Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Volkswagen Golf R

Golf R - 11"x14" Watercolour on Paper

Work in Progress
Original Photo
My hubby is a fan of Volkswagen. The painting is a birthday gift for him.
Painting car is never my favourite. This is the second car I paint for him. The first one was also a Volks, but is a GTI in carbon grey colour.

I don't like the original background. Hence, it's replaced by a colourful sky.
老公是Volks的擁蹇,由Jetta到現在的Golf R都是Volks系列。這幅畫是他的生日禮物。以前也畫過一幅GTI給他,比較起來,現在的作品比較大膽,把同樣的背景改掉,而且顏色也較鮮。

GTI


Sunday, September 27, 2015

The First Tim Hortons

It is located in Hamilton was opened on May 17, 1964. Tim Hortons was a hockey player who played 17 full seasons and 3 partial seasons for the Toronto Maple leafs. He realized his hockey career couldn't last forever, so he opened the first franchise restaurant "Tim Hortons". By the time he died at 44, there were 40 Tim Hortons. He was a gem in Hockey world and Tim Hortons restaurant has become part of the Canadian culture.
Today the first Tim Hortons restaurant has been renovated. The second floor is a museum of Tim Hortons and Hamilton history. 

第一家的Tim Hortons是設在Hamilton。原來Tim Hortons本人是一個職業冰球手,曾代表多倫多楓葉隊出賽17季及3年部份賽事。他意識到冰球手的生涯短暫,所以開始了第一間Tim Hortons餐㕔,在飲食業方面發展。到他44歲逝世時,Tim Hortons已有40間店了。他除了是冰球界的一顆明星外,Tim Hortons餐㕔更成為了加拿大文化的一部份。

這間第一家的店已經是重新裝修過的,二樓是展示了Tim Hortons和Hamilton一些歷史資料的博物館。

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Goddess Project #3 - Erzulie

3rd session - Portrait in Acrylic

The last session - work in progress

We had a beautiful lady dressed as Erzulie, who is the Haitian African spirit of love. The goddess is sometimes displayed as Black Madonna of CzęstochowaHer colours are red, gold and navy blue. Her symbols are a pierced heart and knives or swords.This was my 3rd goddess project. I capture the light from the right. The vase and the flowers have the warm and cool colours. These colours repeat on the background on the left and on the dress. I love to join this Wednesday's section at Don Valley Art Club. It gives you more time to plan and think about how to finish your painting.
The 3rd session I brought a used canvas. I painted over the previous work. The dripping effect of the previous painting is quite interesting. The face and scarf are in warm tone and hence I put blue as the background. The next is to enhance the light and refine the lower part of the face. I am still thinking if I should apply some dripping effect.


Sunday, September 20, 2015

Apple - Demo

Figure 1
    Figure 2
Tool:
  • Escoda Perla - no. 12
  • Escoda Perla - no. 8
  • Colour:
    • Permanent Yellow
    • Red
    • Purple
    • Brown
    • Prussian Blue

    Figure 3
      • Draft with a pencil lightly.
      • Wet the light area with water and paint with Permanent Yellow around the wet area. Let's blend it the clear water.  (Figure 1)
      • Add some Red to the Permanent Yellow paint and paint around the yellow, and also the top part. (Figure 2)
      • Add Purple in the Red mix and continue to paint the bottom part of the apple. Paint the edge on the top, paint around the stem. (Figure 3)
      • Use the clean and dry brush lifts out the paint at the upper part of the apple. (Figure 4)
      • Dip some Permanent Yellow paint (without mixing water) and paint on the apple.
      • Paint the stem with Permanent Yellow and Brown mix for the lighter side. Mix some Prussian Blue for darker side. (Figure 5)
      Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3yH5JCu6cI
      Figure 4
      Figure 5











      Friday, September 11, 2015

      Watercolour Demo for BR21

      Thank you BR21 for having me to do the watercolour painting demonstration. A great restaurant and nice professionals, a very welcoming group!

      Saturday, September 5, 2015

      Rosetta McClain Gardens - DVAC Plein Air Day













      Modified in Studio


      It was a warm and sunny day. I thought it would be crazily warm, but it was cool with the breeze from the lake in the gardens. This time I didn't paint the gardens in the middle and painted the trees instead.

      Lots of different greens here, I introduced other colours in my painting. Pushing the left trees backward and created a misty atmosphere. It's always fun and challenging to change the light and mood on the location. I think to put something in the middle of the ground but still considering what should be there.

