Blog

Follow this Blog

About Commissions - Alaska Railroad

1/31/2010 2:03:58 AM

Alaskan Railroad Stefan (not his real name) took a photo of a magnificent train in the breathtaking nature of Alaska. He had kept it for 20 years, thinking maybe some day he would have a painting made of the photo. I had the pleasure of meeting him and his lovely wife a couple of years ago at an art opening. Soon afterward they started collecting my paintings. Just recently Stefan said to me, "You know, I never thought of this to be done in watercolor, but can I commission you to do an Alaskan train painting from my photo?" I looked [...]

Assisi, Italy VII, Italian Landscape Painting

1/29/2010 12:41:56 AM

Assisi, Italy VII San Diego Watercolor Society is now accepting registration for my workshop on Perspective. Here's what I am planning to do. If this is of your interest, I hope you'll join me! "Applying Perspective to Landscapes" - Successfully applying perspective makes a landscape painting more inviting and engaging. I will show how I design my painting based on a solid plan using effective perspective. I will demonstrate one or two landscape or cityscape paintings a day, discuss my methods and materials and answer questions. I will offer one-on-one instruction as participants work on painting. A day will be finished [...]

Paris (#1) - Bistro, French Landscape Painting

1/28/2010 2:10:57 AM

This year I am starting a new painting series of none other than - Paris! Oh, I know it seems every artist paints Paris at some point of their career, and I've been painting it, too, especially café scenes. So choosing this city as a theme of new series may be more of a cliché. But as I was musing last week, Paris holds a very special place in my heart. For this series, I plan to take a more intimate look at the city that I love - its streets, people, dogs, parks, restaurants, river and bridges, etc. [...]

Paris Cafe XXXVIII, French Landscape Painting

1/27/2010 1:34:23 AM

This café, near an entrance to the Luxembourg Gardens, is in such a great location it seems always busy. Late afternoon the light was coming straight into the terrace where people were enjoying a drink before heading home or for other evening activities... This is the story of this painting. But I hope you will see what will happen after this scene. A waiter will come and clear one of the round tables that was just vacated. Soon these three tables (in front) will be taken by more customers as an evening approaches. Here's how I painted this scene: [...]

Roma, Italia XXIII, Italian Landscape Painting

1/26/2010 1:56:48 AM

Roma, Italia XXIII Shadows on a street leading up to St. Peter's Basilica suggest it is midday. I like it when bright sun creates dark edges that I enjoy painting against areas in the lighter value. But in this painting, I really had fun with colors -- the colors of paints that I happened to have on my palette yesterday. A small palette that I normally use when I travel needed cleaning. So I was going to start a day by washing this. When I looked at it, some paints had been used up but the colors that still remained were [...]

Roma, Italia XXII, Italian Landscape Painting

1/25/2010 12:49:47 AM

Roma, Italia XXII Crossing Piazza Venezia is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Cars, taxis, buses, lots of scooters and occasional horse carriages seem to come and go from anywhere and incessantly. So, anybody who deals with traffic on the Rome's busiest square must have one of the most thrilling jobs. This traffic control officer, standing on a podium in the middle of the piazza was a testament to that. Wearing a white helmet, white gloves and a whistle around his neck, he was signaling to drivers who poured into Piazza Venezia from all directions. Given the traffic condition, I had to [...]

Paris Café L, French Landscape Painting

1/24/2010 1:33:38 AM

After walking around on streets of Paris for a while, I would have to make a hard decision whether to go in a café or to find a bench in a quiet park to sit down. My answer to this dilemma is the Luxembourg Gardens (On peut faire d'une pierre deux coups!). If your feet are sore and you need a little caffeine boost and clean air, you'll feel nothing is more relaxing and satisfying than sitting at this open-air café inside the Luxembourg Gardens. In warmer months, greens of chestnut trees provide cool shades. When I was there last [...]

Journey Home IX, Japanese Landscape Painting

1/21/2010 2:03:01 AM

I was notified yesterday that my painting "Journey Home IX" was chosen as the Finalist - Outstanding Watercolor in the FineArtViews Painting Competition (December 2009). This is quite an honor as entries came in hundreds and many were truly breathtaking fine pieces. Judge was Nancy Guzik. Here's where you can view all award-winning paintings (link). Journey Home is a series of paintings depicting everyday scenes of Kyoto, Japan, my hometown, that I feel the need to record. Living thousands of miles away from home, I am shocked to see some things look totally different when I return. It is comforting to [...]

