[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”8367″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”][vc_column_text]I asked Claire Putney to name some of the inspirational watercolor painters for her upcoming workshop Watercolor Landscapes. She listed:
Sunga Park
Maria Ginzburg
Walton Ford
Z L Feng
In the next week I’ll share artwork by each of these painters. Today I have work by Z L Feng.
Z L Feng
Feng’s paintings are built to win watercolor awards, and they do. Feng’s skill is clearly displayed in each work: examples of glow, reflection, loose and tight, planned “accidents” and formal work. The classic asymmetrical compositions are variations on a theme, as each painting follows similar recipes: The light sky is reflected in water for diffused open glow just off of center. The vertical trees provide lift, and intersect the top and bottom (reflection) edge of the canvas – which notably tends to be generally one consistent size and ratio, and you have your choice of vertical or horizontal layout. Triangles of land offer horizontal mass to the composition and outline the water form. Branches provide stained glass windows to the background. Depth is given a faded far away background, reassuring middle ground, refreshing foreground, with an equally measured balance of light, medium and dark values. Space and forms are divided just as equally between areas of large loose swathes, medium rhythm setters, and a few small articulate details. Chroma and colors are similarly balanced, as if by recipe of analogous (harmony), complimentary (vibrancy), and neutral (restful) colors that support the final bright splash of color lifted from the shadows to make it pop. They are formula paintings, and my goodness they are pretty! I don’t mind at all. More please.
From Radford University: Growing up in Shanghai, Feng began painting at age seven and never stopped, experimenting with different mediums, including pastel, oil, and egg tempera, before choosing his favorite, watercolor. “With watercolor you cannot cover your mistakes, so you must know what you are doing,” he says. He finds inspiration for his lovely landscapes in the countryside of the New River Valley: “Usually I go around – to the river, the forest, the lake – to try and find interesting compositions.”
[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”8371,8372,8369,8374,8370″ layout=”3″ gallery_style=”1″ load_in_animation=”none”][vc_column_text]Ifyou’re interested in learning some of these techniques, consider jumping into Claire Putney’s Watercolor Landscapes Workshop on March 10th, or Sandy Bricel Miller’s Plein Air Primer on April 28th. Watercolor is the easiest painting medium to travel with, and great for little trips to see the trees.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”9888″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”][vc_column_text] Wordsmith Studio Found poems are the literary equivalent of a collage, often made from newspaper articles, street signs, graffiti, speeches, letters, books, online texts (v-notes?), or even other poems. For today’s challenge, take an …
Today is Design Friday, so your challenge is something the graphic designers will likely be familiar with: figure/ground reversal. “Figure/ground” is a phrase that came from modern German Gestalt psychology. It refers to how our mind organizes forms, distinguishing an object (figure) from its background (ground). In the early 1900s Danish psychologist Edgar Rubin famously experimented …
Hey there. I wanted to send out a little personal thank you about V. Notes, this unusual and personal blog series of thoughts and ideas related to art. Initially started as a way to give my painting students more information outside of class, V. Notes now has over 1,000 readers. Many subscribers are part of …
Z L Feng
[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”8367″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”][vc_column_text]I asked Claire Putney to name some of the inspirational watercolor painters for her upcoming workshop Watercolor Landscapes. She listed:
In the next week I’ll share artwork by each of these painters. Today I have work by Z L Feng.
Z L Feng
Feng’s paintings are built to win watercolor awards, and they do. Feng’s skill is clearly displayed in each work: examples of glow, reflection, loose and tight, planned “accidents” and formal work. The classic asymmetrical compositions are variations on a theme, as each painting follows similar recipes: The light sky is reflected in water for diffused open glow just off of center. The vertical trees provide lift, and intersect the top and bottom (reflection) edge of the canvas – which notably tends to be generally one consistent size and ratio, and you have your choice of vertical or horizontal layout. Triangles of land offer horizontal mass to the composition and outline the water form. Branches provide stained glass windows to the background. Depth is given a faded far away background, reassuring middle ground, refreshing foreground, with an equally measured balance of light, medium and dark values. Space and forms are divided just as equally between areas of large loose swathes, medium rhythm setters, and a few small articulate details. Chroma and colors are similarly balanced, as if by recipe of analogous (harmony), complimentary (vibrancy), and neutral (restful) colors that support the final bright splash of color lifted from the shadows to make it pop. They are formula paintings, and my goodness they are pretty! I don’t mind at all. More please.
[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”8371,8372,8369,8374,8370″ layout=”3″ gallery_style=”1″ load_in_animation=”none”][vc_column_text]If you’re interested in learning some of these techniques, consider jumping into Claire Putney’s Watercolor Landscapes Workshop on March 10th, or Sandy Bricel Miller’s Plein Air Primer on April 28th. Watercolor is the easiest painting medium to travel with, and great for little trips to see the trees.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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