The Art of HYE Y. COH

"Two Yellow Roses"

2012-01-28T22:42:00.000-08:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

Finally, my first small painting of 2012.

I wanted paint quickly with fewer strokes as possible. Fresh start... but it turned out to be rather labored. These are yellow climbing roses from my winter garden. Even through the hash wind and cold weather still there are some blossoms. It is so windy during winter monthes here. These homes are built on the hill. The speed of wind today was 60ml/hr. I call it "Wuthering Heights".

click here to purchase

"Head Study 4"

2011-11-24T23:59:00.000-08:00

Daniella
6"x6", oil on gesso board

I am enjoying young people at the college. They are like humming birds in the fresh air.
I met Daniella at Pierce college art class I am taking this Fall. She is only 19 yrs old and so beautiful.
I thought I will do a quick study of her from a photo which I took.
Well! so much of quick study!
I was repainting over and over to capture my impression of her. It is almost impossible to capture just the essence from the photograph without copying the photo..
I had to stop here before I totaly scrub off whole paiting out of my frustration. At least I have something to revisit later to see what I was trying to achieve from this study.

"Head Study 3"

2011-09-18T22:36:00.000-07:00

Pissed Off
6"x6", oil on gesso board

I did this painting last week, but didn't shoot till today.
This painting is done from another woman's mugshot, looking very pissed off.
I am not sure that she is a celebrity or not. Maybe she is.....

I signed up some art classes at nearby community college: Oil painting and Print Making. The Fall term started two weeks ago, keeping me very busy. Also signed up Boot Camp style exercise program. Boot camp is Monday through Thursday, from 5:15 till 6:30. This program is a merciless real killer. Through oil painting class, I am learning how to build the canvas from the scratch. Go to Home Depot, get the materials for stretcher bars, learn how to cut the bars, stretch canvas on the frame, prepare canvas with gesso .....

I get more fit and stronger and paint till 100 years old!!
Sounds like a good plan?

This painting is available for purchase.
Bid at DPW auction:
http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Buy/Auctions
After Auction, buy direct here.

"Head Study 2"

2011-09-04T19:55:00.000-07:00

The Girl with the Flaxen Hair
6"x6", oil on gesso board
V.2

I worked more on the below painting. The reason why I chose to paint this girl was her dazzling smile and V.1 didn't capture that smile yet.
The image I was using to start the painting has been disappeared. I had to work out of my memory. I was so afraid working without reference,though.

V.1

This painting is available for purchase.

Bid at DPW auction:
http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Buy/Auctions
After Auction, buy direct here.

"Head Study1"

2011-08-30T21:46:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

I am thinking about to focus onto one subject matter to do a small size painting a day, so call, Daily Painting. Maybe Head studies......

So far,I couldn't paint fast enough to post every day.
Often I don't know what to paint. It takes long to figure out the subject and setting up and lighting. If I eliminate those prep time to slow me down.....

I thought I have to have a real model to make a painting.
Actual setup for Still life painting, outdoor trip for Pleinair painting, live models for figurative works.
Recently, I did some head paintings from photograph. It was not that bad as i thought.
I have more fun to do human head than still life. There are emotions and expressions to pull out even from the bad photos of human.

So here is "Head Study 1".

This is from a model-mugshot. I see the defiance in her expression. I wonder any body could tell who she is.
I realized that there are endless supply of head shots everywhere and many artists painting heads.
It will be interesting to see how my way of painting evolves. I like to get much more bold and expressive.

"Tomato and Knife II"

2011-08-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

7"x5", oil on Canvas board

I am trying to paint with more paint on the brush lately.
It requires a commitment. Instead of layering with thin paints or picking up the the color from here and there on the palette, I have to mix certain amount of paints to be able to load the brush.
It frees me from getting into too much details, giving the life to the painting. Also I like the interesting edges happening naturally.

