ABOVE THE CLOUDS

I've decided to try the Portland Open Studios again this year and try my luck again. Above The Clouds is one of the entries I submitted for jury. The subject matter and technique is quite traditional Chinese Xueyi Landscape, using the wet wash method for clouds. One thing to note is the choice of color in this painting. I've conveyed a fossil-ed feel to the rock columns to show the hardness of the masses. This is done to offset the relative lack of "chuen" (meaning rubbing, usually to impart texture) on some surfaces. I've used a little titanium with the opaque greens to make the trees really stand out, to contrast with the hard landscape. I've also positioned the gazebo on the lower peak on purpose. The upper peak had steps along the flank of the hill, but leads to no obvious structure, unlike the hill on the bottom, where the serpentine trail leads to the gazebo. Perhaps the vista on the top hill is obscured ????

How "Splash" was created

As discussed in the last posting, I am experimenting with my techniques/methods. I am trying to describe water sprays/splashes when it hits a rock, a boulder. I am trying not to attenuate the energy of that flow. So I employed my own SECRET ANCIENT CHINESE recipe of a masking fluid and delivered it onto the paper in a controlled and deliberate fashion. Now I can fill in the background, first with light tones to define the splash, then gradually building up the peripheral barriers to the water. This was a challenging and yet fun project, it all started when a classmate of mine and I were small talking about masking fluids, and whether Chinese Brush Paintings utilize it or not.

SPLASH

The Beaverton Arts Commission had an open call for artists to submit their works for an exhibition at the Beaverton Library. I had submitted 4 pieces and this is the only one accepted.



This was indeed a new experience for me. I was experimenting with the style and technique of my art work.



The style is kind of abstract.... it is Xueye ( paint with feeling, thought) for sure and the technique is to paint around the voids. I was experimenting with my own concoction of a masking solution. I settled with alum and milk. The painting was created with controlled flicks of the masking solution on Xuan paper. I then painted around the splashing, forming my water and rock and boulder. Title of the piece is called "SPLASH" and I am quite happy with the impression of movement, and a palpable sense of energy. I am especially gratified that I could still paint the rock and boulders using traditional Chinese technique. I feel that I have amalgamated pretty nicely the East with the West.

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