Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

Studio paintings has taken too much time of mine, I really have to do more Plein Air work.  Nice out and painted with a couple my art friends.  I instantly found this spot to paint the boat.  Later I had noticed that there were two young guys working on the boat, started to worried if the boat could be moved away.  The subject was a little bit complicated, and I simplefied them. So glad that the boat was not moved away after my work was done.  Had to leave the other two artists behind.  (April 1 2022)

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)

I saw beautiful waterlilies near Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve during the weekend. Planned to paint there this morning. Thought how I should paint today, didn't pay too much attention and turned into the highway... I guessed that helped to change my mood. Even though the water lilies were so beautiful, I decided to paint the landscape, where I painted last November and saw a couple of coyotes on the hill. Lovely morning being outdoors and painting. After my work was done, went to visit all the gorgeous water lilies, most of them were blooming... Each media has its challenging part to deal with. Watercolor paper dries too fast in warm or hot days for sure, and it takes too long to dry in a wet or cold day. How to adjust the outdoor painting time during the different weather conditions takes life time to develop I believe, though I have been painting almost twenty years, only have four years experience being a Plein Air painter. But feeling lucky I can be in the nature often

Nov. 18 Came to one of our favorite trails to paint at a time when there was predicted little chance of rain. I couldn't make up my mind where to set up. Just because all the angles looked so beautiful at the time because of all dramatic lighting in the clouds. I knew there was no public restroom nearby and so had to limit my painting time. The hills here we had hiked countless times. There are only clouds here during the rainy season so it is particularly dramatic now. Two coyotes appeared on the trail, then disappeared into the grass in distance. It didn't rain, but the light changed dramatically in the short time I was there. Learned my lessons, had to plan what I wanted to paint, watercolor does not tolerate too many mistakes.    

My 3d time painted at this location with an other local artist today. As usual did a small study first, took me much longer time to paint. After stepping back to view my work, I realized that there were not enough values in my work (The top one). Came home continued working on the painting (The bottom one), not sure if it has improved or not. Fall is coming, there were leaves and little branches falling on my painting and on me while I was painting today. Could see leaves started turning colors in distance. What a challenging year!

🙏Say prayers for all the people impacted by the fires in California! It looked gray, not too smoky, might be still effected by the nearby fire. Good to know that such an oriental garden exists in Silicon Valley. First time I came here, and so happy to see 10 other artists at the location and what they painted. I instantly found my spot to paint. Actually the whole garden was under major works, the pond was dry. I stood at the bottom of the pond to paint. Took me a while to do a small study, and draw the bridge, added my own water into the pond . After my painting was done, Will Maller, a very respected artist used his own made Golden radial ruler measured my work, seemed everything located by following the Golden rules. Did that mean my composition was perfect? I doubted it.... Had got some compliments from other artists. I think they were very kind and encouraged me. Later I walked further, found out a water lily pond behind, I will be back soon for sure. (August 31 2020)

Bugs like my watercolors in spring... lol. I didn't know about this park till today. Still under 60 degrees out, not a warm day. Felt like somewhere in China all of a sudden. Lucky me not only have so many friends all over the world supporting my art every day, and also my family members helped and delivered a couple of new 140b big and small watercolor blocks which were made in Holland, and a new watercolor palette with 17 wells from China. I used a couple of new watercolor paints I ordered online. Hadn't gotten to used them yet. Anyway, keep practicing... I don't usually paint for using all the tricks, today's painting I used some sea salt on the tree area, wanted to express the spring blossom feeling, but the sea salt I used not absorbed properly

Raining for days, working @ my studio... Finally my old color palette is fallen apart. First, the 2 lids were broken, one was the lid of the container, and the other one was for covering the paints area. Then the side of the box was broken. So I glued everything back together. I have been using it on and off at studio and outdoors at least 15 years I believe. Though I had bought a few different palettes, still this is my most favorite one, functional and light in weight. I don't need too many colors, and I love it has large and deep area holding each color, it is just the simple right size for me. This time I won't able to glue everything back again unfortunately, have to let it go... My new order is on the way...

First time I came to this park. Unfortunately, the road inside the park was closed. There was too much rain recently, I guess. I didn't want to give it up though so I found a neighborhood that looked interesting to paint on the outside road. That was what I did today, not easy in a gray day though. Usually I would bring the masking fluid and salt. I didn't have them with me today so I had to paint carefully. But I am not sure if I like the result. Only thing that I'm sure of is to keep doing it.

What impressed me was that there was no traffic this morning, and it was a scenic way to drive, though it was quite hot at the location. Not sure why I have only painted a few bald yellow hills, those could be seen almost half of the year here. My first time being here, saw many people go hiking and passing by, thought I should hike here someday, heard this was called "little Yosemite", must be so beautiful deep inside. Two x14x"11" were done at the same spot, only about 120 degree different angle. The Sunol Regional Wilderness is a regional park in Alameda County, the eastern San Francisco Bay Area, Northern California. It is located near the town of Sunol, south of Pleasanton and east of Fremont. (Updating from September 3, 2018)

From gray to sun shine, it was a typical California morning. My first time being here, did two paintings at the location. After one done, I turned ninety degrees, then did the second one at the same spot. There were many geese visiting the lake, they seemed very happy. All of a sudden, there was a remote controlled looking like a toy boat making a loud noises sailing in the water, broke the peaceful morning and scared all the geese away. I didn't think it was a nice thing to do. Later on, a lady passing by told me that the geese were eating the fish growing inside lake, so they used the the little motor to scare the geese away on purpose. (Updating from for August 30, 2018)

Today looked like a pleasant day, but it was cold and windy at the location, my second time painting here. There were many little flies sticking on to my wet painting. Six hours painting outdoors, light kept changing, but I could finish this 12"x9" small piece painting. Had to wait till it got drier to fix it. Felt starving, cold and tired... (June 1 2018) This original painting and prints are available   @ https://fineartamerica.com/featured/shoreline-lake-boathouse-mountain-view-california-landscape-16-xueling-zou.html

Weather forecast showed that today would be a pleasant day. Early spring, birds were so active hanging around the lake, some of them were chasing others, making a certain amount of sound. I stood in the shade, felt cold in the breezy wind from the lake, so lucky I had my jacket on, though it was 70 degrees out. After four-hours standing and painting, I was starving and got a bad headache. I didn't think it was a smooth day, couldn't find my way home nearby where I lived, had to turn the GPS on. But I still want to go back to paint from a different angle. More original artwork @ http://xueling-zou.pixels.com/

"Cherish your own emotions and never undervalue them." -- Robert Henri It wasn't warm, about 50 degrees this morning. There were many surfers at the beach already. Some of them were not young, still so brave. I really admire them all. Light is the source of the reality, can change the way you look at everything. Later the sun came out, felt warm, but my painting didn't look right any more... It was the challenging part of painting out. I've learned for years that creating a good piece of art, artist should respect one's own emotion first. What do you think?

🎨Plein air @ Almaden Quicksilver County Park, San Jose, CA. It was about 50 degree this morning with wind. Followed the GPS direction, and my smart phone had no signal. I got lost for a little while, then found the park. Felt chilly for out door painting. But I did it. 加洲风景水彩寫生.