This the second painting of "Tomato and Knife" for me. Since one is sold through DPW Action recently, I decided do another one.
Definitely, "Tomato and Knife" is DiebenKorn inspired subject.
His tomato paintings are looking like he just slopped down the paints in 5 minutes. But when I examined his paintings, I realized how accurate his observation is and .......his compositions!!
How could I be bold and confident as he is!
He is one of the artist I admire most. I am so amazed by all of his works!!

This painting is available for purchase.
Bid at DPW auction:
http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Buy/Auctions
After Auction, buy direct here.

"Girl with Red Hat"

2011-08-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

NFS

"Stock Plunge"

2011-08-11T16:56:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board -NFS

This is the image of a trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on the day of the stock market falling from LA Times on Aug 5.
I thought the diagonals with the expression of the shock in the image works together perfect. It is not my own shot but I wanted to regenerated into a painting for the sake of fun and learning.
I painted the whole surface with red to begin with and kept red showing through to exaggerate the panic.

"Roses in My Mug"

2011-08-08T16:05:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

This week's DPW Challenge is to paint my mug.
I am surrounded by white roses in my neighborhood and I can't stay away from them. So roses in my big blue mug...

Recently, I am searching what I am inclined to paint and how I create the painting from them.
I have been painting under the art direction for 20 years in animation studios since I graduated from ACCD.
I don't have my favorite way of painting.
Each movie has a different artistic style and the artist has to paint what was required.

Now my heart is my art director.
One thing I know about my self is I like to have the spontaneity, some spirit and emotion in my painting. Also I like to go beyond just depicting how they look.

This painting is available for purchase.
Bid at DPW auction:
http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Buy/Auctions
Or buy direct here:

"White Roses"

2011-08-06T17:57:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

This painting is available for purchase.

"Peach Tree"

2011-08-05T00:05:00.000-07:00

7"x5", oil on Canvas board
$100

This is a peach tree in my back yard. This tree bears the most delicious peaches.
I share the peaches with birds,squirrels and my neighbors. Sometimes I have to be fast to pick them before birds put the marks on them.
All the peaches are gone now. All leaves!!
I did this painting to enter the DPW Challenge. It has rules of using limited palette (Ultra Blue, Cad Yellow Med (or Lt), Cad Rd Lt and white) and painting time to one hour. It was not easy to get subtle temperature change in Greens since UMB is warm blue.
Well painting time is limited to an hour, I couldn't be fussy much.
Photography didn't help me either to show cooler colors at the bottom part of painting. This is Early summer. Every thing in my garden has fresh greens. This palette might be very good to use for fall season even though we don't have much of fall color in Los Angeles, CA.

"Tomato and knife"

2011-08-03T01:50:00.000-07:00

7"x5", oil on Canvas board
SOLD

"Tension"

2011-07-31T18:57:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

How do I make an interesting painting with just two tomatoes?
What color will be good for the wall and floor?
To go analogous, or to go complementary:
that is the question: whether they are nobler in the mind to suffer......
I am no Hamlet, but I am a serious painter.
Every beginning of painting is like I am just stepping a white room to find my way into problems. I don't yet know what I am trying to solve and how I am going to solve them.
After all, I enjoyed to paint these tomatoes and making a composition. The translucent surface of tomato is quite intriguing to paint.
The title for this painting is " Tension ". I sense the tension between two tomatoes.

2011-07-28T02:02:00.000-07:00

9"x12", oil on canvas board

I hesitate to post this painting because this painting is one of those quite experimental, problematic and not quite resolved yet with composition, color balance, brush stroke....to me.
Seems like I am treating paintings as labor instead of free flowing creative activity lately.
In this painting, the first problem I have created was adding the reddish background behind the apple. Somehow, I like to add some geometric shapes to the still life painting. Then color....to work with red, I used yellow green on the flowers.
I could spend lot more time with this painting, but is it worthwhile?

Maybe I should enter this painting to DPW Critique Me Challenge....

