Quintessentially Quang: Winter Landscape Demo

Quang Ho demo painting of Cherry Creek in Denver, CO

Here in the Mile High City, one of our “celebrity” painters is the renowned and highly respected Quang Ho. (Even my "non-art" friends know who he is.) And almost every well-known local artist seems to have some connection to him and/or his painting philosophies and insights. I for example study with three artists who were lucky enough to study with Quang.

At this time, Quang doesn’t teach regular classes anymore so I always jump at any chance to attend one of his shows or painting demos. Last Sunday I attended a fantastic all day demo at the Denver Art League. 

In the morning session, Quang (who paints a wide variety of subject matter) discussed figure paintings and his recent interest in glazing methods. This was fascinating but I was thrilled in the afternoon that he painted a lovely snowscape (yay) from start to finish. FYI, as you can see Quang painted from photo displayed on a large Apple monitor which was attached to a really cool adjustable monitor stand.

 

Quang brought this stunning larger framed landscape--also of the Cherry Creek.

Interestingly, the snowscape was of the Cherry Creek which is only blocks from my studio. I walk by it all the time. So it was eye-opening (to say the least) to see such a familiar scene interpreted so beautifully through the eyes of a master.  Here are some pics and some highlights from my notes.

Close up of Quang's oil painting palette

• Carefully observe where your shape starts and stops. The light and dark are separate organisms—Look for 2 big areas and then break those down. 
• Your most important drawing takes place where the light meets the shadow.
• Consider there are many different ways to soften your edges.
  Soften edges where shapes of same value meet (i.e. very dark shape next to very dark shape)
  Stare at your painting for a few moments then look away—what do you remember? (Those are your hardest edges.) Trees for example may be much softer than you think they are. f you over soften an area you could lose your shape (structure)
• Simplify your process. First good shapes, then value, then color, then edges…
• Small dark accents—such as tiny cast shadows are important because they help hold shapes.
• What makes a good landscape? Nature never repeats.
  For snow, it helps to have a midtone base that the brighter white can sit on top of.
• First 20 minutes work slower on composition/ structure then you can speed up and get looser later
• Keep comparing one area to another--Your painting is like a giant carpet with patter and texture,
• There’s a reason for every color you see.
  

After intensely (and very humbly) observing Quang last Sunday I was greatly inspired--particularly to paint some snowscapes so stay tuned and have a wonderful week!

A Winter Demo with A Modern Oil Painting Master

Quang Ho Still Life Demo in progress (detail)

I rarely post a painting that's not mine but this is worth the exception. For months I’ve been looking forward to acclaimed Denver painter Quang Ho’s six hour long still life oil painting demo this past Saturday. I hate to gush but it was truly amazing. Honestly, I’m still exhausted just from observing and absorbing. (I want to quickly note that the room was lit for painting. I didn't want to use the flash so my photos really don't do his painting justice.)

Quang begins with a "loose" washy block in of shapes

After Quang introduced the session by explaining his light and shadow approach (you can learn more about this in his Nuts and Bolts DVD), he arranged a lovely still life that included red tulips, orange persimmons, a big green glass bottle, and some light greenish white lilies. He emphasized that he's looking for variety and color flow. Watching him arrange the objects was truly a treat. 

Quang's Still Life Setup

Quang started with orange/lilly area and moved on to adjacent shapes.

  Briefly, for those of you interested in Quang’s painting materials:

• Support: Square-ish (around 30x 34?) double primed linen mounted on gator board so he can trim this easily if he needs to. Looked like a wonderful surface to paint on.
• Brushes: Both bristle (mostly filberts and egberts—long tongue like filberts) and softer mongoose brushes. He mentioned the British Rosemary brand. He cleans his brushes with Turpenoid Natural.
• Palette: Relatively large glass palette (with around 20 colors). He uses a variety of brands and noted he likes LeFranc white (something I will try). Medium: Odorless Turpenoid.
• He’s right handed and stands when he paints (stepping back a lot) and keeps the palette on a table in front (not to the side) of his easel as you can see below. Note this is a "classroom" easel.

Quang's Palette--lots of color!

I couldn’t begin to touch on the depth of knowledge a master painter like Quang has but I wanted to share a few random notes I made during the demo that struck a chord.   

Getting to the final stages...Quang painted the table fabric last.

1. He learns more about painting from philosophy and science books than he does from art books.  
2. Be sure to consider the macro: What is the big picture—the  main story you are telling? What is the light doing?
3. On the flip side you need to be conscious of the micro: Even in a large painting each brushstroke matters. There are no repeats in nature.
4. Every piece is an important part to the whole. Carefully record unique and specific shapes.
5. Take your time. Don't rush. Mix a new color for every brush stroke.
6. Don’t be as concerned about having a single focal point as you are about how the eye travels through the painting.  
7. Start with the area that you think you do the most correct and work off of that.
8. Painting is a series of decisions so it’s important not to freeze—Make a decision!
9. Focusing on value before color helps you color mix.
10. When painting light and shadow approach classify your shapes into light OR shadow shapes. It's one or the other. 
11. Note light and dark (a value range) is NOT the same—for example you might have a relatively light shadow.  
12. As the object turns from the light and shadow the color intensity is at its greatest.
13. Be very mindful recording the shape where the light and shadow meet.
14. There’s no negative space—everything counts.
15. Where can you merge your edges? Search and destroy...
16. Start with your blueprint and don’t get lost in the detail.
17. There’s no “mud” just bad shapes.
18. Light is an organism that moves as one.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the highlights from the demo. I also want to thank Quang for sharing his knowledge. One day, many years from now, I'll be telling my students about this demo. It's was like watching a magician who explains everything he's doing but in the end it's still magical.