Delicate brushwork

January 31, 2018

Brushwork is a very personal part of the artist. In some way, it defines artist's work and style. To paraphrase what Mr. Zbukvic said in one of his lessons. "If there's anything that sets one artist apart from another, it's the calligraphy. It cannot be taught, and shouldn't be taught." And I agree completely. An artist's brushwork is an extension of his intuition, his/her natural response to the form and shape with his/her hand. However, I think this is still worth talking about because one of the biggest things my students struggling with is brushwork. These are some of the most common issues I discovered. I want to share them with you and also talk about how to remedy these issues:

Avoid "shiny object syndrome"

January 23, 2018

Every day when you open your Instagram or Facebook, chances are you see a lot of artwork. This is very normal especially if you are an artist. When I swipe through my Instagram feed, I am inspired by the sheer amount of outstanding works! To be honest, this can get a little bit disheartening at times. I see artists with beautiful works and away more follower than I do. On top of that, there are multiple artists whom I admire paint in different style, subject, and medium. Because of this, I was tempted to switch things up and follow what they're doing. Maybe it's a paint more realistically, start painting more animals, try a technique that another artist uses, or ditch watercolor altogether and try charcoal. I know I'm not alone on this. I see many people do the same thing. This is a very common artist's "shiny object syndrome."

Make your story clear and simple

January 03, 2018

Welcome to 2018! I hope you had a wonderful holiday. I had a wonderful vacation with my family. As I started my online course last year, I get to interact with students on a more personal level. One thing that has become obvious to me for quite a few student is to simplify their painting to a simple and clear message. Because we have this notion that "a picture worth a thousand words", we are often tempted to throw as much stuff into our painting as we can. However, a powerful painting doesn't have to be complicated and overwhelming. It just needs to communicate the message across clearly.

Multiple attempt

November 29, 2017 in Principles and Value

This past weekend I was painting a figure painting. Haven't done figure painting for quite a while, it wasn't surprising that my first attempt wasn't up to the standard(my standard). I knew I can do better so I decided to paint it again. The 2nd attempt (the one you are seeing above) turns out much better. I was able to plan my painting and executed it much better than the first one.

I've done this quite a bit. When painting watercolor, a few wrong decisions and solutions can ruin a painting. Since there is no "undo" button in watercolor. Sometime the next best thing you can do is to start over. This can be a mental roadblock for some people. People may think all the time they spent on the unsuccessful painting is all wasted. But there is no wasted time when you did a bad painting. You gain valuable experience and you learned from your mistake! Even a seasoned NBA player cannot expect to score every time when they shoot, so neither shall we.

Yes, it can be frustrated to see your fail attempts and wondering if you can do it better next time. When you set your self up to that dreadful empty white paper again, you may have to conjure up all your courage and faith to start the process over again. However, that's part of the learning process and journey to become a better artist!

Do you have a good subject that you wanted to turn into a painting only end up with a fail attempt? Maybe it's time to give it another go. You might be regretful for not giving it your best shot!

New Painting Demo

If you haven't, go check out my new painting video of one of my favorite painting! This is another longer painting demo video that I haven't done for quite a while. Hope you enjoy it!