Plein-air paintings
The stories of Barbizon School and Impressionists in France, The Macchiaioli in Italy, and Itineraries in Russia have inspired me to go paint outside. The study of nature in its immense complexity, subtlety, and constant change has been a humbling, but rewarding experience.
Urban sketching
In urban sketchers, I found a community that draws for the sheer joy of it, no matter the subject or outcome. I believe constraints and limitations enhance creativity. So, showing up at a cafe with a few colored pencils, sepia chalks, or gouache tubes has lead me to explore chaotic lines and decorative shapes to suggest the moods of busy city life.
Pastel
I love pastel for its pure color, the sensitivity of touch it requires, and the beauty of layering. It can be painterly, atmospheric, impressionistic or linear, graphical, expressive. While I enjoy watercolor’s happy accidents, there is something equally appealing about the variety mark-making a stick full of pigment leaves on the paper.
Gouache and casein
Still life
I am equally fascinated by the old masters (e.g. Fantin-Latour) and contemporary artists’ (e.g. Diebenkorn) still life paintings. For me, it makes a perfect practice when I’m in no mood to go outside or want to take a break from landscapes and figues. Rather than carefully arranging the objects, I often like to paint a messy desk, some paper bags, and stuff at-hand in the kitchen.
Portraits
Perhaps, most artsy kids dabbled and struggled at some point in portrait drawing. My interest got sparked again by the outstanding works of Nicolai Fechin, Kathe Kollwitz, and Nicolas Uribe – so I decided to learn, at least, the basics of portraiture. It gave me more confidence in urban sketching and motivated to pursue figure drawing.
Pets
My studio cats are uncooperative models and no oil painting is safe near them, but they’re always fun to draw. Moreover, the neighborhood cats always end up on any photos I take near home.
Figure and life drawing
The human figure is one of the most difficult subjects, which is precisely why it taught me so much about drawing and painting. I mostly do quick sketches and gesture drawings in the rare life drawing sessions, but I hope to spend much more time on longer studies in the future.
Notans and composition studies
Last, but not least, my journey in painting started from the idea of notan and simplifying a complex subject into abstract shapes. This attention to composition and design has a big influence on all the work you have seen above, although in a more relaxed and spontaneous way.
Photography
