Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

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)

Nice morning, but it was grey and hot on location. It was my second time coming here to paint the Hayes Mansion.  It is a historic location but now it is Hilton Hotel. I found a spot on the patio and painted the view from that perspective. The angle I tried to paint was not easy to capture, especially on a grey day, because the light and shadow wasn't clear. Luckily, the, sun came out around noon, so I got a chance to correct my work a little bit. Later, I saw several old friends who were also Plein Air artists and we chatted.  They gave me some good feedback. (August 14 2023)

It was a nice day, and I painted with local artists at the location. I set up my workstation near a cabin where a summer camp employee was watching over the lake to keep the boaters safe. I used the cabin's shade to paint comfortably. The place was busy with many kids attending the summer camp, and they all seemed happy. I noticed some teenagers working there, not much older than the kids having fun. I overheard a seventeen-year-old boy telling others that he was going to join the Navy program for college. The others looked at him with envy and admiration. The boys in charge were young but behaved like adults, helping the kids enjoy sailing and giving them snacks. After finishing my painting, I walked around to see other artists' work. To my surprise, I saw Will painting there. I went to say Hi. I had met him last May during the Plein Air event in Carmel. He was nice and kind and encouraging of my work. He helped two other artists by making little corrections for them.  He spen

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)

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'

Our summer starts late than in most locations, but it finally has arrived.  It was almost 90 F degrees, seemed that it was a perfect day went to beach and paint with friends to get my motivation back. I checked the weather report, but it never tells the right coastal weather condition.  It showed only 57 F degrees when I drove to Santa Cruz.  I hesitated but knew I should continue.  I didn't want to come out of my car after I arrived. There were a local store next to the Cabrillo Highway near the Panther Beach.  I pulled over because I wanted to use the restroom.  Not surprised that I had to buy something before I got the key.  Checked out the store, mostly vegetables and fruits that were quite costly, some of them from local and looked fresh.  I bought a large beet with leaves on it.   I was told that I was not allowed to park in front of the store, than I moved my car to park cross the High Way #1.   Didn't see my artist friends yet, I decided to walk to the beach to check wh

I didn't want to miss another nice day, and went back to the same place where I painted last week. But I moved the position of the scene a little further away so I was able to paint the pink building of the Carmelite Monastery, and the super-blooming oleanders. After setting up my work gear, I saw the red truck parking at the same spot I had missed to paint last week. I really had a moment and wanted to paint it again. I saw a senior guy pass by pulling a wagon when I started on my work. Hours later he came back again with his wagon almost full and asked if he could have a peak at my work. Of course I told him, and we introduced ourselves to one and other.  His name was Hall, and he lived nearby. Shopping with a wagon, what a great idea and healthy way to go about it. (June 29 2023)

I was attracted by the red truck and the bougainvillea flowers hanging on the wall, the color combination matched well at the parking lot of the adult school. Found a shady spot and started to draw a small sketch first. It was a lovely afternoon. Didn't check the weather carefully, and I forgot that it isn't easy to paint outdoors when it is windy. A lady was passing by, and told me that there was a painting class if I wanted to learn. She must be a passionate educator I thought. And she said that an art instructor taught two classes, one in watercolor, the other one was acrylic. I told her that I would love to pass the info if anyone I know would like to learn. But I didn't mentioned that I would write it in my blog. Because there are hundreds of visitors that visit my blog daily. Another thing I should know better after years' outdoor painting experience, is that I should paint unpredictable subjects that can move without notice, like the truck LOL...(June 20

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

Monday morning, it seemed that a little quiet in downtown Pleasanton. Before, I went to Harrington Gallery to pick up my exhibited painting. I did a quick Plein Air work at this historic and popular Ice cream store called Meadowlark Dairy. Each time there were many people in the queue waiting to buy ice cream. I tried it a couple of times, it's pretty good. I did a Plein Air painting of this store three years ago, painted the whole building, and from a different angle. Back then there were no umbrellas decorating the store. And of course I added more people in my painting this time from my memory. (June 12 2023)

It has been unusually cold and rainy the past few days here. Decided to do a first Plein Air work in the month May. My first time visiting this historic park.  Only saw a few people, might be because of the cold and gray morning.  Found a spot and started my work.   I had to put an extra jacket on, and my work took a longer time to be dry enough for putting on the second and third layers.   Not the best work I've done, but it is a good start for the month. (May 10 2023) Or join me at: FaceBook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest

Pretty happy that my Plein Air watercolor painting "Coastal Bungalow" was accepted for the 11th Annual Fresh Works Juried Exhibition.  Dropped off my work at the Harrington Gallery Firehouse Arts Center in Pleasanton, and drove to Alviso Adobe Community Park.  My husband found this place online last night, because I was looking for a place to paint on the delivery painting day. Excited because it is a totally new painting spot for me.  After parking my car and dragging my painting gear to the Adobe House, I instantly tried taking photos for painting ideas.  A guy came out of the house and told me that kids are not allowed to be in the photos by their parents.  Then I noticed that many children were having on site class, I guessed.  I showed him a couple of the photos I just took, after enlarged the images, there were a couple of blurry dots in the  distance, from the clothing colors could tell that the mini-dots were humans.  He did his job and told me those were OK. I set up

There were many rainy days this spring, Gave me lots of good excuses to not paint outdoors and instead use the home studio.  Thought it would be a good day to paint out with other artists, but it was gray and cold all the time there until we were leaving.  Because it was cold, the watercolor paper wouldn't dry fast enough to paint on. Saw people started hiking, caught up with several other artists.  Retouched the painting at home, added a figure, can you see him?☝️ (March 20 2023)

Took a break and didn't go to the studio yesterday, I felt relaxed a little bit. The rain finally stopped, and it was clear but windy.  Drove to the Half Moon Bay Nursery but missed it because there are many other similar nurseries on the same road.  Got out of  the car to ask a guy working inside, and wanted to use the restroom.  The guy told me the directions nicely.   Got there and found a doorway to set up my painting stuff, so I could paint inside because it was quite windy outside.  I liked the way I could see the outside greenhouses in a row, and there was a single tool laying against an empty table.  A guy working for the nursery wanted to remove the tool, but he changed his mind after he saw the tool was in my painting. Took me three hours to paint this one, after all I always think that I should do another one, but I felt tired.  On the way back, I saw the snow was still on top of the mountains, snap shots for memory.   (March 1 2023)

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 finish because

My last Plein Air painting in Half Moon Bay was done in July last year.  I remember it was such a cold day.  Today I caught only light traffic and little road work on the way.   It was a gorgeous day, hills turned green, and flowers started blooming after days of rain.  I was looking for the Giusti farm in Half Moon Bay CA without knowing the address.  Luckily, I found it by noticing other artists painting along the High Way #1, only had one extra turn.  There were acres of mustard flowers in the fields and up to the hills. Some were lemon yellow, some already had turned to Indian yellow.  They were more attractive contrasted with the fresh spring green grasses in between.   Usually start with a small sketch, not this time since I was a little bit behind schedule.  I reminded myself that I should focus on the main subject to paint.  It didn't take too long, and I was happy with the result.   Very nice to see some old and new artists painting as well.   (February 8 2023)

After weeks of rain, our weather is getting warmer and clear, spring is on the way.  Very happy to start my first Plein Air of the Year. I didn't set up my spot, just thought to follow whatever caught my eye. Didn't drive too far, and I couldn't help myself to stop at the orchard next to the Campbell Seventh-day Adventist Church.  I just love this unique place.  It's hard to believe that it still hasn't been developed into a new condos.   Felt warm in the sun.  Set up my equipment, looked through the chicken wire fences, and started with a small sketch on a pad, then on my regular Fabriano Artistico 140 lb Cold Press watercolor paper.  I decided to "relocate" the truck for a new layout. During the painting, a truck stopped in front of my view.  A young guy started taking photos.  Being a Plein Air painter, you must make decisions quickly depending on the situation when unexpected things happen.  So I decided to let him know that he blocked what I was work

October 31 Day 1 My second year participating the annual Plein Air. Very happy to see Laurie, the event chair, and other artists when I checked in, though it was gray and cold, only 53 degrees. Luckily all the participants got parking permits next to the City Hall. Dragged my stuff walked partway through town and met several painters. Decided to paint on the pier, and got permission from the store owner to set up my gear in front of his shop. There were three or four older guys chatting across from me, some passers by dressed up Halloween outfits complimented my work. Then I moved back to my car, drank water and ate some snack. Went back and started painting my second one, smaller size, but I liked the colors of the building. It was getting colder, watercolor paper wasn't drying, and took much longer to do my next steps. It was about near sunset, so I decided to hit the road for home. November 1 Day 2 It was raining heavily at the location... November 2 Day 3 Arrived there and fou