Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

We had a young girl sitter today who was wearing a red dress. She sat on a piece of greenish color cloth. I liked it, because I finally got to use some "left over" colors, expecially Veridian Green which I had a huge tube of for over twenty years and had only used a tiny squeeze of. Started sketching on a 16"x20" used panel, I painted in a more comtemporary color scheme by using Cadmium Red and Veridian Green together as complementary colors. I painted her full figure, just because I liked her black shoes. During each break, she studied with a pack of flash cards cards in her hands, seemed like she was in school and preparing exams. Three-hour sessions are never enough time for a portrait, so I went home to correct and add a few more details after. Happy with the result. (March 5 2024)

It was a rainy Saturday this Easter weekend.  I went to an evening live model session at Lynn's studio by chance that I found through Instagram, also it was very close where I live.   About 10 artists showed up, and one came all the way from Oakland on such a rainy weekend.  Painting and photography are unique arts. As we see in the work of old masters, great painting captures instead the outward molding of inner feeling that is truer to the individual than any momentary expression.  Because artist adds emotion into the painting it is unique to the individual.  Different color palettes, brushstrocks, or different perpectives to catch the likelness of the model.   Painting a model in realistic style isn't as important to me as capturing the essence of the model's expression.  I don't use a reference photo to copy a model, instead I use my eye and my hands to capture the expression from life, practise during the precious moments of the pai...

I thought I would paint a head portrait, but instead did a figurative study again on a used 16"x20" panel. Had to work on his legs more. Continued using my leftover Veridian Green.  Anyway the lighting system in the studio was cooler.   He was a very professional model, and we had him again for our evening short pose three-hour session.  He read a book instead of using his smart phone during each break, seems usual these days.   Pages of drawings I did,  and I was tired after two sessions total of six hours painting and drawing the same model. I was wondering if our sitter was exhausted too.  (March 19 2024)

A good model can inspire an artist to be creative and productive. Studying from a live model is always challenging. We were lucky to have very profession model Zoe being our sitter for two sections. The first week I did a full body study. Though I went to the studio half an hour early, most of the good seats were already taken. I grabbed the last middle one, so painted Zoe straight on. A week later, I brought my first figurative study back and correct a little bit. Then I worked on a 12"x16" portrait. Both sections I used pallet knives mostly and painted on used canvases.  The figurative one is 16"x20".  Nice of her that she posed herself next to our paintings in the end. Went back home and worked for hours correcting as the limited time wasn't allow me to do the details. For instance, her eyes looked more like she was meditating. And I added to my own interpretation into the portrait. Short pose drawing in the evening, Short pose drawings from our favorite ball...

I went back to the studio working on live model study again after a long break. It felt challenging, especially the short poses. I couldn't finish one nude whole body sketch in two minutes. It was OK for the five-minute poses. The three-hour long pose wasn't enough time for figuring out the whole body structure. There was a very nice younger Korean female artist there that helped me a little bit during the break. Then I was able to push my work further. Added more hours at home painting till it looked fine basically. I don't think I should add too much time working on it, otherwise I won't able to paint my own work. (January 9 2024)

I will continue my drawing studies but consolidate into one post each month from now on.  So I will add the dates for each study. (May 9 2023) Tuesday night again, our model was several minutes late. She immediately got ready and started from the two minutes pose.  I had a difficult time to draw her, and kept changing my pencils and charcoals.  I know the papers I use are too smooth.  After a while I found my favorite charcoals, instantly I could draw better. Haha, tools are very important! From her stable poses I could tell she was an experienced model. I had her long pose portraiture study before.  I don't think I remember the models' name, but I remember each face for sure.

It was Easter Friday. We rented a studio behind the Triton Museum of Art. More than ten artists, most of us live nearby, some of them drove from Sacramento and Northern Beach (north of Marin county). We were all ready, waiting for our model who came from San Francisco, an hour drive away. We got started at 11 o'clock. Ended up it worked out for two sessions, because the lunch break was cut by a half an hour, and extended to another half hour long. Nice studio, quite spacious. I started with a used canvas panel 16"x20", actually I sanded my last week's model study off. I noticed that I didn't have enough space for continuing my work after the first break, then I wiped it off, restarted it again. Our model was not very stable, so it was challenging for us to settle down our sketches and continue on with our work. We all painted quietly, only could hear the sound of brushes moving up and down on canvas. One of the artists brought a half bag of mandarins from her tree...

We are lucky to have a program that allow us practice on live figures in the studio.  I have been working on drawing and painting from live models for a year and a half now.  Found out that good models are very important to artists when studying them live.   Tonight we had a new model, she was introduced as working towards her graduation at Stanford University.  What a smart student and working hard too.  Also she is a good model, deserved generous tips. Short pose drawings are challenging, never feel that you have enough time to draw one properly. Actually it really depends on the artist, how many years experience of the drawing skill, what the artist wants to experiment with etc.  Some of artists now draw on an electric device like iPad for digital drawing.  To me after I stopped working as a graphic designer, I don't have much interest in working on computer any more, because I feel I have had enough.  I really enjoy working with traditio...

Drove to the studio during rush hour, and surprisingly there was no traffic jam on #101. Many new faces there. One thing I am sure of is that they were much younger than me. Allan was a wonderful model, though I don't get enough practice drawing male figures. I did OK, and the younger artists gave me complements, or some of them gave me a look that told me I did well. All I know is how long I have been struggling on drawing short poses, and I have been practicing for over a year and half now. To all the younger age artists, they have plenty time to catch up in their skills. (April 11 2023)

I haven't done a figure study for a while. Went to studio earlier to get a better seat.   Might be the model was too directly in front of me, and it wasn't easy to adjust her legs crossing each other. Not happy with the result after one three-hour session, I am not going back to correct my work next session, because I know that I should practice more.  (March 30 2023) Also I haven't practiced figure drawings. Glad that I went to draw from the live model.  Not only she was a good one, but I know I need to work on m anatomy to understand the human body better. (April 4 2023)

Correcting a painting without a live model or a right referenced photo was not an easy thing to do.  Finally, I've pushed myself to get the position she looked in the photo, but not the original painting I did from live.  All the photos I took from outdoors and indoors.  My color palette wasn't too bright, nor too duo.  Today is the International Women's Day on the East of the Global, tomorrow all the women on the west will celebrate the day I hope.  And I decided to stop paint this one, because  it was just a studio study, it was not necessary to finish perfectly.   (March 7 2023) One 3-hour session to paint the figurative work last Tuesday, I did not touch it after. Instead waited for this afternoon to continue or finish it. Might be the expectation, I had such a tough time to work on this portraiture. First, the model didn't pose in exactly the same position, especially her legs and feet. And also I was stubborn and wanted to change or repaint...

Missed the long pose live model study on Tuesday, so I went to the studio Thursday.  Got caught in traffic again, there was almost a full house of artists waiting for the model.  My first time painting this model, even though I was a little late I got a lucky spot, and I liked her pose.  A professional model too. After over a year of live model studies, I have come to a major  discovery.  I used too measure carefully instead of using my eyes to understand dimensionality in my drawings and portraiture works.  This time I used my objective feeling and exaggerated some features to get dimension, didn't measure everything exactly. I paid more attention to follow my instant feeling of her body instead of measuring.  Only one 3-hour session, I think I have done better using this approach.  Next step I should continue to work on my objective understanding of the subject and after that my style. I was so glad that I went to the studio, not so much for the...

John is one of the popular models in the San Francisco Bay Area, all the artists draw or paint him so many times.  Interestingly, I missed so many times to paint him.  Finally I didn't want to miss this afternoon's opportunity.   It wasn't easy to start his portrait. I had a higher expectations for myself after I saw many beautiful drawings or portrait work from great artists nearby.  Or maybe it was my first live model with beer or bald head.  I corrected my basic drawings more than usual, each time I lightened the color, then it turned out the portrait itself looked too creamy after this one 3-hour session done, and the proportion wasn't good either.  My husband said it looks fine, but please understand why I decided not to post it. In the evening we had a new good model, her poses were beautiful.  And she always asked if we like her standing or sitting down.  Ended up too many positions where she was standing. (February 21 2023)

Arrived 30 minutes earlier at the studio, because the model is one of my favorites. Our model she is African and Irish mixed. Today she wore a long white silk gown which contrasted her skin, very beautiful. But I didn't get the spot where I wanted to paint. She looked exactly straight to me, and her hands and feet were all together in the middle. Depends on my years of Plein Air experience, I know I must make decision quickly. Almost the same moment she moved her hand to touch her face, I captured the moment, so I could had a reference photo to paint while her two hands were positioned one horizontal, and one vertical. I already had done two portraits of her before, both were 12"x16". Today I worked on a new colored panel 16"x20". During the work, I noticed that her gown was quite challenging to paint, because of the white silky and reflective material. So I just focused on her whole shape, and used my left over color palette. Three hours was too shor...

Because of the Chinese Lunar New Year, I didn't go painting last week. Cleaning up was the major activity, got ready for the New Year.   Rain finally stopped, and the news said that there was enough water restored in our area. I only had one three-hour session for the long pose model in the afternoon. Working on an used 16"x20" canvas panel, quickly sketched, than started to put colors on. Even I have been practicing over a year, still certain proportions were not right after the session was finished. I know the challenging part is the correction.  Spent extra 6 hours to correct it after. In the evening, we had this African American female model back.  She is pretty and tall.  Each of her poses was nice, but I never could fit her onto my paper.  Just might be that she was very tall, and I was not used to it.  Of course I didn't expect I could draw figures super well, maybe someday soon.  One thing I have no doubt that practicing helps me to get...

I planned to continue my last week's portrait study of this model. Arrived at the studio, I saw the profile of the model from a different angle, and then decided to paint a new 12"x16" portrait study. Tried to paint her hand as well. Used some leftover paints from my last week's pallet. I rushed everything so I could do in one three-hour session. (January 10 2023) I thought that I'd just retouch a little bit, but ended up spending 6 hours working on the same painting, and I didn't even want to paint her hand anymore. The challenging and the life-learning parts of painting is knowing when to stop, because it has no undo button, lol... ( Updated on January 20 2023. Both are the same image, the 1st one was taken outdoors, and 2nd one was an indoor image) Evening we had the same model again for short poses. Ten or twenty minute poses were fine, but I still had hard time to draw her in less than five minutes. Drawing is really a daily study/progression I can real...

I really needed a break from online social media, including my blog.  I didn't do much during the holiday season, besides seeing museums based in Los Angeles in Southern California.  It was called our "vacation" before the Christmas in 2022, since we didn't travel like most of people in past three plus years, only went to Boise last summer to meet my brother-in-law there.   Weather was warmer than our location in the Bay Area, especially during the day time.  The food was delicious, traffic was as expected.   The most exciting part of our trip was seeing about hundred of dolphins swimming and jumping around the boat when we were on the way to the Channel Island National Park.  But the hiking was super-challenging, we could not reach Pelican Beach in time. Getty Villa and Getty Center were both must-see museums with enormous collections.  Norton Simon is always one of my favorites.  Saw the special exhibition of "Picasso Ingres - Face to ...