Monthly Archives: July 2020

100 Day Art Challenge (3) – Day 51 – Day 75

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For the first 50 days, see 100 Day Art Challenge (1) – Day 1 to Day 25, and 100 Day Art Challenge (2) – Day 26 to Day 50.

Click on the thumbnails to see a bigger image:

  • Day 51
  • Day 52
  • Day 53
  • Day 54
  • Day 55
  • Day 56
  • Day 57
  • Day 58
  • Day 59
  • Day 60
  • Day 61
  • Day 62
  • Day 63
  • Day 64
  • Day 65
  • Day 66
  • Day 67
  • Day 68
  • Day 69
  • Day 70
  • Day 71
  • Day 72
  • Day 73
  • Day 74
  • Day 75

New Pages Added

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My site zhisu.art just grows a bit with new pages on “Watercolors“, “Acrylics“, and “Oils“. Please take a look and click on each image to see more.

I also updated the “About” page, now “Meet the Artist” to expose a little more about me.

Putting oneself out there is not easy, and I will do it one step a time. 🙂

Steps, watercolor on paper, 14 x 20 in, 2014

Copying Masters (12) – Modigliani (1884 – 1920)

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Amedeo Modigliani is an Italian artist famous for his uniquely stylized portraits. I always like his paintings and attempted a study years before. Somehow Modigliani’s Madame Amédée reminded me of my neighbor’s cat, and my original plan was to use the composition of the original painting, and replace the head with that of a cat’s. It didn’t work out and I switched back to the lady. The result wasn’t much of a copy, and you can still see the trace of my deviation.

Original

Madame Amédée (Woman with Cigarette), oil on canvas, 39.5 x 25.5 in, 1918

My copy:

Woman with a paw, acrylic on canvas panel, 16 x 20 in, 2016

This is another try. This time it was not a copy, but I tried to stylize a self-portrait. I meant to focus on the inner world of subject, but somehow it was all spilled over into the background. As a result I went way beyond his typical palette, which is quite muted.

Me with a hat, acrylic on canvas board, 16 x 20 in, 2017

After learning drawing and painting humans for a while, I find myself even more fascinated by Modigliani’s ability to go beyond realist forms while stay true to the spirit and character of his subjects. I probably will do more studies of Modigliani in future.

100 Day Art Challenge (2) – Day 26 – Day 50

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For the first 25 days, see 100 Day Art Challenge (1) – Day 1 to Day 25

Click on the thumbnails to see bigger images:

  • Day 26
  • Day 27
  • Day 28
  • Day 29
  • Day 30
  • Day 31
  • Day 32
  • Day 33
  • Day 34
  • Day 35
  • Day 36
  • Day 37
  • Day 38
  • Day 39
  • Day 40
  • Day 41
  • Day 42
  • Day 43
  • Day 44
  • Day 45
  • Day 46
  • Day 47
  • Day 48
  • Day 49
  • Day 50

Experimenting with Materials (2) – Elegant Writer

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Elegant Writer is a special type of water-soluble marker that bleeds in various colors. They have chiseled nibs and are probably made for calligraphy. I couldn’t remember when I bought my set, but somehow for many years, rarely used them. It’s time to give these markers a chance before they completely dry out.

Black Elegant Writer on paper:

Dorian, marker on paper, 10 x 14 in, July 2020

Add water to the above drawing:

Dorian, marker on paper, July 2020

Blue and black:

Serge, marker on paper, 7 x 8 in, July 2020

Testing other colors:

Colorful features, July 2020

A few notes:

  • I used regular Canson drawing paper, and I believe to what extend it’s soluble depends on paper. So test it.
  • The black one is the most interesting. It bleeds in blueish, greenish and reddish gray and really adds to the drawing.
  • The blue one gives out some pinkish hue in addition to blue, but the green, red and the brown ones are pretty much just their own colors.
  • The red, blue and green colors are more staining than black.
  • I have no training in calligraphy, but I can see a trained hand could produce more interesting lines with a chiseled nib.

Experimenting with Materials (1) – Rice Paper

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I did a watercolor painting on pre-matted rice paper (xuan paper) before, and I tried it again recently with different paints:

After Feiniaogongzuoshi, 12 x 12 in.
Crazy Hair Day, 8 x 8 in, June 2020
Kaydee, 8 x 8 in, June 2020
Nikki, 8 x 8, Jun 2020

A few notes:

  • The paper I used is something like this, but I bought it from China and it was a lot cheaper.
  • The first two paintings were done with Chinese paints that commonly used for brush painting on rice paper. The brand is Marie, and it’s available on Amazon.
  • “Kaydee” is done in sumi ink, a cheap one from Daiso.
  • “Nikki” is in western watercolor.
  • The Chinese colors are a lot more opaque and hold better on rice paper, which is very absorbent.
  • The western watercolor dries very light and very flat. I went back multiple times trying to enhance the value. When the paper is wet, the pigment swims away to wherever with a blink of eye.
  • There’s no lifting with rice paper after it’s dry. You can pat it with a tissue paper and lift some pigment, but you can’t get rid of edges that way.
  • Sumi ink is the most staining of all.
  • I absolutely don’t know how to apply the skills involved in the first painting (the rooster one) to the later ones.