Oil Painting " The selfie icon"~ michellechoongkhoo

Ready for signoff, framing and hanging up in our hall of love !

How did we get here? 

stage 1 : using water mixable oils to map out the tonal values :

                      

     

stage 2: slowly adding  thin layers of oils using linseed medium

  

More art lessons or continue with self learning~ michellechoongkhoo

Recently, my arty farty MIA classmate, invited me to join into a class on portraiture.
I was so tempted but alas timing clashes.
And truthfully the prospect of weekdays morning to rush into KL's CBD district does sound sane to retired slack souls !

So I guess I shall resort back to plodding along, trial and error and referencing from other artists .
Thus it was that Jon's eye catching selfie shot caught my eye...
As they say, good art starts with fab good stills.
Aha,  this dramatic photo in my opinion fits the bill!

Oil painting is definitely not my first love. 

As I plodded along I started to remember why I always defer starting on oils and why there's all those incomplete pieces sitting in the archive box! 

But as with any labor of love, the special meaning of the piece kept me focused and determined to complete this one! 

It is going to be a long process.... 

Stay tuned 

using iPad to improve watercoloring tonal values ~ michellechoongkhoo's "A Painting A Day"

excepts from Aletta de Wal's article on www.empty easel.com


"Let’s start by debunking the cliché, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
The implication is that we lose the capacity learn anything new as we age, but that’s just not true. Recent brain research confirms that you can learn throughout your lifetime if you are willing to put in the effort.
The actual kernel of truth in this cliché is that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, if that dog does not want to learn. On the other hand, if the dog has enough incentive (like food) it can learn to do a lot.
So how does this cliché relate to artists?
When I tell artists that they need to embrace modern technology, some of them balk. They’ve bought into the myth that age gets in the way of learning “new tricks.” Unless they can get past this false belief and learn some of the new tricks of the digital age, they’ll remain at a severe disadvantage in today’s art market.
Artists who don’t buy into this myth about age and learning have a huge advantage. They believe that they can do anything they want to do (given enough time or assistance) so they seek out teachers and courses and learn from others’ experiences.
These artists have accepted that technology is as vital to their art marketing as the tools they use to create their art. Their attitude is “can do” and that attitude drives them to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to just “do!”

For me, it was so absolutely true….the part about teaching an old dog new tricks….hahahaha.

I think my iPad definitely tremendously assisted in improving my profiling and tonal values….

Especially comparing how much time I wasted yesterday trying to do sketching some horseriders  silhouette from newspaper print versus how much ease it was sketching from a zoomed zagg image …..I'd say, any art teacher worth her salt should encourage all their students to turn towards technology to jumpstart their art experiences!

This Saturday morning, I am a happy happy girl with this watercolor of Jon at Phuket Riding Club last CNY  heeeeee hahhhhh! I love lurve my iPad alot…..

if I have said so  a few times in previous postings, hope you will forgive me….personally I wld credit that gitzmo for a great art renewal in 2011 after nearly 4 months of self imposed hiatus~

Am pretty sure Jon will favourite this painting too when I post it onto his FB wall later, smile~

picking seashells~ michellechoongkhoo's "Project 2011 A Painting A Day"

Here's my rendition of more beach nostalgia at Port Dickson….Jon being fascinated by the tiny seashells pinpointed by his uncle Sean :)

Happy memories always perk me up, even without any caffeine involved , hahaha

I cant believe I am still painting and sketching Day 10 into the project…..and its all thanks to apple's iPad technology which makes the photos (even those scanned from old archives) with colors so vivid for referencing!

Aaaaaaah, the marvel of new age tools~ 

aren't we just so lucky nowadays and don't you just love it?

a day at the beach~michellechoongkhoo

we are booked for Club Med Bintan for cny~ cant wait !

It is our favourite holiday destination every since Jon was 2 years old…..
And this indulgent painting is based on our then holiday at Club Med Cherating probably 1988….cant help wondering if the beach is still as pristine clear today ~
we havent been back for a long long while as our last visit it was so awfully run down that we had to escape to other club meds…..
mmmmm maybe we really should consider getting back there some day soon especially since it has been refurbished beautifully.

isnt it nice that in art…..there is no hard and fast rule that one must stick to facts?

heh heh, here I can imagine I was as tall and as slim as I wanna be, even with 

blond hair ;P

And when hubby complains that I seem to have even hijacked the dry kitchen space for my drawings, hahaha…..I told him he will be rewarded with a painting soooooon of him with abs that will render a young man jealous, hahahaha….

Life is wonderful, with technology, time, space to rediscover my paintings and an indulgent spouse…

what more could a girl possibly wish for in 2011?

sketching outline~michellechoongkhoo "Project 2011 A Painting A Day"

I see a sweet muse sitting by the pool……. do u share my vision?

do tell me what it looks like to you :P

nostalgia of Port Dickson~Day 7 "Project 2011 A Sketch A Day"

I wanted to try watercoloring direct with just some broad outlines~ this is in preparation of my trying monochromatic portraiture of Tiger (as visualized by bighugelabs FX ) next few days!

Today, I had great joy looking at old archive photos~ 

and equal joy painting this very ancient 1987 photo taken at Port Dickson…..

Wow, brought back such wonderful memories of those gleeful days, so many happy weekends spent with Jon, Carrie, Ean and Sean ! 

What a great sunday it is today! And I am most happy that from the pile of Port Dickson photos, is a huge treasure trove of materials to keep me busy busy busy sketching and smiling for a long while~

my firstborn, the light, the joy of my life~michellechoongkhoo

no wonder I'm having insomnia since all kinds of ideas are popping all over my head at any odd hours ….especially at night!
This is on account of the book which I bought recently: "200 Projects to strengthen yr art skills" by Valerie Colston!

The opening page says >>>"welcome to an art school in a book"…..now tell me who wouldnt buy the book in an instant? And it is so wonderfully motivating… insomnia notwithstanding, hahahaha

Anyway, here's my own output for "2011-a sketch a day 2"…..subject is always my muse, my Jon.