"Unfinished Symphony - Roses in B minor"

2011-07-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on canvas board

I started this painting a week ago over the old painting mostly of BG and RV. I thought that I had to work a lot more on this painting. But I reached at the point where I was not happy about losing the beneath colors from the old painting.
So I stopped because I didn't know what to do.
Now roses are gone. Also time went by. I am getting more comfortable with this "Unfinished" painting.
I tend to over work lately, I am going to call this painting finished as "Unfinished". The title of this painting would be "Unfinished Symphony" or "Roses in B minor"?
This painting remind me of Franz Schubert's "Unfinished Symphony" (Symphony No. 8 in B minor)

It is a small painting after all. There are plenty of roses waiting to be painted.
In the future....
I might like to adopt the painting process of painting by layers .

"Daisies"

2011-07-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

5"x7", oil on canvas board

I did a this setup on the lawn in my back yard. I wanted to paint this under the natural lighting. Blazing afternoon sun made a poor daisy facing the sun wilt right away.
It was lot easier for me to paint outdoor. I didn't feel like going into the detail which indoor still life setting often delude me. Also with the rapid lighting changes, prevent overworking which is most beneficial for my obsessive mind.

"Rose Bud"

2011-07-21T00:11:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

"Lavender on Blue"

2011-07-17T02:28:00.000-07:00

5"x7", oil on gesso board
vs.1
NFS

vs.2

"What I Paint With"

2011-07-08T18:15:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

I did this painting for this week's DPW challenge.
I painted over the old painting, mostly Red and Green. The handle of the knife, the shadow of the paint tube, the bright Red and dark Green areas are undisturbed from the old painting.
It has turned out to be a fun process of the making a painting.
The choice of the Green and Red handle brushes was made to work with Red and Green of the old painting. The new color added were Blue and White, which are the color of the paint tube.

"Bougainvillea "

2011-07-06T11:55:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

I love beautiful hot, flaming Bougainvillea during fiery hot, dry summer days.

"my friend, Shirley"

2011-06-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

8"x10", oil on canvas board

This painting is a portrait of Shirley, a friend of mine, who is 91 yrs of age this year.

She is such a lovely, energetic little lady. Going to concert and theater, teaching piano, entertaining friends....Hard to believe her age.
Last year for her 90th Birthday, I made a small drawing of her as a gift. It was a three quarter view from a photo I had, and she didn't like it at all. Few month later she sent me a photograph and asked me if I could paint her from it, because she likes how she looks in the photo. This is the first portrait painting I ever did by the request and I will say that it was not easy.

I do lots of head studies since the art school till now here and there for 20 yrs of my artist life.
Many of them are quite successful to my eye and it never mattered whether the model liked how they looked in my paintings or not.

I couldn't be spontaneous at all while I am working on this painting. I was just so concerned about the likeness and whether she would like it or not.
I am so relieved that I was able to pull this painting together without giving up!
Also I am glad that she looks quite young in this painting.

I finally begin to understand portrait painters after this experience.
Also I remembered Sargent's quote, "You lose a friend whenever you paint a portrait of a friend".

I hope not......

"Head Studies_Pirate"

2011-06-25T00:54:00.000-07:00

Head Study I

Long Pose (2hrs)

9"x12", oil on canvas board

Head Study II

Quick Study (15min)

8"x10", oil on canvas board

These are head studies with the costumed model at the Art Center. Pasadena.
The model was "Tucker", who used be an assistant Animator at Disney. He said that he has a life-long hobby of collecting costumes, now he enjoys modeling wearing his costumes and creating characters.
I did two paintings of him.
The first painting took 2 hours.
It was almost time for the painting session to end in about 15 min. I wanted to go home.
Then I changed my mind and told my self "Let's see what I could do In 15 min".
So here is a second painting. I am so happy with the result.
No fuss ... That is FUN!
Feels like you are flying with the brush.

I have enjoyed the first painting, but with lots of efforts.
The second one was a breeze!! .........................

Tucker saw my second painting and was very happy too.

"Irreconcilable!"

