Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

Jan 10  Yesterday, Saturday I went to paint @ this beautiful location and met a new painting friend in the afternoon. It was close to sunset time and wasn't warm. My watercolor paper refused to dry. But the scene was magnificent! After I got home, the paper was still wet. Learned not to paint outdoors under certain degrees temperature for sure. So, I stayed at home and joined a zoom "portrait party" today. Several drawings I did and shared here, they were all minutes sketch starting with one minute only, great to practice.  

Dec. 9 Always wanted to paint at this location. Finally I came upon a warm winter day. There was haziness between the rolling hills in the distance, tree leaves were still displaying their autumn colors, horses were hanging around near the barn, people with their dogs were walking on the hill path... Enjoyed the peacefulness, but struggled with my painting. Never thought that it was so difficult to make the right color choices, might be because I tried to only bring limited colors for practice. One thing I noticed that I was able to leave white space for the highlight area. Must come back again.

Nov. 19 My first time at this location, and I had no idea the landscape looked so flat, very little to work with. I almost wanted to quit, then I decided to looked around and found this curved pathway winding towards the distant mountains.  The clouds were dramatic.  We don't usually see clouds here, only during the rainy season.  So I focused on practicing painting the clouds, moved some trees from my left to the right.  Added a couple walking in my painting towards the end.   After several years of painting outdoors, I've realized that Plein Air is not only about connecting with, or discovering the beauty of nature, but it also about learning how to address multiple dimensions at once, like being out of my comfort zone, overcoming my unwillingness, and practicing and finding inspiration no matter what nature presents.

(Please click the image to enlarge) Machu Picchu is located in the Cusco Region of Peru, South America, which is 2,430 meters (7,970 ft) above sea level. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 kilometers 50 mi) northwest of Cusco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built around 1450, at the height of the Inca Empire. The construction of Machu Picchu appears to date from the period of the two great Incas, Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui (1438-71) and Tupac Inca Yupanqui(1472-93). It was abandoned just over 100 years later, in 1572, as a belated result of the Spanish Conquest. It has become the most familiar icon of the Inca World. (Please click the image to enlarge) (Please click the image to enlarge) (Please click the image to enlarge) (Please click the image to enlarge) (Please click the image to enlarge) Breath taking scenes I saw at each angle I turned