Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

A red rowboat in the water near a tree at the shore caught my eyes, instantly decided to paint it. This was my third time painting here since I started Plein Air, I only painted in oils before. It reminded me that once I spent almost six hours working on a smaller size painting here on a very cold windy day. Today was gorgeous being outside, felt a little bit chilly in the shade. I enjoyed painting with another artist who inspired me, especially to get feedback in time when the work got stuck. The red boat was rowed away, I had to paint it follow my memory, lol... Used some opaque watercolors, my work looks different.

Good news is one of my Plein Air boat paintings had found a happy home. I delivered my work on Sunday which was a super windy day. And Mike who just bought my painting gave me a brand new canvas as well. Here, my week was full of random things, but I kept my painting and learning schedule firm. Tuesday and Thursday working at the art studio from live models. I did mostly retouches on Tuesday. Thursday, I had to restart another 20"x16" figure study for the same position, because it was very difficult for me to correct the one from last week. Still work in progress, more correction needed... Wednesday I went to see David Savellano's Demo in Pleasanton through CWA. David did a wonderful demo, really enjoyed watching and learning from him. Friday worked at home studio retouching two oil paintings I did during the week. Although the news is not very positive regarding the Coronavirus in China, I have been worrying so much recently for my motherland...only can hope for th...

2020 Day31 Today is the last day of the Strada Easel 31-day challenge to paint from life. The day before I felt overwhelmed, so only did a watercolor still-life sketch as the last piece #31 of the challenge today. Forgive my daily post, hopefully not a bother for you. I tried to be polite and not post too often but in this case it was a daily requirement. Thank you so much for your feedback, comments, likes and shares. I appreciate your support and encouragement to help me make it through. It was a necessary experience, especially for me to make personal progress, not because being a full-time artist to create art, and think through which area I should focus on depending on my own interests. I think it is important being an artist to create art and also to inspire others or to be inspired. I will continue sharing some my work and stories behind my work, and practice in English my second language. Happy painting!

2020 Day30 Strada easel thirty one day painting challenge is almost ended. I have gone through and made my own process. Really there is so much to learn in the rest of my life. Today I was a little bit "ambitious" for my #30 work started at day 1 this year, brought a used panel 20"x16". Feeling the time was chasing me for three hours, all my concentration and energy cost had made me sweat in winter, I couldn't believe it. But I didn't have time to stop, till the end, I was exhausted... I didn't manage my time well, won't be able to get to the point I could take a break. Many corrections, I have to wait for next section later.

2020 Day29 I bought five bananas, only did a watercolor sketch of two of them. It was my first time doing a study on bananas, found they were not as easy as they looked. I am not a realistic painter, no matter whether a simple subject or a complicated one, keep practicing is the only way to become a better artist. Do you agree? Also it took me a couple of tries to display them.

2020 Day28 I always love portrait paintings, used to study on the photos I captured. Not today, a real model face study was challenging， struggled through three hours. The model he had American Indian blood, I tried to capture his honorable and proud stature. I was happy at this point. Of course there were many small areas I wanted to correct, but had to wait... On the way out, someone recognize the model from my portrait, she was excited and that made me happy. BTW, does anyone know which brand of linseed oil carrier metal bottle is good? The rubber part was old, and the linseed leaked. Also, the filter was too sharp, made my brush spread. Just ordered more brushes, now I need a new oil carrier.

2020 Day27 I trimmed most of my plants before Chinese Lunar New Year, and had these trimmed branches in a glass jar of olives since then. Finally, I did a watercolor sketch before the flowers drooped. The Abutilon Flowering Maple Chinese Lantern Plant is one of my favorite plants. When we moved into this house eleven years ago, I did a little research before I started gardening. I focused on the plants that could live well in the shade and attract hummingbirds, also ones that bloom often annually . I discovered this Chinese lantern flower was the absolutely perfect plant, I love that the leaves look like maple leaves, the bell shape flowers look like Chinese Lanterns, and it can produce flowers almost year around. These plants really helped to attract hummingbirds who moved into my neighborhood, I watched hummingbird mother guard territory, built nest, raise and train her babies over the years, took countless footage of course. Now, my plant is at least three meters tall, it makes me ...

2020 Day24, Day25 and Day26 Too busy for celebrating Chinese New Year eve, ate too much food... Only did watercolor sketch...

2020 Day23 Tomorrow night will be the Chinese New Year's Eve, I haven't thought about what I should prepare for dinner. Life is quite simple here, lucky me! Tuesday I just picked up oils again. Today I went there early and did a short meditation before the Section. I kept reminding myself to relax and follow my feeling to paint - the internal visual voice... I wasn't sure which one helped, but I was a little bit happier with the result than last time. Any feedback?

2020 Day22 Do you know the interesting history behind Meadowlark Dairy? Have you tried their dairy products yet? Each time, I saw people in queues in front of the Meadowlark Dairy as I was passing by. To satisfy my curiosity, I planned to do Plein Air, also because there was a demo of Stephen Berry's, organized by CWA at the Firehouse Art Center. It was gray with some sprinkling in the morning when I was on the road to Pleasanton. Luckily, it turned into beautiful with dramatic clouds. I didn't manage time well for my painting, some areas I had to leave them. Ran to the Firehouse Art Center. Stephen did a great demo, also his English was clear and easy to me to understand. But I heard my tummy was grumbling at the demo, realized that I didn't have lunch again. Haha, Chinese New Year is coming, there is plenty delicious food to enjoy then... Meadowlark was the first certified dairy in California founded in early 1900's. The dairy has been a drive-though since it o...