2011-06-13T18:27:00.000-07:00

5"x7", oil on gesso board

Well...I had a luck painting fast with "Geranium".
I can't figure out why this painting took so long...many, many hours... so embarrassing to tell anyone or even myself!
It is "Irreconcilable Differences in Painting", composition, subject matter..... hard to be together.
I was not happy all the way along...up to this point.
It is all right now with me to be able to stop tackling.
From the beginning of the first completion, nothing much changed, very subtle...
Probably, others can't tell the differences.
Still wants to make the right side tomato little more saturated... I am going to leave it now, to avoid further resentment.

"Geranium"

2011-06-11T14:48:00.000-07:00

5"x7", oil on gesso board

Once in a while, painting goes very well, quick and breezy. The first application of paint seems just right. This one was one of that rare occasion.
This geranium in my back porch is being neglected, regardless always have a few stunning Red blooms all through the year.
It is impossible to reproduce the natural, brilliant Red of this geranium, even with pure pigment of Winsor & Newton Oil.
Still quite happy about the result looking gorgeous in this painting.

"Bougainvillea on Blue"

2011-06-02T12:59:00.000-07:00

8"x6", oil on canvas board

I was trying to paint a BLUE painting with ORANGE focal point. Also make more abstract rather than copy the object.
Seemingly this is my artistic quest...
It is quite challenging for me and takes a lot longer to finish a painting up to the point I could accept when I make the painting this way.

"A Mango II"

2011-05-31T18:44:00.000-07:00

7"x5", oil on gesso board

"A Mango"

2011-05-29T01:17:00.000-07:00

7"x5", oil on gesso board

I find it very difficult to paint a mango; it's unique shape and rich colors.
The color transits from the dark rich crimson to red, then orange to yellow, pale yellow to light green at the tip.
Such a beautiful fruit!! Looking so delicious!!
Wish that I captured that rich color variations and deliciousness of the mango in my painting.

"Twosome"

2011-05-10T22:19:00.000-07:00

7"x5", oil on canvas board

I did "No, No".
I painted over on the painting below.
I usually starts with the intention to fix little tiny bits and often ends up messing up whole painting.
Hope I improved the painting this time!? Or, just a different painting!?
Many times, if I live with a painting for a while, that tiny spot doesn't bother me anymore.
When do I get wise? Instead going over the finished painting, just paint another one!!

I did this painting to enter the DWP Challenge.
DWP Challenge is quite FUN!!....
different style, different artists....
getting some comments on the painting entered ....
getting connected with other artists...

"Pink Flowers II"

2011-05-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

5"x7", oil on canvas board

Seems like I am so obsessed to paint these pink flowers lately.
All the hillsides around my home is covered with these pink flowers. Whenever I walk my dogs, I pick handful of them. They are so beautiful....
This is my third attempt to paint them.
I wish I could get the elusiveness of these flowers in my painting....

"Two Lemons"

2011-05-07T16:42:00.000-07:00

7"x5", oil on canvas board

I applied thicker paint on this painting. I like how brush strokes is casting shadows.
The camera didn't catch the freshness of colors properly.
The actual painting has a lot more vibrancy.

"Another Self Portrait"

2011-05-06T19:01:00.000-07:00

8"x10", oil on canvas board

I did another self portrait.
Same pose as the other one, but I approached lot simpler and quicker.

"All About Me"

2011-05-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

8"x10", oil on canvas board

This is a self portrait for the DWP Challenge,
"All about Me".
I had fun to paint my self, looking through the mirror set by the easel, depicting quite eccentric character of me.

"NYC Girl"

2011-04-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

8"x10", oil on canvas

This painting is done for "This Week's DPW Challenge: The NYC Lady Challenge"
A reference photo was provided by DailyPaintWorks(DWP).
My main concern for this painting was to give abstract quality to the background reflecting the shape of her jacket and long diagonals created by her leg and the white ruffles, so pulls the viewer's eye to the object which she is focusing.
I used the warm and cool grey palette.

