Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 02:58PM I finished Vanitas 35 subtitled "Cellini". This was an interesting technical challenge with so many different textures: translucent black blouse with frills, shiny metallic buttons, brocade bodice and the weathered concrete wall background. Initially I was thinking about mixed media drawing with watercolor splash, then I abandoned that idea. This piece does not need anything else.
Sunday, May 9, 2021 at 06:58AM I got my Vanitas 23 accepted into the upcoming Ohio Arts Council's biennial show at Riffe Gallery. I'm glad that I get to show this drawing in public for the second time following the show in Cincinnati. I have shown many of my drawings and photographs online but seeing the actual art works in person is obviously a completely different experience. I think this piece deserves that chance.
Monday, February 15, 2021 at 07:24PM Last week, I recorded a drawing demo of me working on a portrait of my friend Lydia. This was for the upcoming Bryn Du Art Center's Annual Group Show. Due to the pandemic, they could not do their usual artist demonstrations at the Art Center, so they came up with the idea of uploading the footage of the artists working in the studios online and share with public. I volunteered to do mine. I spent a little over 2 hours working on this drawing. Later I edited the footage down to about 20 minute length, which I hope is short enough to keep people's attention and interest. After watching the footage over and over while editing, I really realized for the first time that I do draw in charcoal like making a sculpture, starting with rough shapes by blocking in general patterns of light and dark, then slowly moving on to carving the details out. It's interesting I don't work this way for my graphite drawings. My dream is somehow to combine this sculptural approach in charcoal and the more precise rendering in graphite and make them coexist harmoniously in a single drawing.
Sunday, August 26, 2018 at 02:33AM I have been working on this commission project given by PatronArt. It is nearly finished. This is the largest pastel drawing I have ever produced: 48" x 32". I had fun with it. Now I need to figure out how to ship this giant...
Wednesday, July 18, 2018 at 08:23PM "Vanitas 15" is very close to the finished stage. I just need to fine tune a few things here and there. I decided to drastically darken the background by rubbing graphite powder all over it in order to heighten the contrast. I was not 100% sure about it, but I feel it was a right decision after all. It took me a while to find a right object to go with this drawing. The idea of using a feather came to me a few days ago and it just felt right, so I went with it.
