Artist Zhaoming Wu grew up in China
during the Cultural Revolution. At the age of
8 the government closed the schools and he had to leave. He spent his days
copying comic books and studying Chinese brush painting from a book. When he was 12, his mother, a doctor, recognizing his talent asked
a patient, a professor at Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, to train her son.
Today, Zhaoming’s paintings are exhibited around the world.
Whidbey Island FineArt Studio has the privilege of hosting a “Luminous Figure” workshop by
Zhaoming. By
helping his students focus on the basics and not get lost in the details and particulars,
Zhaoming helps others create spectacular figure paintings.
Wu's
design principles derive from traditional Chinese painting. He begins composing
a new image by determining what he calls points, masses, and lines. While a
painting can be built on two or even just one of these three elements, Zhaoming
prefers to build his compositions on a mixture of all three. “I use points, masses, and lines the way a
composer uses notes to write a song,” he explains.
In his work and
teaching, Zhaoming also gives a lot of consideration to the transition between
light and shadow. He teaches the following about painting with his techniques:
“At the beginning I keep the
treatment of shadows flat, with almost no form, but I keep lots of color. After
working on the shadows I begin working on the light side.
“I start with a 2D approach,
thinking first of shape, then of value, and then color. First comes 2D—shapes
and angles; then 3D—form, volume, and structure.”
“I use thicker paint on the light
side to give texture. Some touches of the brush are very delicate, and some are
more scumbling. At the final stages, edge control is very important. There
should be a lost and found quality to the edges in order to show atmosphere and
depth.”
We hope that you will join us this
August 2013 for Zhaoming’s figure workshop.