Reference Photo

"Pink Flowers "

2011-04-28T15:11:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

"Wild Pink Flowers "

2011-04-27T21:05:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

It is spring time in LA.
All the hills are covered with wild flowers: poppies, ice plant, daisies... I picked some pink flowers for my daily painting while I was walking dogs this morning.
For this painting, I added some graphic elements to the back ground. Also I used split complementary colors; Red Violet to BlueGreen and YellowGreen. It was quite challenge to do this painting. Subtle change of color and values in the flower, composition and design, hue and value ... evreything.

My puppies, Lucia and Sydney taking nap.
(Sydney is male, Lucia,small one, female)

"Red Roof "

2011-04-22T22:30:00.000-07:00

10"x8", oil on canvas board

I'd like to share a painting I did on one Saturday for a month ago. This is a view from the hill at Pierce college looking down San Fernando valley toward North.
I live far at the mountain ridge on the right top corner of this painting.
I feel good with this painting, still I think I treated too literally. While I was painting this, I was thinking Cezanne. I am quite interested in Cezanne's composition. I wonder that any influence of Cezanne has reflected in this painting. Well....

I love the beginning of this painting posted below. It has spontaneity and abstracted quality I always seek. I labored hours more from this stage. On such a small size of surface. Why!?

Below is a photo I took that afternoon. My painting is done in one afternoon on the spot, not painted from the photo at all. But see how exact my painting is to this photo. It is scary!!
Only thing I did is I tried to frame the camera as same as my painting when I was taking the photo.

"Two Tomatoes" -sold

2011-04-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on canvas panel

More twosome tomatoes.....

"two by two"

2011-04-18T20:02:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on canvas panel

"wedged"

2011-04-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

I am quite happy with this painting; The composition, reflextion makes this painting unique, I think. The mix of realism and abstractness of suface is creating allegory.

"Azalea IV"

2011-04-07T21:33:00.000-07:00

11"x14", oil on canvas board

It is so interesting to see the gradual changes from the first painting "Azalea I". I am going to do more of this approach from now on. I was excited when I added Red into back ground. ( I didn't have any Red in my setting)

"Azalea III"

2011-04-05T21:24:00.000-07:00

11"x14", oil on canvas board

"Azalea II"

2011-04-02T21:16:00.000-07:00

11"x14", oil on canvas board

"Azalea I"

2011-04-01T20:52:00.000-07:00

9"x12", oil on canvas board

Recently, I am trying to do the different approach with composition and colors in my painting. More abstaction rather than just copying what is there. I am quite happy with this first painting of Azalea. So I did three more paintings of Azalea.

"Girl with a cat"

2011-03-19T21:19:00.000-07:00

8"x10", oil on canvas

"A Messenger"

2011-03-02T13:37:00.000-08:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

"In The Mist"

2011-02-11T17:00:00.000-08:00

6"x8", oil on canvas

"Tangerines "

2011-01-19T19:38:00.000-08:00

6"x8", oil on canvas board

"Blue Rhapsody "

2010-08-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

6"x8", oil on canvas board
I did a painting of roses against blue back ground today. Without any artificial, spot lighting, only natural light through the window behind me. I wanted the background 'Blue' stays 'Blue' without getting affected by the color of artificial light.
The controlling value and color temperature of Red oil paint is so tricky, since they are transparent. Especially when you paint such a beautiful roses.... Ahhhhh!!!

"Together" -sold

2010-08-14T10:54:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

"Away from Heat2"

2010-08-13T09:43:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

"Away from Heat"

2010-08-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

7"x5", oil on gesso board

"A Wild Sun Flower"

2010-08-06T11:14:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

I wanted to paint this jar since my last birthday.
My daughter brought a juice in it for me to the park. Anything related with my daughter is beyond ADORE always!! Also wild sunflower... They are around hills since spring time, everlasting. I like this painting how it turned out.

"Zen Moment"

2010-08-05T15:50:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on canvas panel

This is Korean stoneware tea cup. The milky green color of these tea cups is very unique with Korean ceramics. An interesting contrast of subdued green and subdued red in this painting is creating a 'Zen' moment.

