Qiang Huang Workshop

I attended a painting workshop at The Coppini Academy in San Antonio last weekend. Qiang Huang, an artist whose work I admire greatly, was the instructor. It turns out that Qi was a physicist before changing careers in mid life. So he has analyzed the painting process as a scientist would and narrowed it down to five basic steps: Placement, Value, Color, Modeling and Consolidation.

I learned a lot from him, mostly by watching him handle the paint and from his spot-on critiques of my work. He is a great teacher, which is not always the case with great artists. Just because you can paint, doesn't mean you can talk about it. He did a great job with both and while he was there he met with the owner of the Greenhouse Gallery and was invited to show his work there. I was very happy for this humble and unassuming artist.

This is the painting I did on Day 1 and I will share the others in upcoming blog posts and talk a little bit about the things I learned and why I think they are valuable. Everyone set up their own still life with things they brought from home or objects the school had on hand and it was fun as well as challenging.

I used 9"x 12"Centurion linen panels and a LOT of liquin (a drying medium), hoping my paintings would dry enough not to get smeared when I packed them for the ride home.

Grapes with Clay Pitcher
9"x 12"oil on linen

Marking the Years

Every year I try to do a self-portrait a la Rembrandt. Rembrandt created a LOT of self-portraits because it turns out you are the model that is always available when you want to practice.

As we age the product is not always what we would want but it's still an exercise in creating a likeness.

This painting is small- 8"x 10". For some unknown reason I thought a brick wall would look nice behind me.

Parker and Penney

Two rescue dogs from the same litter, Parker and Penney are inseparable. I painted this portrait from 5-6 different photo references, the best of which featured the canines cavorting on a pontoon boat! I get the impression they are QUITE spoiled.

11"x 14"oil on canvas

Reworking another older painting

The nice thing about oil paintings is that you can always go back and tweak them years later ifyou're not happy. I think this is possible if you varnish them too it's just a bit more labor intensive. I don't usually varnish a painting until I am very happy with it or it sells to someone on line. Then I like to make sure it is protected.

This painting was started in 2009 and now, five years later, I am going through my closet of "keep or burn"paintings and I rediscovered her. I decided she deserved one last chance before visiting the burn barrel.

She Needed a Mate

It didn't seem fair to have her hanging out in the snow all alone so I painted  a paramour. He appears to be a bit self-involved. If a bird can BE in that state.