Figurative Series (Make a friend)

Available at Silvana Gallery.

Figurative Series (Fresh and Sweet)

Available at Silvana Gallery.

It's took me longer to finish a painting since this month and I don't know why, I hope it just temporarily because I know that I still have too many paintings need to be finished :)

Here is the one I would like to share with you today.

Happy Chinese New Year of Tiger - SOLD

This is a painting I posted before, and later I used it as an example for my graduate study class (a theory and writing class) a year ago, I post it here again to share a little bit of my thought with you.

Tomorrow is valentine's day and it is also the first day of the year of tiger in China, I wish everyone a good year ahead! 虎虎生風, 虎年行大運!

Below was my writing for the GS class:

"I want to use this painting to “mapping” some of my current concepts about painting.
Idea: My idea for the painting.
Sharp, value, color: The elements I always need to keep in mind when I paint.
Finished and Unfinished: finish the important part and the contrast with unfinished part will bring the viewer’s eyes to the focus of point, also make the unfinished part looks like finished. With out finished part, the unfinished part will looks like nothing.
Detail and No detail: less detail in the shadow part will make other part looks more detail.
Edge control and Brush works: Use the edge control to make the painting looks 3D; Use brush works to make the fur looks like real.
Chinese painting techniques: The techniques I want to add in to my oil painting (hybrid)."

Small Still life

I got a chance to paint this still life tonight with an artist friend. I have not paint any still life for many many years, except the one did for my homework when I was working on my MFA. But the still life is not some thing new for me, the time back to high school when I was in China, I painted still life 3 hours every night.
It was fun to paint this small painting, this subject is good for practice the skill and it is easy to set up. You will see more small still life from my blog, hopefully each one has a new idea.
Please email me if you are interested this painting.

Small Seascapes (Mendocino - the cliff beach) - SOLD

It was very interesting to paint this one. The value of the sea water, the beach and the cliff were very close, I used the local color to separate them; moving the rock around on the canvas was fun for the composition; the size and edge was the tool to create the space; the brushwork helped to express the different texture... I think this is the beauty of the oil painting, and this is why I love the oil painting.
Please email me if you are interested to purchase this small beauty.

Apple face - SOLD

Small Landscapes (Stanford Dish Series) - SOLD

Small Landscape 6

Small Landscape 5

Small Landscapes (Stanford Dish)

Small work 1, 8 x 10.

Small work 2, 8 x 10.

I am planning to do some small landscape paintings now and for the bigger painting later. Please email me if you are interested to purchase any of the small one.

BBQ for the festival

Available at Silvana Gallery.

Are you planning for a BBQ this year?

This is the first narrative painting I have done, it is not an easy subject to paint.

I was attracted by the kebab and wondered about how to paint it, this is the reason I started this painting, but I think the beauty of the painting is the hard working chefs.

Girl Protrait - SOLD

by Silvana Gallery.

Yes, I graduated. No more nude figure :) The reason I chose nude figure as my final project was that I wanted to use the hardest subject to practice my skills, and now is the time for me to paint some thing that I want to paint :)

Some friends asked me about what do I want to paint now? The answer is simple: anything touches me, the subject does not matter to me.

This is the only "finished" portrait painting I completed in this couple years. Although I call it portrait, but her face was not the first focus point I wanted to paint. I think some time the body language could expresses the emotion and feeling too. I don't have the title for this painting yet, so, please let me know if you have a good title for it.

Happy New Year from Fongwei

Final 6 - SOLD

by Waterhouse Gallery.

Both this painting and my "sleeping beauty" are not finished yet. I post them out because I don't know when I will finish them. My final is over :) I want to take a short break and then paint something else.

I really enjoyed in apply the different paint application on my painting, even work on a half dried painting. I find more rooms to play with color and express my idea and feeling.

Final 5 - the sleeping beauty

Available at New Masters Gallery.

I tried to push my self more about color on this painting, and I find that the higher key painting will be easier to apply the color on it, the lower key painting will be harder, like my last painting. And also when I focus more on drawing (likeness and value) I will lose the color, it's just like the impressionism painting and realism painting, but I think this is also the nature. So I believe that for an artist, as soon as he find the "balance point" of the drawing and the color, he will established his own style, and the "balance point" will be depend on the artist's "art taste".
Huihan pushed me more on the paint application, you can see a little bit from this painting. I will try more on my next painting. I feel I can get more rooms to do the "fine art" with varied paint applications.

An old story 2 - SOLD

by New Masters Gallery.

I painted this girl again a few weeks ago, it took me long time to finish it because the moving. I really like this subject, will paint it more after my final subject.

Figure drawing 4

Figure drawing 3

Figure drawing 2

Figure drawing 1

Head drawing

I have not done any drawing for years, I think I need to get used to my drawing tools.

Final 4

Available at New Master Gallery.

Hi, I am back. This was a very busy summer for me. I just moved to my new house, it took me a month to do the remodeling, and the good news is I got a bigger studio, I can imagining that I will produce a lot of great paintings in my new studio :-)

This will be my final semester for my MFA degree, I have followed my teacher Zhaoming Wu for two and half years, and I decided to do a one on one study with another master painter Huihan Liu as my last class, hope I can learn more from him.

I have another good news, New Masters Gallery started to carry my paintings. They put my painting in the window, and sold the first painting in two weeks. So after I finished my final project (nude figure – for sharping my skills) you will see more gallery paintings from my blog.

