Sketches from past 10 weeks

en plein air

Chinatown

New accident on location - breaking my turp jar

Vasquez Rocks en plein air

en plein air is hard because your subject is always changing. And accidents happen like painting dropping on the floor or bugs stuck on the surface, all those wonderful add-ons 

More organic sketching

I never thought of using markers before but they tune out to be really convenient for on-site sketching. Limited to 2 tones makes you become more conscious of how things are group together and also forces you to eliminate the unimportant details.

A lot of experience artists say that you want to draw fast by doing it slow. When you sketch too quickly your mind does not have enough time to think and you just end up with messy lines and shapes.

I'm still learning how to simplify, slowly getting there.

Organic Sketching

It's always nice to go sketch with a group of people and see how other people approach their subject.

..and it's also less awkward than sketching alone.

Tonal Studies

Simplify Simplify Simplify

Sketch in Old Town Pasadena

It really need to take me about 3 bad drawings before I have one good one coming. I like my good drawings but I love my bad drawings. Without them I won't even get one good one.

Sketch

This week's two best one and one still can improve sketch

Looking Back at Old Works

Yesterday I found some old paintings. It's amazing to see how much I have improved in the past 3 years. The colors have become much more natural. Shapes are more defined.
Left are the older paintings and right are the newer.

"It's all about shapes and edges." Below on the left, the edges are blurry so you can't tell where the exact contact between the body and the fabric. It's confusing. I just didn't have the guts and confident to put the rich paints on directly. The painting on the right is one I am rather proud of. I will look at it again next year and see if I still think it is good.

I used to never paint background because I thought, "it is figure painting! I just need to focus on painting the figures." Wrong. the surroundings are just as important as the figures and maybe even more important. Backgrounds are what make the figure stand out. Backgrounds are what create the space for the figures to be in (same with still life) so don't neglect them.
I am really glad I took classes with Dan Gustin and Marion Kryczka.  Learn a lot. I also want to thank my two other professors Susan Kraut and Richard Deutsch who get my started on oil painting.
This is where I was and where I am.

Productivity

I have some very exhaustible willpower. Internet is a very dangerous place to be on. Temptation lurking around the corner of your browser. 10, 15 tabs opened all at once. It is mental obesity, craving for excess amount of information that does little good to the mind.  How many hours and days have we wasted on surfing...on things we no longer remember. It is about time to go on information diet.


That have been said. During near a year of absent from my blogspot, I made many new works, done many thing I have't done in my life, explore my curiosity. It is about the experience. As for my works, they will be up soon. Time to renovate my website too, and time to make new business card!