Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

Besides being caught in not surprising traffic on U.S. Route 101 as usual, it was a nice breezy morning at the location. Walked around and instantly decided to paint those sailboats parked there. Might Be that I didn't paint enough boats at the event in Alameda, it was only ten days ago. It meant that I was physically recovered from exhausted. As an artist, I think that it is very important to be creative. So I decided not to paint all the boats parking in a row, and "moved" the warehouse building behind the three boats I painted. The composition of this painting looked better than exactly what was in front of my eyes. Saw several other artists painted there as well. Only talked a few, they seemed to all have found what they wanted to paint. (August 15 2024)

We always have an "Indian Summer" and it has been hot days for weeks. I decided to go to the Port because there was a subject I wanted to paint at the same spot, but from a different angle. I set up my work station and started on the drawing, which took me a little longer to finish. Because I wanted to try a different color palette, I hesitated to start. Also, there was only one boat next to the dock when I was here before, but many were parked there this morning. I have been thinking to use fewer colors for a long time, my first time to give it a try. The result seemed OK, better than I expected. Basically I wanted to focus on the value of the scene. It was getting windy around noon, and I finished up my work and packed up. Walked a bit around the port and discovered more subjects to paint. I will be back again for sure. (August 16 2023)

It was a nice day, but quite windy at the shore. Fortunately, I found a big tree to block the wind, and it worked very well. As I painted, a lady with her very sweet ten-year-old dog passed by and said Hi. The dog was friendly and didn't want to leave. I really wanted to pet her dog, but I knew that some paints are not good for animals and I had my rubber gloves on. So, I stopped and just watched them while chatting with the lady. After finishing the drawing, I hesitated on where to start with my work on the boats. Feeling a bit stuck, I decided to change to a bigger brush and covered the small details, then worked backwards to find the detail again. It looked better than when I started. As the wind grew stronger, it was time to go home. Last year, before the Alameda Plein Air Event, I painted at the Port of Redwood City. Unfortunately, I missed the application deadline this year, so I won't be able to attend it. (July 27, 2023)

Gorgeous day after many days of high heat. Decided to go back and paint an unfinished subject. There was some construction going on at the port. Always something new to freshen my mind, than had to change my mind to this beautiful red boat, that a guy was working on or maybe cleaning it. It started breezy, but the wind was getting stronger near noon. I hesitated whether adding some darker ocean blue was needed in the foreground of my painting till the very end. Because of countless times failing, I was afraid to do so. Finally, I added the darker color, my painting instantly looked better with depth. Took a deep breath and headed back home. (September 1 2021) August 17, I didn't manage time well to finish this one, rushed to go a birthday party...

Went to the same location again. Started with a small sketch, the drawing took me much longer to finish. It was breezy at the marina first, sooner it was getting a little bit windy than I couldn't handle it well. Geese were happy there, a guy was feeding them bread, though I was told that one should not feed the wildlife. Well, they needed more food to grow and fly back to Canada I thought. Kids were excited to learn how to sail. I felt cold in the wind, and had to put on the extra jacket that I brought. Couldn't get the fine lines of the rigging details with all the wind. So retouched it at home.  {June 23 2021}

Beautiful day in the 70s, painted at Redwood City Marina again. All the kids started earlier than me for their summer sailing lessons. Geese were happily enjoying eating the grass nearby. I found a shady spot and painted. Focused my practice on the clouds and remembered to take photos of my progress step by step for some friends' requests. Before I wrapped up, a large group of geese had almost occupied the area where I was standing. They were waiting patiently and watching for their leader's signal I guessed.  The adults were standing still, at the same time, some of the youngest geese in the group were eating or resting with their mothers watching over them very carefully, especially the ones that were very close to me. Will be back soon... (June 22 2021)

  I almost saved about 45 minutes on #101 to the location because of the pandemic and light traffic. Spent a lot of time drawing this "Harbor Patrol" boat, still I didn't get it right. I forgot that I moved a couple of times to my right so I could paint in the shade. Sun kept rising, finally I had to stand next to a big garbage bin. Took three hours to paint up to this point. I am not happy with the result of today's work, the composition and perspective bother me, but I am quite tired to fix it. My husband has working at home, going to prepare dinner earlier, not mentioned that I didn't have lunch...

It was my first time painting on location since "Shelter in Place". No traffic, great day with fresh air. I enjoyed painting outdoors and my favorite subject. Though the airplanes flying overhead made me feeling sad (I miss my family so much and I don't know when I able to visit them, especially my old mother...). Just tried my best to focus on my work. I didn't follow my study much in my painting. I feel happy now, even though my painting's result wasn't that good... So much going on and I had been feeling depressed. So many times I reminded myself I should go out and paint to avoid reading endless news I feel helpless to change. After a while, I started warning myself that I should not pay too much attention to the news. Since my family is in China... Slowly I have learned how to take better care of myself, my family and my surroundings in a new way, because I don't want to live as a victim of Covid-19, and all the madness and politics that come with. Th

2020 Day7 Over an hour driving instead of thirty minutes on 101 this morning. Sunny day, came to one of my favorite spots to paint boats. There were clouds, air planes flying overhead, boats, birds and reflections in the water, trees and mountains in distance... I thought a boat on the ground being fixed was an interesting subject. Tried wet into wet technique. I know it is one of the tougher parts to master - using the right amount of water to paint spontaneously. I was happy with the study result. Mike, who was fixing the boat, told me that boat would be here next week. So I think I will be back to paint it again next week. Hopefully it only rains during the evening time, California needs it🌧.

My first time came to this park to paint. Planned it for weeks, but there was a chance of rain. Kept checking on the location's weather, finally I made it. Such a beautiful place, there were docks and boats. Though there was some work going on in the park, and there were frequent airplanes flying overhead, I didn't notice. Happy to meet new people. Will be back to paint for sure. It started raining when I was leaving. Not mention there is traffic all day long on Route 101...