[image_with_animation image_url=”8367″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] 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.”
” load_in_animation=”none 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.
Yesterday’s challenge was to draw your left ear without looking at it. Sunday is observation day, so today the challenge is to draw your right ear, this time from observation. Challenge: draw your other ear Set up mirrors, snap a picture, zoom yourself, whatever it takes to get a look at that lobe. The first …
[image_with_animation image_url=”7137″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Occasionally I can’t find my own darned painting on my own darned computer, so I’ll ask Google if it’s online somewhere. Today I was working on portrait palettes, and was looking for some of the quick portrait studies I’ve done. I remembered one and couldn’t find it on my …
Gerhard Richter is a German painter, a rare genre splitter whose squeegee abstracts are just as respected and challenging as his photorealistic works. These candle paintings are oil on canvas, about 30 to 55 inches wide, painted in the 1980s.
Z L Feng
[image_with_animation image_url=”8367″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] 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.
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Yesterday’s challenge was to draw your left ear without looking at it. Sunday is observation day, so today the challenge is to draw your right ear, this time from observation. Challenge: draw your other ear Set up mirrors, snap a picture, zoom yourself, whatever it takes to get a look at that lobe. The first …
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[image_with_animation image_url=”7137″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Occasionally I can’t find my own darned painting on my own darned computer, so I’ll ask Google if it’s online somewhere. Today I was working on portrait palettes, and was looking for some of the quick portrait studies I’ve done. I remembered one and couldn’t find it on my …
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Gerhard Richter is a German painter, a rare genre splitter whose squeegee abstracts are just as respected and challenging as his photorealistic works. These candle paintings are oil on canvas, about 30 to 55 inches wide, painted in the 1980s.