Portrait study - Zhaoming Wu

9X12 Oil on Canvas

                                                            Zhaoming Wu - Portrait Study

I am an ardent fan of  Zhaoming Wu and Fongwei Liu, and am awe struck every time I see their work..fluid brush strokes and brilliantly handled white. This painting is really close to my heart...I painted this portrait under the guidance of Fongwei Liu to study Zhaoming Wu's  work . What a joy!
I'll probably paint a few more :)

My experiments with WHITE

                                                                        Oil on Canvas 5X5

Painting white can be challenging. The color changes are subtle, the cool and warm grays have to be just the correct value to show the form. I decided to paint this small white bowl as an exercise. I am not  satisfied with it...but I did learn a few things:) Let me see how many paintings does it take for me to figure out WHITE. My artist friends, I will be happy to share the technique once I figure it out !

Painting SELF - 1

                                                                    4X6 Oil on canvas

I painted this self portrait for  'Daily Paintworks "All about Me" Challenge ', my new weekly commitment. This painting provoked thoughts beyond colors,edges, shapes,values...Why do artists paint self portraits ? 

Rembrandt, Dali, Picasso, Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo..the list is long !

Is it narcissism (maybe YES in Dali's case), is it to communicate perception of self or becoming something through one's art which one desires to be,  maybe the simple reason is that 'the artist' is the cheapest and most easily available model :)

I will now paint  more self-portraits and  through them study my progress as an artist. At this point I am focussed on capturing the likeness . Hopefully after a few I will be able to capture the essence of who I think I am..and maybe subconscious perceptions of 'my self' will manifest in the portraits !

Leafy -leaf study

9X12 Oil on canvas