"Procession"

2010-08-04T13:25:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on canvas panel

"Moving Out "

2010-08-02T18:18:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

I am moving out, Mom and Dad!!

"Me, Californian Golden Girl"

2010-07-31T15:17:00.000-07:00

9"x12", oil on canvas panel

I love California;
the weather, spaciousness, carefreeness, ethnic mixes, all the variety it offers.....
I have been living in California for 40 years.
I feel I am a true 'Californian Golden Girl', even I am not a hotti on the boogie board at the beach.

"Are You Going to Share?"

2010-07-30T10:22:00.000-07:00

Sydney & Lucia
7"x5", oil on gesso board

These are my puppies. Sydney is about 20 months old, male, tan color.
Lucia is female, gray. about 1 yr old, newly adopted. I thought Sydney migtht not like to be an only child. Both are Rescue Dogs. Beautiful Mutts!!
Lucia always follows Sydney and watch what he is up to.
This is my very first animal painting. I was not sure how it was going to come out. But as I was painting, I realized that the same principal of painting applies to any object.

"Blue Shadow"

2010-07-29T11:47:00.001-07:00

Migrating Cherries
6"x6", oil on gesso board

It is so much fun to create the little stories,'Visual Poetry' ...esp. with cherries.
Here in this painting....the sun is setting, cherries has way to travel before dusk.

"My Birthday Cup Cake"

2010-07-27T18:10:00.000-07:00

5"x7", oil on gesso board

My birthday is on July 14th. Bastille Day, France’s Independence Day in 1789 that changed France forever.
I feel like I should be in Paris watching fireworks at Eiffel Tower on my every Birthday.
My daughter and Buzz gave me a little picnic for my birthday, at the park in Old Pasadena in front of Armory Center for Art.
The cupcake they brought was so sweet and festive, perfect for summer birthday in the park.

"Life is just a Bowl of Cherries"

2010-07-26T16:33:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

Life is just a bowl of cherries;
Don't make it serious;
Life's too mysterious.
..........................
Life is just a bowl of cherries,
Live and laugh at it all.
..........................

'From a wonderful song from the 1930's'

"Cherry Talk"

2010-07-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

"Dennis"

2010-07-20T12:37:00.000-07:00

6"x8", oil on canvas paper

This a portrait of my son, Dennis.
I did this painting for a while ago, from 5x7 photo reprint of a small group of people. How I was able to do this painting from that sort of small size of reference is because I know him very well. In the photo, Dennis is listening to a person talking. He looks not quite agreeing about the speech. I would like to try this kind of painting more for my acquaintance from my photo album. I like to paint peaple to capture the expression.

"Light Bulb" -sold

2010-07-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on gesso board

A white light bulb is sitting on the white plastic tray with orange fabric behind.
Orange background is creating the glows in the shadow and very subtle orange tint all over the white tray, probably only visible to the painter's eye.
I would like to pass my perception to the viewers and help them enjoy this kind of plain setting quite interesting.

"On The Beach"

2010-07-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

8"x10", oil on canvas panel

Recent Small Paintings

2010-07-17T19:07:00.000-07:00

I am back to Blog.

SOLD

"Daisy"

2009-03-28T14:25:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on canvas panel

"Onion"

2009-03-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

10"x8", oil on canvas

Well, This onion was not an object to inspire me to paint.
But the painting turned out quite all right than I expected.
Actually, there were lots of interesting variation of hue, color temperature, texture, reflections within that plain, large, drying up onion ... made me get involved, once I started to paint.

"Morning Breeze"

2009-03-23T16:36:00.000-07:00

at The Corner of My Backyard

8"x10", oil on canvas panel

"Camellia2"

2009-03-22T13:11:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on canvas panel

"White Daffodil"

2009-03-17T23:31:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on canvas panel

"Three Apples"

2009-03-16T12:51:00.000-07:00

v.2
10"x8", oil on canvas

This is a revision of yesterday's painting. some part, better on v.1.
But I like this v.2 better over all.