Paris Café XII, French Landscape Painting

1/20/2010 1:53:02 AM

How we connect with a new place we visit is just like a relationship. It may be a love at first sight (so we never leave) or we may leave disappointed (never to return). In most cases, we were already interested enough to visit, so naturally we enjoy 'our first date' and may want to return to get to know it better. I love Paris. To think of my first visit there about 20 years ago, it was not a love at first sight (it was too short). But Paris already had a special place in my heart and my [...]

Paris Café XLIX, French Landscape Painting

1/19/2010 1:41:10 AM

Known for famous intellectuals who used to frequent here (such as J-P Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Picasso), Café de Flore still attracts the same kind and many others. Behind glass panels, I could see young couples, foreign tourists, and wealthy old men and women. There were also families on vacation and a couple of well-dressed businessmen. I could only guess, but they must have come here for more than a cup of coffee. To experience the charm of an old Parisian cafe, to be part of its history, to people-watch, or to daydream -- whatever their purpose might have been, [...]

Lisbon Café, Portugal VII, Portuguese Landscape Painting

1/18/2010 1:39:40 AM

To really soak up the atmosphere of a place, you must stay there for a while. In an upscale shopping district in Lisbon like the Chiado, finding an outdoor cafe is an easy and inexpensive way for a traveler to do that. People watching is always interesting, but, if we can also watch cable cars coming and going every few minutes, it'll be a special memory of this beautiful city. This historic café, surrounded by elegant buildings, is in a great location for the experience. Another thing I like about this place is, whether you are alone or not, [...]

Waiting for Spring (Shiga, Japan) III, Japanese Landscape Painting

1/15/2010 12:25:01 AM

Compared to a city scene cluttered with all kinds of man-made things, a rural landscape usually looks simpler and more straightforward. This doesn't translate to a facility in painting rural scenes, however. Needless to say, it is a painter's familiarity with a subject matter that allows him to do a painting with more confidence. I've been practically a city person most of my life, having lived in places where snowy days were quite rare. So as I started this painting, I was not sure whether I would finish it without losing an initial motivation. As it turns out, I enjoyed [...]

Waiting for Spring (Shiga, Japan) II, Japanese Landscape Painting

1/14/2010 1:29:00 AM

I hear from friends and news reports that many parts of the Northern Hemisphere are experiencing one of the coldest winters right now. Days of bitterly frigid temperatures will make one wonder whether a harsh winter will ever end. When snow and ice are overwhelming, life becomes a fight for survival. In the face of Mother Nature, we are helpless but we can always believe spring will come again. Like a golden beacon signaling on a moonless night // Tao guides our passage through this transitory realm. // In moments of darkness and pain // remember all is cyclical. // [...]

Sevilla, Spain VII, Spanish Landscape Painting

1/13/2010 1:54:02 AM

This scene, just outside the Seville's majestic Royal Palaces, may look like a snapshot of any tourists but this white horse was so beautiful I couldn't pass up an opportunity to make a quick sketch of it. In fact, there are many horse-drawn carriages waiting for riders near here and the Seville cathedral. These old-fashioned carriages with bright yellow wheels must be a really nice way to enjoy the atmosphere of the city's particularly charming neighborhood of maze-like alleys and flower-decked patios. Sevilla, Spain VII Click here for an enlarged view. Media: Original watercolor on paper Image Size: 8.25 x [...]

Sevilla, Spain VI, Spanish Landscape Painting

1/12/2010 1:06:37 AM

This painting shows only a part of the semi-circular building at the Plaza de España, which is inside María Luisa Park in Seville. Built in a style heavily influenced by the Moorish tastes, this must be one of the most beautiful architectures in all of Seville. Just before the sunset time, the building glowed in the gorgeous golden-orange color. The intensity of the color kept growing and growing as if it would soon burn the building. And then it was gone. It was a mesmerizing sight. It was almost seductive and flirtatious, if I may say so, just like Carmen, [...]

Sevilla Bar, Spain III, Interior Painting

1/11/2010 1:44:12 AM

Sevilla Bar, Spain III We had some time to kill before our bus arrived, so we went into a bar at the bus terminal in Seville. It was a very hot day (the Andalusian sun can be maddeningly intense!) and we were tired and not really looking for a fancy meal, so just being inside was a treat enough. After studying their tapas menu, we made a few choices including the one that said "our award-winning regional specialty." To be honest, we didn't take that too seriously from a bar that caters to long-distance bus travelers. While waiting, I looked [...]

