MORNING HIKE

Bundle up & took a wintery hike this morning. Despite the chill, I enjoy being in nature & taking that inspiration back to my studio.

WINTER SKY

A grey winter sky hangs over the lonely landscape... muted whites & blues against foggy blue haze.

WINTER SOLSTICE

happens once a year, WINTER SOLSTICE ... shortest day, longest night!

MAGICAL

It does not happen that often, full moon shining over snowy landscape. Reason enough to play with my various blue pigments. Finding the right color relationship can translate into a magical tonal landscape painting.

FULL MOON

Full moon at 7:30 AM, the wonder of a December frosty morning never cease to amaze me.

SNOWSCAPE

nothing like a bit of snow to turn the winter landscape from bleak to winter wonderland ...

THRU MY WINDOW

Despite my business, I'm always looking out my window... a landscape doesn't permeate one's being in one day. There's always something I catch that makes me bring out my paints.

CHILLY MORNING

November has been mild, but we got some chilly mornings...what  better time to turn on the overn to warm up the kitchen ... when I find the time, my sketches from my kitchen turn into gift items on ZAZZLE

FEELING PURPLE

According to my horescope for today, I should use my feelings as my inspiration...kind of accurate, since I've been spending alot of time on meeting my illustration deadline this whole week.

CHALLENGE

I've been painting forever in various styles & endless different subjects. Painting horses seem to be a subject I avoided. Lots of horse farms near me, so I have no excuse. This sketch is from a reference photo. Trying to understand the shape of a horse has been harder than painting an impressionistic  landscape  out my window. One should not get too comfortable, I guess this justify spending so much time on this one sketch.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT

from time spend in charming CONNECTICUT, to the immense solitary views of the Catskill Mountain ... all important part of my artistic development ...

LATE AUTUMN

landscape remains my principle subject...crystal clarity of a bright, cold late-autumn day ...

NEW DESIGN

From visiting a farm stand to working up a small sketch, & a little extra magical help from photoshop ... I have a new design! I love creative days.

FALL APPLES

Montgomery Place Orchard in Red Hook, NY, is a wonderful Fall detour, the farm stand has many heirloom apples...beautiful display, & yummy samples...Just came home with many varieties to eat & draw...

MUTED COLORS

Well, it's that time again...we got this powerful snow storm over the weekend! No more colorful foliage to paint. The muted blues & whites of a chilly foggy morning at 7AM, makes this a very simple & fast sketch to finish.

THE BIG PUMPKIN

I'm born in Hong Kong, so Halloween for me is the most unusual holiday. I love everything about it. Especially the inspirations I get around this time of year.               Whether I'm visiting a card store or clicking thru GCU, the visual treat is always fun to my artist eyes.                  

PINK SUNRISE

just experimental with this new shade of color pencil from Utrecht, the perfect dusty shade to define the colors at 7am ... the pink sunrise glow lasted only 5 min, a touch of soft pastel finish this morning sketch

FALL WEEKEND

not a day for painting outdoor ... the north wind is coming on strong ... the comfort of MY STUDIO offers me a tranquil place to observe changes in cloud formation, foliage, & the many moods of nature ...

FALL BOUQUET

sad to see the summer garden colors are behind us, looking forward to fall colors...wonderful weather this fall weekend, lets hope I find the time for some pretty sketches ...

TREE HOUSE

for an impassioned sketcher & doodler, nothing beats coming upon something so special that it begs me to drop everything to get out my sketchbook...coming upon this magical tree house was a bonus to attending a beautiful country wedding in Vermont...

WEDDING DRESS

my love of sketching comes in handy for a one-of-a-kind wedding present ... this drawing will also come in handy when I work up some new designs for myweddingcollection

SQUASH

the beautiful foliage on a vegetable is more paintable than the vegetable itself...

FARMER'S MARKET

harvest moon was shinning bright this whole week, this is a great time to visit the local farmer's market...endless inspirations, for cooking & painting

END OF SUMMER

summer is way too short up in the mountain, the hummingbirds are visiting less,  they are still at the feeder...but this might be the last time I see any dragonfly in my garden...

SUMMER CREEK

after crazy Hurricane Irene, our little creek have turn into a roaring river, must respect mother nature...

MORE...

once again, drawing over a charcoal rub makes it easier...the lines to this sculpture are pretty obvious to my painter's eyes, talent is desire, the rest is practice practice practice...

CHARCOAL

After trying various mediums, a charcoal rub turns out to be the best way for me to sketch this marble statue at the sculpture court at the Metropolitan Museum. Like everything else, the more you draw, the more you know. It gets easier by choosing the tools to express the image. The wonderful thing is that there is something new to learn no matter how much you already know.

METROPOLITAN MUSEUM

TIME spend at the Metropolitan Museum is always well spend. At the airy sculpture court, chairs are provided for resting, or a quick sketch... the simplicity of a charcoal rub with a few highlights with a kneaded eraser is all I need for this sketch...

CENTRAL PARK, NYC

To balance off my immense solitude in the country, I look forward to my breaks in New York City. If one cant be in Paris, NYC is the next best thing for an artist. So many opportunity to observe, explore, & discover. With this sketch, I'm giving my feet a break from too much exploring, once again, using the light & shadow to capture the mood of a Summer afternoon at CENTRAL PARK...while I was sketching, the earth moved in the East Coast!

KEEP IT SIMPLE

shimmering light & velvety darkness that reveals itself in the hours between dusk & dawn ... the silhouette of the tree trunks is done with a few strokes of PITT 4B graphite, & a touch of pastel to indicate the pond, VIOLA

GOOD LUCK

a most unusual thing happened this week while I was gardening, a butterfly landed on me...I wonder if this will bring me lots of good luck...whatever the reason, it's reason enough to go into my studio & work up more butterfly designs...

CREATIVE TIME

LOL...spend all morning trying to stay on top of all these social media stuff, a very frustrating morning... went to the local berry farm to de-stress, baking a rasberry pie might be the only creative thing I do this weekend!

FULL MOON

Beneath a Full Moon... this watercolor sketch is from my visit to an old friend; since I moved from the Connecticut shoreline area, old neighbors with beach houses come in handy...more opportunity to explore ways to paint water

SUNRISE+POND 3

well, from abstraction ... I needed to define it more to express this great feeling of peace of a foggy sunrise ...

SUNRISE+POND 2

same sketch as yesterday ... working from memory, I'm refining it more to be more realistic, something beautiful happened that I did not intend ... with every accident, you make a choice, use it or correct it ... will have to look at this tomorrow

SUNRISE+POND

continuation of my summer pond series ... I'm taking an abstract approach to this ... at 5:30AM, except for the shape of the pond, it's one big dark shape ...

SECRET POND

the nature of being an artist is to change constantly... which is why I love quick sketches, I'm free to experiment & explore ... I'm spending more time this Summer with ways to paint water, this sketch happens because I feel like I'm on top of the world while swimming in the pond one lovely Summer morning ... the pond contrast nicely with the dark pines

NOCTURNE REFLECTION

from a small sketch on July 19.... finally got around to working up a finish

OFF THE HOOK

"hope your Summer is off the hook!"... that makes a good verse for a friendship greeting card ... being a working artist, one is always in tune to all the possibility ...