautiful, but my still life painting wasn't finished... My original artwork @ http://xueling-zou.pixels.com/

Being an artist, I can visually create an image in my minds eye. Here is the example of a small painting project.  I did 2 paintings, one is the hallway before, and another one is the hallway after an imaginary makeover. An inherited house from grandpa, a couple didn't want to give up anything from the past with those beautiful memories of their grandpa. But they felt depressed living in the house. The 2nd painting was a suggestion to relocated some of the old furniture and repaint the interior. They took my advice and did a minimal renovation for their hallway as the first step. And now, they are happily living there with their beloved dog, the Hallway Before is handing in their hallway now:-)! Please click the 1st image for viewing other artists' comments under the painting, or view more paintings at: https://xueling-zou.pixels.com/featured/grandpas-hallway-after-xueling-zou.html ​Or join me at: FaceBook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest