The shoe print made it a better drawing, I think.

A Portrait study of Ellen, A fabulous Dancer, who gave me my very first Ballet Lesson(did not break anything, thank god) , which was helpful for one of my upcoming painting project.

TRIBECA BALL 2011

Tribeca Ball is The annual fund raising event for NYAA. It is also a part of the NY "be seen" art scene. As "Vogue UK" says :"The art party featured five floors of open studios, where the works of over 100 up-and-coming artists were on display to the assembled guests. After touring the studios, cocktails in hands, the stars sat down to dinner followed by a turn on the dance floor. It was a ball, after all... "
Among many celebrity guests, fashion icons, is my favorite: lovely Jennifer Connelly, whom I had a crush on since "Requiem for a Dream"BACK IN THE 2000's ...Well, there was Steven Martin, showing up with Eric Fishl a few days ago to give critique...

TRIBECA BALL 2011

Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany at the Ball! (Getty Images)

Naomi Watts and Liev Scheiber on the blue carpet at the Ball.

(Getty Images)

Editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar Glenda Bailey at the 2010 Tribeca Ball at the New York Academy of Art on April 13, 2010 in New York City. (Getty Images for New York Academy of Art)

The guests are in a rosy glow during dinner at the 2010 Tribeca Ball. (Getty Images)


I don't know who this guy is...

I've decided not to attend this year's event, there are just too much to do right now...Who knew singing Gretel is not as easy as it sounds?? And the witch is even harder??:( Although my studio will be organized for display.

On behalf of the students at NYAA, I would like to thank you all for coming & contributing to our school. Have a good time!! And remember, you can always reserve your ticket with NYAA for the 2012 year event!

My Birthday Wish

My Birthday Wish is:


Nah, just kidding, if it could happen it would have happened long time ago...

I wish to make peace with people who I have burdened and offended in the past. My sincere apology and very best wishes to all of you, from the bottom of my heart.

Portrait Chiaroschuro Study

Chiaroscuro is something every art will learn sometime down the road, painters, photographers, illustrators...etc. It basically means "Light and Dark". The start this Chiaroscuro study, I am using a acrylic primed board (it's not archival as it will warp though time!)
Here is how I usually paint Chiaroscuro.

1. Squeeze out some red iron oxide (or some other pigment) on the surface, then rub it even so majority of the surface is covered with dark tone. Use some linseed oil, but not too much.

2. Sketch out the model. Look carefully for the feature, and pay special attention to the distance between eyes and ears, as it is common for people to make them too far apart.

3. While the paint is still wet on the surface, and a preliminary drawing has been established, wipe out the big areas where the lightest light are, with towel or painting rag.

4. Start to define the wiped areas, carefully asses the more subtle contrast between plains . In the meantime, fix drawing problems as the portrait is more developed. Now that the big contrast is established, now I can go in to narrow down the subtlety between the contrast. The less compressed value range requires more gradation between light and dark.

5. Don't only focus on small details just yet, even though a portrait seems to contain less detail.
It is important to focus on the bigger picture, rather than rendering small areas in the beginning, that will throw you off.

5. Squint eyes, observe the object, then refer to the study. There will always be some areas that are off. If things are off, they will appear off. Sometimes, it's better to just wipe things out and start over again, rather than trying to patch it up by rendering it over and over again. To me, the MOST IMPORTANT thing is the Structure, without it, nothing will stand solid.

6. I'm moving around the surface, fixing areas like the distance between eyes, the nostrils, and the hardest thing of all-- the lips. The reason why mouths are so hard to paint, it's because our lips are extremely complex in both aspects of structure and perspective. There is no one mouth we see everyday that doesn't exists in a foreshortened state. There are thousands of subtle plain changes on a single lip, start from the corner...Wait, I'm sure someone has already written a book about it!

7. Again, don't be afraid of change, the more changes you make, the better understanding you will have on the object.

8. I am running out of time, here is the finished state. A couple of more hours would be great.
Now that we have the under painting, next step is to paint on top of it.

I hope you find it helpful!

Last of the Study

....And here it is! Behold, the study--Is done!

Now need to put the models on a actual piece of rock, and, in the middle of the ocean!

Life Scale Self Portrait

Like every nerd, I'm working away the break! Yesterday was gorgeous outside:) A couple of friends came to visit us with their new born baby. It couldn't have been a better day..The sun was warm, the air was fresh, people were all out and enjoying the weather in the city...And did I mention the falafel was delicious? Hmm~~

Japan Earth Quake

The earthquake and Tunami that hit Japan caused so much devastation, that it is utterly unimaginable for others. If there is anything we can count on, is family, friends and love. Anything else can be destroyed within seconds except love. Love will bond people together and give strength to rebuild homes, lives, and dreams.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/gallery-e6frg6n6-1226020929763?page=4
My thoughts are with the people in Japan

A friend wrote something that I'd like to share with you, Click Bicando to read it. (Thanks, BB)

Sketches And Places...

Life is busy and sweet, enjoying every moment of simple pleasure, one of which, is to be able to do sketches (: D

At The Apple Store --

At The Rehearsal --

At The Institute of Modern Dance --

At The Metropolitan Museum of Art --

Small Oil Study

Something from school recently. Of course there is no magic in painting, just have to take time to figure things out.

60 minutes Oil Sketch Series

I chose to do oil sketches for a drawing class. If I were to teach a class, I would make all my students do short oil sketches like these, before any elaborate settings. I have taught a figure drawing class where all my student had to do an outrageous amount of 30 second gesture drawing. They absolutely hated it, in the beginning. The result was great, most people started to loose edges and tension. The amount of time was so short on each pose, people had better focus on over all structures and the bigger plains, instead having the liberty to rendering eye lashes. At the end, whoever followed the instruction bulked up quite a bit, but the process was hideous.

Oil Sketches

I chose to do oil sketches for a drawing class I have. If I were a teacher, I would make all my students do short oil sketches before any elaborate set up. When I was teaching a figure drawing class, I made my student do an outrageous amount of 30 second gesture drawing, and they absolutely hated it. The result was great, people started to loose edges and tension. The amount of time were so short on each pose, people had better focus on over all structure and "point of action", instead of rendering eye lashes. At the end, everyone bulked up quite a bit, but the process was hideous :P

Seated Figure Oil Sketch

To A Friend

I would like to dedicate this drawing to a friend of mine, who writes a great blog, (much like parents befriend each other at a day care, common interest speaks :) ). I enjoy reading about his views on music, films and environmental awareness, I hope you'll enjoy it as well!

Keep the good work up, BB! :D