Lisbon, Portugal II, Portuguese Landscape Painting

1/10/2010 2:17:38 AM

City streets have been such fascinating subjects for me, but hilly ones are especially attractive (and challenging to paint, too). If they are picturesque or display inherent character of history or tug at my heartstrings for one reason or another, I simply cannot resist the temptation to paint them. Lisbon, a city of the seven hills, has plenty of such streets. This one overlooks River Tagus. I painted it because I liked architectural features of the buildings and I also thought everything was in the right place. But while I was painting, I began to wonder what could be there [...]

Station Cafe, Spain, Interior Painting

1/9/2010 1:28:14 AM

Station Café, Spain I joined Daily Painters Gallery exactly a year ago today. It's been an amazing year, painting, blogging and getting to know many of DPG artists and viewers. At times, life threw at me unexpected things and I couldn't get to my studio or I had to miss posting, but I made a commitment to make daily painting a top priority in 2009. Thank you for checking my blog to see my daily effort. I am grateful that many of my creations have found a new home. Thank you for sending me your comments, opinions, inquiries and kind emails, [...]

Toji Temple, Kyoto II, Japanese Landscape Painting

1/8/2010 1:36:49 AM

Toji Temple, Kyoto, Japan II Toji Temple is located not so far from the Kyoto train station. Its pagoda, being the tallest wooden tower in Japan, is probably the most prominent landmark of the city and one of the most exquisitely beautiful structures. Toji was built around the time Japan's capital was established in Kyoto (it was called Heian-kyo) in 794. This and another temple stood on both sides of the Rashomon, the south gate to Heian-kyo, which, sadly, doesn't exist any more. The pagoda is also a nostalgic symbol, especially to those who call Kyoto home. It is not [...]

Toledo, Spain VI, Spanish Landscape Painting

1/7/2010 1:36:44 AM

Toledo, Spain VI Some places are better to explore without a map, especially if their size is relatively small. It helps if they are inside walls or surrounded by rivers or sitting on top of a hill, so getting lost is not so risky even for the not-so-adventurous. Toledo in Central Spain is such a place. Instead of just connecting dots to visit many of its historic monuments, I like walking in this city's narrow streets, not really deciding where to go. The hilly streets are like a maze and can be hard especially under the scorching summer sun. But, [...]

Nishijin, Kyoto, Japan I, Japanese Landscape Painting

1/6/2010 2:45:20 AM

Nishijin, Kyoto, Japan I Nishijin is a district where professional weavers have lived and worked for centuries. The textile woven for kimonos in the unique Nishijin style has been revered and purchased by people who could afford it. It used to be that the sound of weaving coming from many houses could be heard around here in its heyday as if it was raining hard. But now there are only a handful of masters who preserve traditions of this ancient industry. Walking on a narrow street at Nishijin one late afternoon, I tried to imagine how it used to be. There [...]

Fiesta of San Fermin (Pamplona, Spain I), Spanish Landscape Painting

1/5/2010 1:24:52 AM

Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises made the Fiesta of San Fermin, held every July in the city of Pamplona, Spain, more famous beyond borders. During the 2-week festival, the city is filled with people wearing white and red (a white shirt and a red scarf around a neck or a waist seem to be an official outfit for many men). Here are some quotes by Hemingway that I have found helpful for me as I make a new year's resolution to paint every day. They remind me to be diligent, honest, humble and determined not to give up. [...]

Kitano Shrine, Kyoto II, Japanese Landscape Painting

1/2/2010 10:54:14 PM

Kitano Tenmangu (or Kitano Shrine) is known among Kyoto people as Tenjin-san. The shrine was dedicated to Sugawarano Michizane, a high-ranking government official and scholar during the 9th century, who had the title of Tenjin (Heavenly Deity), thus its name. In this painting, visitors to Tenjin-san are gathering around an incense stand to purify themselves - one of the rituals to perform after entering the shrine grounds. Kitano Shrine, Kyoto, Japan II Click here for an enlarged view. Media: Original watercolor on paper Image Size: 11.5 x 8.25 in. (on 12 x 9 in. paper) Mat/Frame: No Purchase: Sold [...]

Kitano Shrine, Kyoto I, Japanese Landscape Painting

1/2/2010 10:25:12 PM

One of the most important shrines in Kyoto, Kitano Shrine (or Kitano Tenmangu) attracts many visitors throughout the year. But the crowd is much bigger on the 25th of the month when there is a huge flea market on the grounds. I painted the North Gate of the shrine, on a market day last month. Because there was much less traffic there, compared to the main entrance on the south end, I was able to enjoy a moment of tranquility. In the soft wintry sunlight, the gate looked like it was cradled by trees of various sizes and species and their lush foliage. Kitano Shrine, Kyoto, Japan I [...]

←