Summer head study 9 (last one - a quick study)

Summer head study 8

Available at Waterhouse Gallery.

The model agreed me to take a picture, so I post it here with my painting.

Lot of artists knows that the idea and technique are very important for an artist. Here is another element I want to talk a little bit today, I call it - Art taste.

The Art taste for me includes the taste of idea, the taste of technique, the taste of composition etc, and each element includes more sub elements, for example, the taste of composition includes the taste of shape composition, the taste of value composition, the taste of color composition and so on, each of them could be a big topic to talk but I can’t talk too much here.

The Art taste decides the painting style because the artist paint the thing that they think is good; also they pick the technique that they think is good too. It’s important for an artist to have a good Art taste when you choose the idea, the technique, the composition, and the color combination… for you painting.

If you have a good Art taste, then you know how to pick the things to paint when you face to your object. You will know what you need to paint even the thing (shape, value, color or texture) is not exist there; you also know what you don’t need to paint even the thing is just in front of you eyes. This is very important because we are artist not a camera.

How to improve the Art taste? I think it’s more from our life experience. Music, book, design and much more, see more and think more, LEARN FROM THE NATURE.

I don’t know where my seven years old daughter learned from, and she said this to me: Be smart, use your brain! I answered: Ok, I will. I think she was joking to me, but it works here :)

Summer head study 7

I did this study on Monday and just no time to upload it because I was busy in paint my house. Yes, my house, not my canvas. My wife wanted to find guys to paint it, but I bravely said: (I hope I didn’t say that) “I can do this because I can paint on the canvas so the wall.” Then I spent 3 days to finish this job, no idea needed here but lot of labor.

Today, I want to talk a little bit about my painting philosophy, hope it’s not too boring.

I never talked to anybody before but I find that my painting philosophy is from Chinese philosophy Dao. I don’t want to talk about Dao here, but it dose apply to everything in this world.

When I paint a painting, I will think about the shape (big and small), the value (dark and light), the color temperature (warm and cool), the texture (thin and thick), and the edge (hard and soft). That’s all come from nature, all belong to “Yin and Yang” which is Dao’s theory.

Dao talked about keep the balance of Yin and Yang. A good artist knows how to balance the Yin Yang too. I heard a chef said that add a little salt if you want your food sweeter. Same thing when I paint something, I may need something small if I want to paint something big; I will use dark if I want to show something very light; I may need to use some purple around if I feel my yellow looks not yellow enough; I may need to paint some part just by wash if I want to represent some thick texture. So in a painting, big supports small, small supports big, warm supports cool, cool supports warm and so on… this is nature.

Dao also talked about the nature, and I believe that too. I think my idea should from the nature; my paint technique should follow the nature because everything is from the nature. Two years ago, my friend Qiang Huang visited me when I just restarted paint, and we talked about need the power for our painting and we couldn’t get the answer, but now I think I found the answer – learn from the nature.

Summer head study 4

Summer head study 2

Summer head study 1

I am going to do some head studies this summer, here is the first one of them. I changed somethings from what I saw from the model to what I thought and felt, I think the result was better.

Final 3

Available at New Masters Gallery.

Final 1 - Comfort zone - SOLD

by Waterhouse Gallery.

Red Coif

The model sat between two windows, the nature lights came from both side. I changed the color temperature on right side to create more interest and the difficult part was the light kept changing from morning to afternoon.

Green Skirt

Purple robe

I am working on a few big paintings recently, and I just realized that I have not take care my blog for while already. I find a old painting here - last year's :) hope your like it!

The noon of Bayfront park - Menlo Park (Plein Air)

Bayfront park - Menlo Park (Plein Air)

The Entrance of Rancho San Antonio

Available at Silvana Gallery.

Rancho San Antonio County Park in Cupertino is a great place for hiking, I had been there many times with my family and friends. Today is the first time I did a Plein Air painting there with my artist friends, we enjoyed a beautiful day in the park...

Here is a painting I started last spring but could not finish it. I find it last night and I am happy I finished it today. Looks like people don’t like my nude figure :( and the nude figure is not my favorite subject either. Hopefully, not more nude figure next year…

Allied Arts - Menlo Park (Plein Air)

A halfway painting

Not available.
This is an unfinished painting I did last week. I don’t want to continue it now, but I think I should post it here to share my progress.
By the way, left up corner is the photo reference I taped on my canvas.

Napping

A two days pose, the angle and the color were challenge for me.

Head Study 2

I did not paint many black peoples, let me know how do you think about this little piece.

Figure Study

Bird Pond

I am glad that more artist friends joined us for the plein Air today. Especially Bonnie, first time joined us and did a beautiful landscape, hope we can see you more!

Portrait Study

A Message

Before Wedding

A rainy day

Available at Silvana Gallery.

Thursday is the only day I have time to do Plein Air painting, so I didn’t want to miss the opportunity today even I knew it’s going to rain.

Believe or not, this painting was painted by oil paint plus rainwater :)

Cheer! Kelvin and Alan, we did great job today.

Head study

This is a new picture for the painting, and the color is closer to the original.

Fisherman

I did this quick study from Palo Alto art center this afternoon, last time I painted there was one year ago, the challenge for painting there is the lighting is not perfect...

By the way, if you live near south bay of San Francisco, and you know some good locations, please let me know, maybe we can paint some Plein Air together.

An old story - SOLD