QIANG HUANG's workshop

Painting demo by QIANG HUANG from YouTube:

I was just looking through my notes from QIANG HUANG's (pronounced Chong Wong) workshop I took last October.  Even though I'm a bit late in posting about the workshop, I wanted to recommend it to anyone thinking about taking it.  The workshop was a real treat and I really enjoyed it.  Qiang is an enjoyable, very organized instructor (you can tell he has a technical background), who breaks his instruction down into 5 stages to convey his method of painting in a way that is easy to understand.  It should be noted that while he broke his method down to make it more teachable those stages blend together when he's not teaching.   

It was a still life class and a number of stations were set up around the room.  Qiang brought small floods so each still life had good strong light to enhance the highlights and shadows.  I've been painting from my photographs so long I forgot how much more you see when working from real life.  Because of the workshop, one of my goals in the January 30-30 challenge was to paint still life and it is something I will do more.  

Qiang brushes his canvas or board down with a wee bit of linseed oil mixed with a little Gamsol to make the paint flow better.  Note: Be sure to wipe it down so there is barely any left on the canvas otherwise your paint will run. I started doing that since the workshop and find it does help the flow of the paint.

It was a real treat to watch Qiang's demonstrations and see how intense and beautiful his colors are in his finished paintings, especially since he uses a fairly limited palette: Naples Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Orange, Cadmium Red Light, Alizarin Crimson, Transparent Oxide Red (or Burnt Sienna), Ultramarine Deep, Phthalo Blue, and Titanium White. Qiang noted he sometimes liked to use Naples Yellow to lighten colors because white can make a color chalky.  I hadn't used Naples Yellow in a long time, but have added it back on my own palette since the workshop and really like it.  

Friend and artist Susan Church Grant also attended the October workshop and did a fantastic 2-part write-up of her notes that I recommend you check out if you are thinking about attending one of Qiang's workshops.  

 "Ikebana Doll"
8x10" oil by Qiang Huang

I am delighted to be a proud owner of "Ikebana Doll" I purchased at the workshop

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