Friday, July 30, 2010
The Chinese Influence
So I've been posting about my painting in China, and how taken I am with the work of Hao Li. I thought it would be interesting to look a little at how I'm playing with technique after painting with her. Her style looks so loose brushy and immediate, but only follows a very detailed drawing of what she is after. Here is a painting of her model (her niece, actually) in-progress and a very similar one, at completion.
Of course, it was her portrait of me that just blew me away. All my painting looks so serious and formal by contrast to this playful, fun likeness:
So I began to work at getting a bit looser with my brush, working on letting something happen rather than carefully reproducing something. Here are a couple of small (6 x4") quick watercolors I did - the face is just imaginary, the mountains are from the patio at the Wei's, a short hike from the Great Wall.
This new (to me) also seems to lend itself wonderfully to landscapes. Last weekend Patricia and I were camping at the delightful Atsion State Park in New Jersey, and I painted this scene, "Campsite with Tent:" With the help of great suggestions from Doug Martenson, I even got some depth into the painting.
And what else am I doing right now? Taking a "Cityscape" course at the Penna Acad of Fine Arts with Martenson, meticulously painting a scene that I think I will call "View With A Thousand Windows." Not the place to get loose and brushy.
Of course, it was her portrait of me that just blew me away. All my painting looks so serious and formal by contrast to this playful, fun likeness:
So I began to work at getting a bit looser with my brush, working on letting something happen rather than carefully reproducing something. Here are a couple of small (6 x4") quick watercolors I did - the face is just imaginary, the mountains are from the patio at the Wei's, a short hike from the Great Wall.
This new (to me) also seems to lend itself wonderfully to landscapes. Last weekend Patricia and I were camping at the delightful Atsion State Park in New Jersey, and I painted this scene, "Campsite with Tent:" With the help of great suggestions from Doug Martenson, I even got some depth into the painting.
And what else am I doing right now? Taking a "Cityscape" course at the Penna Acad of Fine Arts with Martenson, meticulously painting a scene that I think I will call "View With A Thousand Windows." Not the place to get loose and brushy.
