WINTER SHAPES

with winter landscape, it's easy to find large strong value masses...thinking in terms of DESIGN & not subject

HOME

"where our love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts"...OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES

CHRISTMAS MORNING

7AM...a magical christmas morning...really frosty, really pretty, really peaceful

WINTER SOLSTICE

winter solstice...darkest day of the year

WINTER LANDSCAPE

a pretty morning before the snow, sleet & rain came along

PATCHWORK

a patchwork of wintery colors out my window, that kind of a weekend....it's all about exercising the eyes

ABSTRACT VIEW

very windy, very cloudy, very abstract....a quick sketch to capture the abstract quality of NATURE

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

COLORFUL

a beautiful sunrise before the clouds roll in...7:15AM

MORE CLOUDS

another cloudy november day...sometimes, new art supply is my inspiration...got this new shade of charcoal, which is the same shade as what's outside my window...dap on some " flake white" oil paint for highlighting the clouds....pretty happy with my new experiment

PUMPKIN PIE

had my first pumpkin pie of the season, WOW, fantastic....my taste bud is really happy...nothing like homemade pie, especially if it's a gift from a friend

CLOUD STUDY

yes, it's back to doing more cloud & sky, it is hard to be inspire by monotone bleak landscape out my window

LE SOLEIL

whatever the season, the sun can create interesting shapes and forms

BONJOUR NOVEMBER

nothing like waking up to a bit of snow to make it a magical morning

BOSTON NOCTURNE

another road trip...whether it's Paris or Boston, I really enjoy strolling thru the city on a mild evening

FALL-MORNING

another morning of what to tackle first, with hundreds of ideas floating around...it's great to be creative, but frustrating to never get close to finishing anything

REFLECTION

taking a break from a full day of working on baby pictures...almost miss our first snow, outside my window...drawing from imagination & memory is definately more satisfying than copying from references... infact, it's two deferent experiences...an assignment with deadline remains technical & boring, a quick sketch is pure joy...I have yet to fine the perfect balance

SEASONS

each season brings its own beauty & its own lessons...quick pastel sketch of my big pumpkin, photoshop in a fairy from my archive=new design

BOOK COVER 101

after initial rough sketches....worked up a more finish sketch with models, scan it into my computer... from my computer, the new sketches will be review by art director

BOOK COVER

have not done a baby for a book cover in a long time....I got so use to painting, my drawing skill definately feels rusty

SPARKLY

a nice surprise...after the wind and the rain, the brilliant sun makes the wet foliage all sparkly & bright

BEYOND THE...

beyond the Golden Gate...if this is a perfect world, I would live in N. CA, where the mountains meet the Pacific Ocean

FALL

"gardens are the result of a collaboration between ART & NATURE" Penolope Hobhouse...second day of Fall, already....my days of sketching in my garden might be over soon

GOLDENRODS

the best part of going away is coming home, leaves are definately turning

TIME OUT

busy summer, finally, some leisurely time in the city...

INSPIRE

went to see JULIA AND JULIA over the weekend, scenes of Paris were very inspiring....I actually sat down and focus on finishing another page to MY PARIS RAMBLINGS book project, in the mean time, the house is upside down, of course

AU BORD

nice day to be sketching by the water, was studying light and water....got suck into drawing the tree trunk, that's kind of how the creative process works

RISE AND SHINE

rise and shine to a beautiful summer morning...endless fields of Goldenrods

PHOTOSHOP

too hot and humid for running around...might as well be creative on the computer...this is from one sketch and 2 finish paintings, with the help of photoshop....I moved and merged the different designs to create a new design....back in the OLD DAYS, creating a new design would have taken one whole week, all I need to do now is FOCUS and upload this onto GCU & ZAZZLE.COM

NEW DESIGN

photoshop made creating a new design alot easier....it still seems to take forever for me to FOCUS on creating a new product....finally got this posted on GCU & ZAZZLE

SUMMER DAISY

abundance of sun & more sun, one of those beautiful summer day, wish I have time to paint these amazing clouds

PEACH SEASON

not exactly asketchaday...but it is peachy season! .... definately a peach a day till the season is over

GIFTS

reread Gifts from the Sea by A. Lindbergh while I was on the beach...lovely, just a lovely classic

SOUVENIRS

pleasures from spending time on the beach...sand between the toes, crash of wave, & summer breezes...more inspirations, of course

DINING

Summer Evening means: alfresco dining, friends, wine & a full complement of STARS in the sky

HUDSON,NY

TORTILLAVILLE...what a cool name for an outdoor eatery on Warren St, Hudson, NY...simple and delicious taco & burritos...if one cant get to Soho, NYC....Hudson, NY is a pretty wonderful destination for galleries and boutiques...I forgot to ask the chefs what they did in their previous live?

DRAGONFLY

.."deep in the sun searched growths, the dragonfly hangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky..." DANTE G. ROSSETTI

SKY & WATER

summer morning....study of sky and water with charcoal

SUMMER SKETCH

with the humidity and threat of thunderstorm....nice to be painting outdoor, in the middle of the element...sweat and horse fly!

STRAWBERRY SEASON

not the best strawberry season with so much rain, but always good to get a few fresh strawberries after the bunnies polish them off the vines

another QUOTE

"Just living is not enough, said the butterfly...One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower." H. C. ANDERSON

COLLAGE

not too much time in the studio today, worked up a quick collage for my sketchbook..I print up a small photo of one of my tree painting and extend it out with some colors....a printer in the studio can be a very creative tool...we have come a long way from good old fashion paints

SUMMERSKY

with all this rain, there's more time for finish paintings, this one is from my tiny sketches of last week

OLD DRYER

one of a kind....a quick paint job to spruce up an old cloth dryer, my prefer medium is oil, let's see if it will last 10 years?

PROJECT

finally got around to one of many TO-DO projects....spruce up an old cloth dryer with some paints

MORE VIEWS

it's the same kind of summer foggy morning before the rain came...I reworked my last pastel sketch, my set of oil pastel comes in 200 colors, that's alot of colors to play with

SUMMER MORNING

it's that kind of a summer morning...cloudy, foggy, & misty

LUSH GREENS

with so much rain for the month of June, everything is looking lush & green

LIKE THIS

I like this tiny orchid so much, I'm putting this up again....as usual, half the job is choosing the right material....I rub in beige pastel onto paper, came along with a kneaded eraser and drew with the eraser....a bit of oil paint on top of the pastel for definition