"Three Apples"

2009-03-15T15:49:00.000-07:00

v.1
10"x8", oil on canvas

I did this painting during the nighttime. When I see this painting during the day, the shadow area seems too heavy. So.. I am working on it more.
Wish that I could improve the painting. It is always better to do another painting, since I tend to loose my patience and kill all the freshness. Lets see... It is all about learning, I guess...

"Garlic Family" -sold

2009-03-14T09:51:00.000-07:00

6"x6", oil on canvas panel

"Camellia"

2009-03-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

12"x16", oil on canvas panel
My good friend, Susan has beautiful Camellia shrubs by her front porch. They are absolutely beautiful and made me feel like to paint them.
I tried to make a composition with this painting, not just a pretty flower painting.
That attempt gave me so much challenge.

"Yellow Rose"

2009-03-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

8"x10", oil on canvas panel

I did this painting about two weeks ago.
I have to discipline myself to post on the Blog right away as soon as painting is done.

This painting makes a nice triptych with other flower paintings I did for a while ago. How do you think?

"A Mango"

2009-02-20T13:31:00.000-08:00

6"x6", oil on canvas panel

"Lavandula "

2009-02-15T11:45:00.000-08:00

11"x14", oil on canvas panel

The below paintings are my recent daily paintings.

2009-02-08T16:31:00.000-08:00

"Solitude"
7"x5", oil on panel
NFS

I spend so much time with this one more than any other paintings I do for my daily practice. After all the agonizing process, I like this paining. It has a soul.

"Red Delicious"
6"x6", oil on canvas panel

This is not good copy of real painting. It has lot more richness to the color.

"Magnolia"
8"x10" oil on canvas

"Azalea"
7"x10" oil on canvas

I didn't expect much from what I was painting.
I just did it to keep my sanity from the nightmare of fixing home after renting out home for an year and half while I was in London.
But I am very happy with this painting. It is one of my best I feel. It is rather calm than my state of mind and has beatiful color harmony, blue and orange.

2009-02-08T15:51:00.000-08:00

"Persimmons"
9"x9", oil on canvas panel

"Yellow pepper"
8"x10", oil on canvas panel

Sculpture at Valentina's studio, Paris-August 2008

2008-11-24T23:25:00.000-08:00

Tea Time with Valentina, Master Sculptor, and JD

at Valentina's studio with JD

My sculpture and Me

My finished sculpture, after Valentina

Drawing after Henry Moore

2008-11-24T22:49:00.000-08:00

Sketches at BA museum London

2008-11-24T22:43:00.000-08:00

Sculpture "My Friend, Jean-David"- London, Sep. 2008

2008-11-24T22:13:00.000-08:00

Sculture, Clay

at the beginning

Pastel Painting - at Candid Art Studio, London, August 2008

2008-11-24T22:00:00.000-08:00

2008-11-24T19:59:00.001-08:00

7"x7"
oil on wood panel
(3/4" thickness)

"Malibu"

2008-11-24T19:55:00.000-08:00

8"x10

7"x5"

8"x6"

2008-11-24T19:47:00.000-08:00

8"x10"

8"x10

10"x8"

Double Figure Compositions

2008-04-12T03:10:00.000-07:00

23" x 32", charcoal on paper

These are 10 to 15 min. each quick studies.
When I draw fast, I could get into only the essence. It is very much intuitive and spontaneous process.
I have enjoyed these two figures composition.
During my Art Center time, I had one great experience creating two figure sculpture using wax through Harry Carmean's drawing class.
I remembered well how much I enjoyed it that time also.
In the future, when I have more time to get into my own work, definitely I am going to explore more multi-figure composition.

"The First Tulip_the joy of spring"

2008-03-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

9" x 6", oil

I brought some tulip bulbs from Armsterdam last Fall. It came with a tin and soil altogether for a 'townie' like myself.
The morning is getting brighter little by little in London.
The first tulip opened up at my kitchen window sill.
I never knew such a joy of Spring after a long Winter by living in California for 37 years, without the distintive sign of seasons or the expectation or the wating eagerly for the little longer sunshine.

v.2

It is gone. I painted over.

v.1

This was the beginning of 'Tulip" painting. It doesn't exist anymore since I worked over. I like this more than the finished one. It has such a vitality and freshness in the painting.

