Posted on by Ruisi

An older painting I did in the art style of Zhang Da Qian— watercolor and acrylic

This piece was actually the result of an assignment in my high school art class! We were meant to take direct inspiration from a famous artist, and as I was curious to further explore Chinese watercolor painting (which I tried before at Chinese school), my search led me to the artist Zhang Da Qian. 
I was perhaps slightly ambitious here–the painting itself is approximately 22” x 29.5”, so it took quite some time to add in the detailing. It’s certainly not perfect, but this project has given me the motivation to continue painting larger and more detailed pieces (maybe with oil paint)!

Posted on by Ruisi

Combining Teacher Appreciation Week with Mother’s Day

It’s the last month before my classmates and I graduate from high school, and while testing season is ridiculously stressful, I also feel that I’ve had significantly more free time recently. I’ve had a lot more time to focus on my hobbies— it’s wonderful.

My teachers have been amazing throughout my years at my current school, and the same goes for those prior. Imagine: junior-year teachers have to write over one hundred letters of recommendation and reference for students they had in a class a year ago, and senior-year ones have to deal with us kids who are stressed about college admissions.

My mom’s a teacher. She loves when she gets a word of thanks from her students and their parents, and with this week being specifically Teacher Appreciation Week and Sunday being Mother’s Day, I pulled out my watercolors and got to work.

My Statistics teacher adores tulips. My Literature teacher likes gardenias. And of course, my Environmental Science teacher loves nature (and especially orangutans).

I’ve finished two paintings thus far. Here’s to a busy weekend but a happy Monday— Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there, and to all you teachers, thank you again for everything you do for us.