Art by May

Back again!

2010-11-17T12:50:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I've forgotten about blogging! Maybe it's because I took such a long break from painting. I have finally completed my angel painting. Actually, it was done by this Summer, but I procrastinated in putting the finishing touches on the violin...the strings.

Last week, I finally finished and signed it. Whew! I also completed the portrait of my mom. It was painted from a black and white picture that was color tinted by my grandfather. This photo was taken when mom was a mere 20-old with lots and lots of hair.

I'll add pictures later. (Reminder to self!)

Good quote

2009-08-17T01:31:00.000-07:00

"Joy does not come from what you do; it flows into what you do and thus into this world from deep within you." by Eckhart Tolle

I just found this quote today, and I feel it really describes how I feel about my art and music.

Art Class - Week 7 Monday

2009-06-29T22:48:00.000-07:00

I've just about finished going over all the pencil lines with paint, and started blocking in some of the shadows. Teacher liked what I did so far. He reminded me to visit the Art Gallery in Whittier and to bring my paintings. I helped Carmen with her painting again. She is doing a very good job and the painting is developing very nicely. We stayed until almost 4pm. Teacher is only here on Mondays now.

Angel update

2009-06-23T21:10:00.000-07:00

I've started painting the outline of the angel. I hope her face doesn't change too much from the original pencil sketch as I go along. That's always been a problem for me.

New angel picture for art class

2009-06-21T07:41:00.001-07:00

Here's what I have so far for my new picture (pencil sketch on the right). I took this picture at night, so it's not very clear. The picture on the left is the Angel Musician by Pinta. As you can see, I've made some adjustments to the head and the face. I've changed the position of her gaze and changed her looks as well. I've also made the limbs a bit more feminine. The hardest part was the perspective angle of this picture. It took me quite a while just to get the violin to look somewhat alright. I've not acheived the exact angle as the original picture, unfortunately. It was actually the violin and the colors of this picture that caught my eye when I was deciding what to paint next.

Looks like I have a bit more sketching and adjustments to make before I start painting it.

Canvas on sale

2009-06-17T23:17:00.000-07:00

Went to Michael's with Mommy and Delko. Teacher Fred told us there's a sale on 16"x20" canvases. 2 for $6. We bought the canvases, some acrylic paints, and brushes. Also bought some Loew-Cornell shanding and liner brushes. They were 50% off. Not a bad deal! The only bad thing was the service at Michael's. Not a friendly bunch I'm afraid.

Art Class - Week 5 Tuesday

2009-06-16T23:41:00.000-07:00

Only Pat, Carmen, and an elderly gentleman were in class today. Mommy and Delko went to a buffet with their Tai Chi class, so I'm on my own. I brought my angel sketch on canvas to work on. But I didn't get much done today. Helped Carmen a bit with her picture, and chatted with Pat while I watched her paint. David arrived about half hour before I planned to leave. He's going to paint a picture of the 60 freeway. I like the canvas he was using. It had a thicker edge and it's 15" square. I'm not sure about the square shape, whether it would fit the type of painting I planned to do. But I like the thicker edge. He told me where to get it. The store is in Orange County. Hmmm.... That's far for me.

Art Class - Week 5 Monday

2009-06-15T23:34:00.000-07:00

Mom made some chicken salad sandwiches for our art class today. We're celebrating a few people's birthdays, and people brought food and a cake. I had some chips with salsa and a small sandwich. That was fun. I tried to finish up my painting today, and I've been painting an hour or so last night. But I still can't finish! There's so much details to put in, and more highlights needed for Frida's turban. But I'm just about done with the picture. Teacher picked up the transparent oil paints for me. 9 bottles at $1.50 each. I can't wait to try them! Teacher is so nice! I also bought another canvas so I can start a new picture today. I decided to paint an angel with a violin like the one done by Pinta. She's in some weird position and we looking upwards to her face. I can tell this is going to be tough to sketch, but I'm going to challenge myself to do it anyway.

Art Class - Week 4 Tuesday

2009-06-10T23:27:00.000-07:00

I'm still working on Frida's blouse today. Teacher told me I need to spray the picture when I'm done. He said it was very good. Many people are painting landscapes. Many Thomas Kincaid types of scenes. I still don't know what my next picture will be. But I certainly want to try a landscape picture before the end of this year! Teacher announced today that our Summer sessions has been cut by the city. Art class will resume in the Fall. However, he said he will continue to come in on Mondays on a volunteer basis so our art class can continue. What a fantastic teacher Fred is! Everyone was so disappointed when we heard we were getting cut. And then Pat said she will come in on Tuesday, and anyone is welcome to join her. So, I'm happy! 2 days of art again!

Art Class - Week 4 Monday

2009-06-08T23:53:00.000-07:00

I've applied the base for the blouse and added some shadows and hightlights yesterday. Today, while in class, I did more shadings and not much else. I walked around the class to see everyone's work. And then stopped to help Carmen a bit with her picture. Fred was pleased with my picture and told me I should have him spray it once I'm done. Quite a few people stopped by to look at my Frida picture. They were very complimentary and encouraging to me. David brought a few pieces of his art work to show us. Apparently, he painted on cabinet doors. Very clever idea! His paintings went very well on the panels and overall effect is great. Richard was working on a unique picture. He said he painted over an old cavas. It's a women's face with lots of interesting things on her head. I love the brilliant and fun colors he used.

Art Class - Week 3 Tuesday

2009-06-02T21:05:00.000-07:00

I was able to switch erhu lessons to Thursday once again, so I can make it to the Tuesday art class. I really enjoy coming to art class! Today I worked more on Frida's reboso (shawl). It's slowly coming along. I used some white for highlighting it at first, but it had a muddy look. So I repainted the red and started over. Fred (teacher) is airbrushing a beautiful Da Vinci painting. Later, he showed me how to use the airbrush and let me have a go at it. I am overjoyed to learn something new. Air brushing is great fun!

Well, I am truly humbled in the presence of all these artists! And I am so appreciative of teacher who is so encouraging and motivating. He told me to bring it to his friend's gallery, and that's where his works are also displayed, and bring my picture to show the owner. I think it will be great to get some feedback from the gallery, but, I'm not planning sell this painting since this is my first one. Richard made this fantastic desert painting yesterday. I'm so glad he brought it again today so I can see it and also take a picture of him with his painting. Wonderful bright colors! I love it. Here's Carmen, working on her architectural painting. Looking good! More students working on their paintings. Nellie is painting her daughter. What a lovely composition! And I love the red. Gus has airbrushed the car and the background, and now, adding the details. I can't wait to see the finished work. This is a wonderful place! I love seeing how each artist's painting evolves from the initial pencil sketch.

Art Class - Week 3 Monday

2009-06-01T16:41:00.000-07:00

This is my 3rd time coming to art class. I love it here! There are so many talented artists, and everyone is so encouraging and friendly, and we have a really great teacher, Fred.

Today, I tried a translucent oil paint that is water soluble. I used that for shading the reboso, and it worked really well! I'm very pleased with the effects.

Mommy has started on her 3rd canvas. She's painting a Chinese lady playing the bamboo flute.

Delko is still working on her mini landscape. I think it's very good for her first painting!

Art Class - Week 2 - Frida Kahlo

2009-05-26T21:56:00.000-07:00

I've painting my picture this past week, mostly on the face. I had to make some drastic adjustments to the positioning of her right eye. Now she looks more like Frida on the photo. I had to reschedule my erhu lesson to Thursday to come to class today. I took another student's spot since she is on vacation. Teacher said he may not have a spot for me to switch my time to when his student returns. I hope he can find an alternate time for me eventually since I really want to go to art class both Monday and Tuesday.

Art Class - Week 1

2009-05-18T15:40:00.000-07:00

Last week, my mom joined an art class at the local senior center. She came home all excited with her first painting. It was a desert scene, done in acrylics. Not bad at all for a first painting. She said teacher helped her with the pencil sketch and she painted it herself. Apparently, this class is not limited to seniors only. Needless to say, I wanted to check it out. And that's what I did today! Delko came with us too. The teacher's name is Fred Alvarado, and the class had about a dozen people today. As I walked in, I can see people painting on their canvases. There wasn't a particular theme or anything. Everyone was just doing their own thing. After signing up for the class, teacher told me to get a canvas and bring it to him so he can sketch a desert scene for me. I told him I didn't want to do the same thing as my mom and if I can sketch something else myself. He asked me what I wanted to sketch, and I told him I had no idea, and if he could suggest something. Well, he handed me a stack of pictures and told me to look through that for ideas. I showed the pictures to Delko and we were trying to decide what to pick. I told Delko that I shouldn't be too ambitious and pick something too hard since this is my first painting in class. Fred, who was helping another student, overheard me and without turning around, he said, "No, be ambitious!" I was surprised, but I said ok. Finally I found the picture I'm going to use. It's a photo of Frida Kahlo. When teacher saw it, he said, wow, that's ambitious! By the end of class, I almost finished my sketch. Teacher seemed very surprise when he saw it. He said it was beautiful and held it up for the class to see. He said, "I didn't help her with the sketch, she did it herself." I'm just relieved it was alright. It's not exactly like Frida in the photo, so I will probably be tweaking it as I'm painting. Teacher said I have to help him with the sketching for the other students from now on. We'll see how that goes! After all, I'm there to learn. I'm simply overjoyed to be in an art class. There are many talented people, but most importantly, you can see they love painting. I can't wait to go again next time. It will have to be 2 weeks from now since they're closed on Memorial Day.

Tiny art on bamboo

2007-12-13T19:00:00.000-08:00

Hello!

Here are 2 tiny pictures that I painted on bamboo pieces. Each piece is 1.5" x 0.75". I painted directly onto the bamboo without pencil sketches. That was different for me, and fun!

I love the way they turned out! I will probably make them into pendants, after I protect the surface with some clear acrylic coating.

Here are the bamboo pieces before they are painted. They need to be lightly sanded or primed before applying the acrylic paints.

Nothing happening....

2007-12-05T09:23:00.000-08:00

I haven't done any painting in 10 days. My shoulder, neck and back still hurts. At least the migraine went away today. Well, I did create a pressed flower picture for my mother-in-law. She wanted to give it as a gift to her friends for their 50th anniversary. I used rose petals of yellow and orange red, white alyssums, and yellow verbenas. Sounds yummy!

Art journey update

2007-11-20T22:34:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot...I bought 3 painting guide books last weekend. One on watercolor, one on oil and one on drawing and sketching. Couldn't find one on acrylic, but I think these books will be a great help to me. I am eager to learn some techniques and really try hard to teach myself to become a good artist. This experience has been great so far. It has opened my eyes to see everything with a keener interest and with purposeful examination. I feel my eyes opening to everything. Somewhat similar to the day I put on contact lenses for the first time, ( I was 16 then.) and was able to see everything clearer and brighter. Wow! I literally gasped! I was shocked to discover how much I was unable to see all those years before. : ) May

Portrait of a friend

2007-11-16T23:31:00.000-08:00

Today, I painted a portrait of my friend Lee. I tilted her head down a bit and brushed back the hair to reveal more of the left eye. I've never actually painted a "real" person before, so this is a real challenge. I started with a pencil sketch on a 5" x 7", 140 lb. coldpress watercolor paper. Using diluted acrylic paints, I was able to get a watercolor effect. Since I painted from a photo on my computer monitor, I had to keep turning to my left to look at the monitor, and turning back to the picture to paint it. That was a bit tough, particularly because I've been suffering from back and neck spasms lately. But in the end, I'm very pleased with the results, and I did it all in one day! Whew! This is my artistic interpretation of a dear friend, and I wanted to capture the sparkle in her eyes and a soft peaceful expression. I thought she looks like an angel in this portrait! Not too bad for a first "real person" portrait right?

A most unusual bird!

2007-11-02T00:07:00.000-07:00

I going to tell you something very silly! Last night, I decided to do one last picture before going to bed. Since I had the idea in my head, I wanted to put it down on paper before it slips out of my memory forever. I made myself comfortable with a couple of pillows so I can prop my head up a bit. First I sketched a big tree branch with a few simple lines. I proceded to sketch a fairy, and then a bird. And now for the really silly thing that happened. OK, I drew the bird's body, drew its eyes, and everything was fine. Then sometime after sketching the bird's eyes, my brain must have turned off completely. However, I continued sketching, and even erasing somehow. That went on for a little while. And then, all of a sudden, I was "back"! And to my horror, my bird ended up with a nose, lips and some funny whispy hair. It was truly hysterical! I just brust out laughing even though I wasn't fully awake. This bird already has such a funny scarcastic expression in the eyes. And with the hair, nose and lips...my goodness! It was quite a sight. Hmm....Now I regretted erasing it, or I can show you what it looks like . You will have a good laugh too!

Jack O' Lantern

2007-10-31T17:31:00.000-07:00

A tiny pumpkin popped out in our backyard this year. It's very small, about 3 inches wide. Ryan drew a face on it and placed it between the little jack-o-lantern lights. It's so cute! I think it came from last year's Halloween pumpkin. My husband tossed the pumpkin scraps outside after carving it with the boys.

It's getting dark soon...

Blue Mermaid Picture

2007-10-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

Here's Blue Mermaid!

It was really fun painting water!

Blue Mermaid

2007-10-30T02:15:00.000-07:00

I painted another mermaid picture. She is taking a peek above the water. This time, I made a rough sketch first with pencil, and then color with acrylic. Same problem. The paint covered the pencil lines on the face, and I have to figure out where to put everything. After tweaking her face a few times, I think it's ok now. I had fun painting the blue hair. I had to paint the ocean too. I think I may add a bit of sparkles here and there tomorrow. Too late now, and I'm pooped.

Mom is back from Singapore

2007-10-28T21:30:00.000-07:00

Mom is back after 5 months visiting in Singapore. She brought home some watercolor paints and brushes for me, plus a whole bunch of clothes and purses! Maybe I can get her to paint something as well. My sister Nadia sent me some papers and brushes. Maybe this is a sign for me to paint! I hope to start on a new painting tomorrow. We'll see...

Daisies Dream

2007-10-27T22:52:00.001-07:00

I wanted to try painting flowers. I started a picture last night with a simple pencil sketch, and colored it with thin layers of acrylic. I completed the picture today, adding the flowers and more details. I'm very happy with the results. It gives me a quiet serene feeling. It's inspired by a pressed flower picture I made a few years back, Bountiful Blossoms since I had flowers on my mind.

I still want to learn to use acrylic full strength, without adding water. I always end up using it more like watercolor. I suppose it's because that's a medium I'm familiar with. Fortunately, acrylic is very forgiving, which allowed me to change the face and make various corrections numerous times. That's all for today. It took me a whole morning and afternoon to finish it. Well, I mean, to get to the point where I forced myself to stop tweaking it. My son said her nose looks too big. So, I'm tempted to fix it. But not today! I'm beat.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

2007-10-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

Today is my youngest son's 9th birthday. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Here's a picture of Ryan with his cousins while on vacation in China. Looking Cool!

First mermaid picture

2007-10-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

Coral Mermaid

While playing around with some glossy papers and acrylics, I made a background that looked like something watery. And somehow, it evolved into a mermaid. A bit of problem since the paper was some odd size and the mermaid turned out way too high on the paper. I didn't make any pencil sketchings on it, so anything goes! In the end, I had fun painting her, and enjoyed the process of discovering the different things I can do with acrylics. I also added some sparkles on the red corals. I love the sparklies!

Blue Angel

2007-10-02T17:05:00.000-07:00

ACEO Angel #2

I painted another ACEO angel today. Struggled quite a bit with her face. My pencil sketch lines disappeared after I painted the first layer on her face. Next time, I'll remember to paint around the lines.

First ACEO Angel

2007-10-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

Starry Night Angel Here's my first attempt with acrylic painting and ACEO. These are 2.5" x 3.5" paintings. I decided to paint an angel. Far Away Thoughts Then I painted a mini portrait of a woman, also ACEO size. I like the way her hair and clothes turned out.