Chien Chung-Wei – meldrum art

A real source of inspiration

I’ve mentioned this before but I’ll say it again, one of the most important moments in my watercolour development was when I participated in a course in 2016 featuring Chien Chung-Wei. The course, the only one I’ve ever been on was run by the fantastic Angela Barbi of Epc watercolour courses in Girona.

Chien Chung-Wei is my main source of inspiration and learning, there are others that inspire but he is the artist I study most. Like all good artists he is also learning himself and trying to improve with each painting, it’s fascinating for me to see how he creates light and designs his compositions.

To anyone out there who is trying to learn how to paint, find an artist that you love and learn from them, study their work and ask questions like, why is this picture so wonderful?

My own watercolour today is from a photo I took last spring in Calella, Costa Brava. It is a scene that has been painted by many watercolour masters throughout the years. This is my attempt, an evening scene in Calella.

Title: Calella, 36 x 26 cm

Click the Thumbnail below to see the full-sized image.

Calella

My week with Chien Chung-Wei

I have been busy with my art so I haven’t blogged for a while. It’s strange but once you stop it is so hard to get going again. So I throw this out in the hope that I get my act together and start publishing again…

I had an amazing week on a course run by Angela Barbi in Girona, Spain recently. Her company is called EPC ( Enjoy Painting Catalonia ).

One of my watercolour heroes is Chein Chung-Wei and I was lucky enough to get on his course. Chien has been a teacher of watercolour technique for twenty years in Taipei, Taiwan. He was discovered on Facebook 3 or 4 years by the editor of “Art of Watercolour”, the magazine has regularly featured his work ever since. Surprised by the amount of international interest in his art he has been holding courses internationally now for a few years. He said his English wasn’t very good in the beginning but he has improved a lot since then. He is such an extrovert and quite eccentric, he uses his body a lot to explain what he means which helps his students understand. I had absolutely no problem understanding Chien and have been totally inspired by the experience.

Chien Chung-Wei

In the next coming weeks I plan to post more about my time in Girona.