The Conception of "Moon Lit Stream"

This is how " Moon Lit Creek" was conceived. I am posting this to show how the creative process works sometimes.

The painting on the top was the teacher's rendition of the subject matter. As an art student, we are taught to examine and reason and I think the most import element, to seek emotional impact.

I did not like the treatment of the trees, where each sat on a "bun" of earth. I did not like the confluence of one stream into another, it seemed rather odd. And the sketch did not speak to me at all.

So I started to rearrange the furniture. I wanted to create contrast with subject matters, dead tree versus bright foliage. I wanted to illuminate the subject matter, both physically and emotionally. I was able to connect the tight shot of water flowing over rocks, to the distant origin from the water fall. All the while without showing the entire length of the stream. This adheres to the Asian philosophy of not revealing everything, so that the observer's mind can connect the dots. I borrowed the technique of creating depth through scale, I paid attention to light values, I tried to think of whether the color is warm or cold, and how the overall tone will affect what the painting is trying to say. Yet all the while I am employing traditional Chinese brush methods to lay my lines and texture rubbings. My personal belief is that we cannot live in the rigid world of the past. Learn we must, to employ modern understandings, along with classic techniques, to paint what is relevant today.

Moon Lit Creek- an academic debate

This is a painting about a poem, where the verse reads: "The moonlight is shining on pines, the the clear creek runs over rocks"

This finished work sparked quite a lengthy discussion in my painting class. The main criticism was that the painting was too dark, unbecoming of Chinese painting.

My thoughts on my work/composition is that I am trying to depict a night scene, therefore the dark tones. I am trying to create depth by painting a darker backdrop of a cliff ( inspired by the Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon). I chose the dark backdrop also to accentuate the ribbon of water, which acts as a lead-in to the subject matters. I painted the upper pines as dead wood, to show the ruggedness, and the stillness of the cold night. The pink foliage on the right is used to contrast with the starkness to the left (common practice in Chinese thematic treatment, the so called Ying and Yang) I left the bottom of the fall blank, so it shows up as illuminated spray. The bottom of the dead tree trunks are also lit, defining the path of moon light. Finally the light from the moon hits the tips of pine needles on the lower left ( I added titanium to my brush for that effect) and the running creek, whose presence is augmented by the dark rocks in the stream. I also used a warm color tone to offset the cold shroud of moon light.

I might add that this painting has a rather stunning effect if displayed with a halogen beam on the water, this is to exploit the translucent property of the Xuan paper. This is why Chinese paintings do not as a rule, use white pigments to describe water.

The Little Critter

After the successful trial of mounting Xuan paper on canvas, I've decided to try this format again.

As the canvas gets bigger, an unsuspected technical difficulty cropped up. The canvas is mounted on a rigid frame and therefore is not flexible. As the Xuan paper/Canvas surface is lifted from the mounting board, huge air pockets are created and it takes great patience to dissipate them. I still ended up with a huge crease between the lower forks of the branches. In a way it adds to the character of the work, which is an old gnarly tree with part of its bark peeled back, but still it is a fly in the ointment.

YEAR OF THE OX

HAPPY NEW YEAR

YEAR OF THE OX

faux oil

The Audubon Society was having a campaign for artists to donate their work to the Society as a fund raising event. The artists are provided with a 6x6 inch canvas and the subject matter is obviously birds.
Since my medium is Xuan paper and I paint with Chinese water color, I decided to try something new....to be a pioneer in this arena..... I mounted my finished painting on the canvas instead of Xuan paper. The result is most pleasing.... the texture of the canvas shows through, and the water color imparts its vibrant color along with that unique transparency. The title for this piece is "DETERMINED". The bird in this case is willing to hang upside down to get to the seeds.

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The Grasshopper, my trade mark piece of work

This painting was done as a companion to the Cicada painting. I so enjoyed the form and the subject matter of the Cicada, that I wanted to create another one but with the leaf in a different orientation. Again the grasshopper was done with a elaborate brush, paying attention to minute details and the banana leaf in the Xieyi style.

I submitted this painting along with others to the Portland Open Studios and was accepted to be one the exhibiting artist. In fact this painting was also shown in the Asian Reporter and was used in one of the POS ads.

Now, when I look at this painting, I could find quite a few faults with it. Lets look at some of them. The picture on the bottom helps to illustrate my point. First, the hind legs are crooked. I've drawn a straight line out along the axis of the legs and somehow the rear portions bend and deviates from the line.The antennae should not have bulbs at the tips; these look like butterfly antennae! Then the leaf was not done with the same determination and forcefulness as the Cicada painting. I've circled the portion of the leaf to show as an example. The strokes were tentative and segmented.

Nonetheless, perhaps of all these imperfections, especially the weird angle of the hind legs, this painting seems to possess energy and a certain liveliness. The subject matter is no longer static.