Sunday, March 25, 2007

On the Way o SLO



I still haven't gone to Artworks to pick up my big paintings so here is one I painted recently with my SLO Gallery in mind, literally from a reference photo taken from the car on the way to Just Looking Gallery. I was trying for a really buttery stroked Ray Roberts kind of approach to the brushwork with a quick spontaneous attack. Still working on getting the clouds right. Oil on Wood 16x24.

I recently discovered the work of Zhaoming Wu.

I'm so knocked out by it I 'm ready to move to San Francisco to take his classes. I love how he mixes the roughs with the soft in both his painting and drawing. I bought his books and they are well worth it with large good reproductions. I now feel like all my edges are way to hard, time to loose them! All art below Copyright by Zhaoming Wu.

See his link 10 down form the top of my links------>>>




25 Comments:

Blogger BoneDaddy said...

I just want to jump into that picture and take a walk down that road. The clouds look fine to me--being that clouds have almost every visible texture known to man, it seems like all one has to worry about is shading, and it looks like you did all right with that.
I checked out Zhaoming--I mean other than the 2 samples you provided, and you're right about the hard soft thing. It feels like my eyes are struggling to focus on the softest spots, and yet the whole thing comes through pretty clear. Plus I'm a HUGE sucker for smoothly blended charcoal faces and natural hair flow.
It makes that little Richard Simmons in my head go crazy.

1:28 AM  
Blogger BoneDaddy said...

Oh god, I looked again and realized I recognized some of these works from one of my classes! I obviously didn't pay attention to the name, but we had to check out this website for one of our discussions! weird!

1:31 AM  
Blogger William K. Moore said...

Will thanks for posting the Zhaoming work. This guy is a real master on knowing where to go tight and then loosen up with a well placed smudge. - also not to forget his color work.. Creates such a cool visual tension.. wheeew.
Your painting has once again created that personal sense of solitude and being alone. I enjoy being taken to that place as it is mysterious and creates a physical gut-level reaction. Something about open spaces ... and you have added those incredible clouds.. perhaps storm clouds... Don't know if you saw My Private Idaho (personally didn't care for it) but there is that scene where River Phoenix passes out in a narcoleptic fit while by himself on the highway with the huge flat expanse of countryside before him... quite a haunting feeling. Excellent sir!

1:28 PM  
Blogger Chris Ousley said...

Great storm. You captured the feel because It make me want to head for shelter. :-) Thanks for the Wu intro. Love his landscapes!

4:14 PM  
Blogger Leslie Sealey said...

Don't be so quick to want to paint like everyone else. You paint beautifully, and your style is just as good and unique. It is hard not to get caught up in the beauty of the paint itself, and I think Zhaoming Wu pushes that aspect until it is almost "gimmicky." He's certainly a very good painter...but so are you.

6:13 PM  
Blogger william wray said...

I like the idea of having a little Richard Simmons in your head. I think I have a little Little Richard in my head WHOOOOOOOOO!!!
Thrust that Tuti Fruity!
Zhaoming almost does to much for the slick softness and the pretty colors, but he does it so well and doesn't have that cold dead quality of a lot of the "perfect" Chinese painters of today. More than the softness, I like what he leaves out and how the bits of roughness accent harder when they play off the softness.

7:28 PM  
Blogger william wray said...

the above is for BG !

7:28 PM  
Blogger Sharon said...

I really like your "On the Way to SLO" painting it reminds me of your previous post of "Road to Chantry Flats" which I very much like too.

10:10 AM  
Blogger Urban Barbarian said...

Wu is too damn good! Wow! Thanks for posting his work! What a treat!

Yours ain't so bad either, kid!

Dig the chunky clouds!

5:31 PM  
Blogger william wray said...

WK-- You said it all--

Your right about that moment form MPI...It was the best thing in the movie. He's a frustrating film maker. He makes you work to hard to enjoy his films.

6:19 PM  
Blogger william wray said...

Sharon said...
I really like your "On the Way to SLO" painting it reminds me of your previous post of "Road to Chantry Flats" which I very much like too.

thanks Honey--As visit from you is a new treat. You get to go out of order. Say hello to Mooky for me.

7:34 PM  
Blogger william wray said...

Hey C! Hope you keep dry-- Wu is great yes?

7:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Espectaculares!! El "Hollywood Mannequin" me encanto. Saludos

5:06 AM  
Blogger Cooper Dragonette said...

Zhaoming Wu has got nothing on you. This one sings. Okay, maybe the clouds need a bit of something but not much. Very atmospheric.

1:15 PM  
Blogger william wray said...

Leslie-- I love Wu's wrok but can't be him if I tried. I'm so me, it's silly. I will glean a bit from him, but not try and be him.

5:54 PM  
Blogger william wray said...

Thanks Dan, I dig your chunky pecs!

7:44 PM  
Blogger william wray said...

thanks Cooper. When I said I am still working on clouds I meant as a subject. this one is down , for what it's worth...

8:43 PM  
Blogger Fred Bell Paintings said...

Hi William, I went to Wu Zhaoming's site and like his work very much too, his portraits and figures especially. However I liked Leslie Sealey's comment too about "Don't be so quick to want to paint like everyone else." I get into that a lot too. I was looking at Jermy Lipkings site and felt sad. It made me feel like a failure, like why do I even bother. Maybe you don't go that far but I liked Leslie's comment very much and, hey, I ain't no slouch either! And neither are you! Fred Bell

8:03 AM  
Blogger Ron Morrison said...

Zooming Wu needs glasses-He's a spectacular example of pot boiling at its finest and everybody gets all fluttery. You've got something with your Blight stuff. The dutch masters did this stuff better three hundred years ago.

9:18 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Love the sketch by Zhaoming Wu !

11:04 AM  
Blogger Jafar said...

Hey William,

Your landscapes are so refreshing, I simply love each and every bit of your artwork. The colors and feelings in your paintings take my breath away.....And hey, I dont care about your hard edges..I just love the way they are. Thanks for sharing your artwork, Its incredible!

Also, it feels good to see an artist of your calibre appreciating someone else's work. Proves that you're not just an exceptional artist but also a humble and wonderful human being! Take Care!!

Regards

9:25 AM  
Blogger Bruno Fernández said...

Great Works !!!!
Greetings!!!! ;-)

8:45 AM  
Blogger Michael Pieczonka said...

Hey Bill ... Thanks for posting this guys work. I have never heard of him before?? Great draftsman.. holy toot!

8:45 PM  
Blogger Marcelo Vignali said...

I look at this stuff, and it makes me wanna paint.

4:45 PM  
Blogger william wray said...

Marcelo--- I think you can paint anytime your ready----;-)

6:12 PM  

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