"Girl with a Pearl Earring" _ after Vermeer

2008-03-07T03:12:00.001-08:00

10" x 14", oil

Last Fall, I visited the Mauritshuis, Den Haag. I saw the painting of Johannes Vermeer(1632-1675), Meisje mer de Parel / Girl with a Pearl Earring.

I fell in love with this painting and wanted to copy this since then.
Finally this week, I am having a week break from the studio, was able to have this luxurious experience of examining this master's beautiful work.
The expression of this face is so delicate and intriguing, has similar impact as Leonardo DaVinci's "Mona Lisa".
It might be different if I put mine next to the original, but I feel somewhat freaky about this copy since it turned out so close to the original.

2008-03-03T01:21:00.000-08:00

12"x 10", charcoal, tonal

I did this study only using the tone, no line.

"Hannah "

2007-12-08T10:39:00.000-08:00

23"x32",nude study, ink on paper
I met Hannah at Candid Art tudio, London, so close from my flat.
I feel home at the art studio where I talk with the artists and models.
Most models are artist themselves. Hannah has bright orange color hair and she is a set design major art student.

"Hannah"

2007-12-08T10:22:00.000-08:00

left hands drawings with continuous stroke

Finally Back to Drawing...

2007-12-08T10:08:00.000-08:00

23"x32", charcoal on paper

foreshortening study(1)
"Hanna"

foreshortening study(2)
"Hanna"

Working Late

2007-04-26T17:02:00.000-07:00

22"x29", charcoal on paper

This is a continuous work from March. I would like to call it as Final version for now. It is so close to Thumbnail study now. I might like to do oil studies with this.

Thumbnail Sketch

Adversity

2007-04-26T16:50:00.000-07:00

11"x14", oil on panel

This is my weekly "Alla Prima" painting at Art Center. This setting was reminding me of Last Emperor who is going through the perils of of his country in modern history.
I chose the strong contrast of color in hue, saturation and value. Jagged shadow of bamboo leaves accentuating the conflicts and drama.

A State of Abstraction

2007-04-26T16:44:00.000-07:00

11"x14", oil on panel

This an oil study done at Art Center. I felt the color harmony of different shades of orange in this setting had priority over the depiction of the details in the figure. In this painting, he is lost in study to the acquisition of knowledge.

Wearing Korean Costume

2007-04-11T17:16:00.000-07:00

11"x14", oil on panel

She is a young Japanese descendant wearing Korean costume for this Friday painting session at Art Center. I could see her personality and attitude showing through this portrait, making me chuckle.

Mermaid

2007-04-11T15:59:00.000-07:00

14"x18", oil on panel

I did this this oil painting one afternoon in December/2006 at ACCD painting workshop. This model was just like walked out of the painting of John William Waterhouse, one of my favorite artist. She just looked like a mermaid in the legend. I only had one session with her for this pose.
I am very happy with this painting. Misty background suggesting the forest and lagoon I created, the light hitting the front of figure......Every thing looks just right in this painting. It has fresh, sketch-like quality.
The spontaneity is one of the quality I pursuit all the time in my work. She was going back home to New York that weekend. I wish that she lives in LA, so I could paint her often.

John William Waterhouse
A Mermaid

John William Waterhouse
The Nymphs Study

Wisteria Lane

2007-04-11T14:55:00.000-07:00

9"x12" oil on panel

Happy Spring!
On last Wed. morning, went to Wisteria Lane, a private residence in Sierra Madre (Guinness Book of World Records) with my weekly Plein Air painting group. How humongous area wisteria is covering!! The air was filled with fragrance. Dappled light on the wisteria covered ground was so beautiful. I had to dash off quickly as I could to catch the moment. It took only 45 min to do this painting.

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