After Caravaggio

A grisaille after Caravaggio, special thanks to DM.

Will be taking a break from posting for a while, see ya soon

Recipe for Disaster

Plenty reference here to the Greek economical down turn...

"Dina"

4"x4"

The Choire (in progress)

This is one of my thesis pieces!  /:)

Study of a male nude

~~More sketches~~

SWAP!!

Studio work swap is something artists often do where exchanging art works becomes a way of bonding and showing admiration :) I received a "Bunny of sublime" painting in exchange of one of my "Subway Dance" paintings, good swap!

Caricature of People Seeing A Caricature Exhibition

Infinite Jest: Caricature and Satire from Leonardo to Levine

 Met up with a friend over the weekend for some good food and saw the caricature show at the Met.  It was also fun making caricatures of the audience at the caricature show, watch behind your back or you might end up on my book, ha!  >:D

THANKSGIVING Prep Talk!

Found this on the net thought I'd better share it :)

HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING Y'ALL!  :)

The Apotheosis of Shame (IN PROGRESS)

20'' x 30''

Oil on canvas 

  "The Apotheosis of Shame" is an ongoing project of experience with how people often relate nudity with instant shame. People who reject nudity often are insecure with their own bodies, in which they see themselves in the work and imminently feel appalled.  I'm not saying that everyone should become nudists, although that would save us a lot of money on clothing; without nudity, there would not be figurative art, or the inspiration of certain other art derived from it, instead, we will all be wrapped in fabrics trying to forget the fact that we are born naked from the womb and we are naked when we die. 

Cloudy day

My fabulous friend + model + fashion designer = great cloudy day drawing project

In this drawing, I am not chasing after the "aesthetic rendering", I am instead more interested in capturing the model's energy, the couture of her clothing vs. the negative space...etc.  One can render a drawing to death and the result might be beautiful, however a truly successful drawing will have both the structure and the energy of the objects, it should never stop giving you information.

More subway dance!

Deck the wall!

Putting a few theses little guys in for Deck The Walls this year!

 Interiorscape 

6'' x6''

Oil on board

IN PROGRESS

As the weather is getting colder, the city seems to be moving faster every day <:D 

Recent sketches

 

 

 

Ongoing lessons

A painter can spend up to 10 years on a painting.  I have learned a lot in doing this painting in just a few months, although it's not finished.  In order to see the true depth of color, one must observe from life, and not from photographs.  Thank god to Google, we can almost always get references. However, a flat random photo can never fully justify a set up, an object, or a action.  I would totally recommend not to be dependent on photo references. 

 

Mid Term den-den-den--!!

Just survived the midterm of the midterm! The real Midterm is at the end of this semester. The critics are a bless to the artists- despite getting over loaded with too much feedback can short the fuse a bit...anyway. The critics went fine!

I haven't figure out a name for this painting yet, but it has everything to do with "private nudity"and "public nudity".  I am not a nudist, and doubt that I would ever be one, but I am essentially nude, as we all are behind clothing.  I think it's ironic to somehow condemn nudity in public but is fine behind doors.  When I modeled for painters, I modeled for 20 or 30 artists, I loved it.  The entire academic painting is based on life models, are these models "shameless" to have helped to created figurative art?  Actually, this was still an issue in the early 1900's at places as civil as Philadelphia, where Thomas Eakins once taught.

This is life model and made up back ground.  Also not sure what to name it.

The Day After

I can't believe we had snow yesterday! Too soon! I was getting ready to cancel the "Dumpling Party", but everyone somehow managed to show up:) A wonderful time we had after all...making food, sharing food and wine, listening to the fire place cracking while watching a movie that doesn't require much braining...and we put Halloween stickers on each other so no element of the celebration was missing. It was sure cold outside but the inside was nice and warm:) Next time let's try Fondu shall we?


"Room Green" and "Tangled" are both selected to be part of the NASAD exhibition this year, very cool!

Subway Dance!

I've been trying to have something new on the blog every other day, so far it's working out great:)

Color experiment-

In this piece I am experimenting with warm, cool, light and shadow.  One of my heroes is Edward Hopper,  I really admire his ability to make decisions in a composition where everything is intertwined.
Hopper cared about the contrast, the direction of light and the simple warm and cool of the plains.  To make a successful painting, composition is vital.  As painters we need not be afraid to make changes, if there is something that doesn't look right, it needs to be fixed, or it will remain "incorrect" and mislead everything.

 "Room Green"

30'' x 40''

Oil on canvas

Artinfo: The best brush cleaner

The best oil brush cleaner I have used so far, is definitely Jack's Linseed Studio Soap.  I've tried just about everything to keep my brushes perky and clean.  My husband doesn't wash his brushes and he keeps them soaked in linseed oil between sessions -- does not work for me, I need my tools to be squeegee clean.  Murphy's oil soap is good but the order is unbearable. "The Masters" Brush Cleaner is ok, not remarkable.  Regular soap does the job but leaves brushes terribly dry...