      We had lunch around 12:30 pm together and chatted. It was fun to see everyone's paintings, very inspiring. Sharing food was great too. Another highlight was to see everyone's setting, tools and materials. Awesome!

      I put a dog and add more background in my studio.


      Friday, September 4, 2015

      When Water meets the Colour - it teaches me about life

      Did you FEEL GOOD today? Yes, I did. I delivered my second speech today. It's how I met watercolour and why I love it so much.

      When Water Meets Colour……...… you will understand life!


      The reason why I love watercolour because it teaches me the wisdom of life.


      I began with drawing when I was a kid. There was no Mr Google or Mr Youtube. I just drew my favourite cartoon characters by myself and borrowed some books for learning when I was older. After graduated from high school, I went to college to study Art and Design where I had formal training in painting and drawing. 

      However, I hated watercolour because it is not a very forgiving medium. At that time, I didn’t paint watercolour much. After graduated I hade never touched it again until 2006. I started plein air painting / sketching and joined Hong Kong Sketching Society. We went out once every 2 weeks. I bought a watercolour box for this to start with mainly because light-weight, easy to carry. Meeting wonderful members and sharing the knowledge and skills on plein air painting kept me going.

      After a couple of years of painting watercolour, I started understand some tricks for doing it and these connect to our life. 

      First is PLANNING: 
      Watercolour is not a very forgiving medium. You can’t really make many mistakes, life is the same, you can’t make many mistakes or you regrets.
      Set goal → Plan → execute → review → adjust →insist → finish
      To achieve the goals in your life, you need to plan ahead. You need the courage to start and you need the patience to hold on what you are believing. It doesn’t look good in the before it’s done.


      Second is TIMING
      Timing is important, right time does the right thing. To achieve different effects in watercolour, the amount of water and colour, the timing are the essential elements. This is all about the combinations of these 3 things. We need to do right things at the right time.


      Last but not the least is to KNOW WHEN TO STOP, LET GO
      Since watercolour is not a very forgiving medium. Overdone is a common mistake in watercolour painting. You have to know when to stop and let go! I believe “let go” is a great lesson to learn in life.


      Today, I am a member of art clubs and participate in art shows. Some of my work has been selected to show in different media, including Splash 15 and National Post website. I am running watercolour classes too. Recently I have started a cat project. All these things drive me for excellence and pursuit a more colourful life!





      Tuesday, September 1, 2015

      水彩畫班 Watercolour Class

      不經不覺已完成了在Gibson Community Centre在夏天的水彩畫班,有點不捨得,因為他們學習認真,也很風趣幽默,我們帶著歡愉的氣氛「整色整水」。很感謝同學們努力的學習,每天聽到他們說回家會再畫,心裡都很歡喜,看到他們的進步是當老師最大的回報。水彩畫千變萬化,很有挑戰性亦充滿趣味,希望每學員都感受到畫水彩畫的喜樂!

      Time files! The summer watercolour class at Gibson Community Centre came to the end. I started missing the classes already. Everyone learns seriously with a sense of humor. I really enjoyed teaching the class. As a teacher, I feel thankful when the students said they are going to paint it again at home and witnessed their improvement. Watercolour painting is very challenging and also very interesting. I hope everyone enjoying it and happy painting!

      Swan Demo

      Swan - 6" x 8" - 140lb Cold press

      Tool:
      • Escoda Perla - no. 12
      • Escoda Perla - no. 8
      • Princeton - no. 0
      • Flat Brush - 1/4
      • Water spray bottle
      Colour:
      • Cobalt Blue
      • Prussian Blue
      • Yellow Ochre
      • Orange
      • Red
      • Dark Green
      • Draft with a pencil lightly.
      • Mix Yellow Ochre with water and paint the neck, body and feathers of the swan.
      • Paint the wing edges with Cobalt blue and the shadows under the feathers as shown on the image.
      • Wet the upper part of the paper with clean water and paint the sky. 
      • Mix Cobalt blue with some Prussian Blue for the water surface. Mix more Prussian Blue to paint the lines on the water surface.
      • While it's still damp, spray some water on it to create the texture.
      • Leave some white area and then put Yellow Ochre as the reflection of the colours of the swan.
      • Paint the beak with Orange and Red, put little Prussian Blue while the paint is still wet. 
      • For the dark area on the face, use the mix of Prussian Blue, Dark Green and some Red to paint.