I found only Jack's linseed studio soap keeps my brushes nice and moistened, and takes out oil residue just like that :) You can find it both ASW and Jerry's Artarama.

Just for fun-- Just Breath

Just Breath

Oil on paper

6'' x 8'' 

Hey- How is that new Lawsuit working out for ya...?

Christie's, Sotheby, Ebay sued over royalty

Chuck Close and other artists are suing Sotheby's, Christie's and eBay, contending the auctioneers willfully violated a California law requiring royalty payments on sales of their works. 

The three federal suits filed Tuesday seek class-action status to represent many other artists and demand unspecified royalties and damages – which could total hundreds of thousands of dollars given current art prices...

 

Christie's -- "Although Christie's has yet to be served with the complaint, it views the California Resale Royalties Act as subject to serious legal challenges. Christie's looks forward to addressing these issues in court," the company said in a statement.

Sotheby's --"We believe that we have meaningful defenses to the claims asserted and they will be vigorously defended," Sotheby's said in a statement Thursday.

 Ebay -- An email seeking comment from eBay was not immediately. 





My understanding of the suit so far is that CA passed a law in order to support their own artists,it requires any sale occurred in state would have to pay royalty to the artists.  Chuck Close is not a CA resident so I am not so sure as to what ground he is using to sue?  Or is he be merely trying to open up a case discussion, to broaden the law so non-resident like himself could collect royalty as well?  Will stay tuned and see what comes next!

CELEBRATION

Folks, it's that time of the year again :)  We have hosted two dumpling parties in the past and they were all great fun.  This year we have several things to celebrate, the coming of the Fall and Winter season, the blog being 6 years young, the departing of our friend Maltese...oh, and how about the upcoming holidays and our anniversary?    So much to celebrate! So let's continue the tradition to eat, drink and be merry <<:D

*I will instruct the doorman to sent you right up, just say you are coming for the party!

Figure drawing- Nude Male Back

Nude Male Back

20'' x 26''

Red conte on Reeves BFK

Thesis Project Phase 1

Thesis Project phase 1

"Pig Slaughtering"

40' 'x 20''

Oil on canvas

2011

 

So this is my phase 1 thesis project.  Since I am dealing with reconstructing memories and experiences that I have had, I've decided to start with the pig slaughtering scene.   I remember being very scared because although the pig was bound and held tight by the helpers, it was terrified of what was coming to it.  I still remember the piercing scream it made once it was stabbed in the heart (or roughly that area ).  I could not stand watching it being slowly butchered to death, so I ran away... Still can't comprehend til this day.

Open studio

In this still life I am dealing with warm and coll local colors. Pretty sure my eyes are going color blinded after staring at it for so long:(

 

The Ongoing Portrait

Still working on the portrait, figuring out how to construct form with both warm and cool tones... Planning our Thanksgiving vacation,this year we will be spending our first holiday with friends in a mountain cabin, how cool is that?? All the fresh air and the wild bears!

Recent stuff

Some class works.  I used an old canvas to do the first painting.  Then I put it aside and started the second painting..

2nd attempt, where you can see I have changed my position and started a new composition.  By cropping both figures, I intend to explore the relationships between the two figures and the spacial quality of the surroundings.  People seem to enjoy this composition more that the previous one, my guess is that the latter provides more room for imagination?

My first gold leafing experience, so far I'm clueless.

JUICE BOX!

This is the cartoon that I had been long planning on finishing since the summer!  The story is about Stephanie and her sister Gene.  Stephanie, previously introduced in my blog (I have a whole comic strip based just on her :) An extremely talented actor, compassionate friend of ours who we shared so much joyous moments with, told the CUTEST story of her niece -Eizze (for Elizabeth), and I just can't let it go! :D 

 

I guess we just can't stop babies from picking up vocabularies!

Here's link to Stephanie's Youtube profile:http://youtu.be/2tL9guQAGBg

Let's support our actors!

--------------------------------------

That's it everyone!  We miss you Steph!  Let's have tea at the Tea Cup again!

Just for Fun Series

"Sisterhood"

4''x 9''

Oil on linen board

♥♥ This blog is almost 6 years old  ♥♥

 I'd like to offer my sincere appreciation to those of you who have been following my blog.   Suni Art now has its own search category on Google,  all thanks to your support!!

Odd Nerdrum New Book in English

"Warm and cool" 

portrait in progress

 

(click on the painting for details)

The portrait is coming along just fine, I've been consistent with it.  My goal is to learn how to organize tones and recognize warm and cool temperature.  A successful portrait is a one that makes the viewers feel the environment and its temperature, it has to be poetic, otherwise it would be like a piece of dry toast stuck on a canvas.  Through the master painters we see and learn from, it's essential to learn their technique, the mentality of the motif, however a good painter always finds his/her own language and never attempt to intimate.

Our Odd Nerdrum book finally arrived :)  There are more new paintings added to this book.  You would be able to see the transitioning of style, as well as the differences in atmospheric portrayal. 

You can get this book from Amazon and Barns & Noble.  Enjoy the book and work hard!