Written by My name is Jeff Wang (王光華). I’m currently living in Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China), not far from the 101 building. My hometown is in Fengshan, Kaohsiung City, southern Taiwan, where most of my family still lives.
My love of art began when I was in elementary school. On the weekend, my father always took me to the children’s studio to study, so I often participated in some painting competitions and won awards. However, going to school, during the middle school period, interrupted the course of painting. Until high school, due to the expertise of painting, I chose to study design-related vocational schools.
It is a school dedicated to employment, and the courses are some skillful design courses. They provided me with a way to explore my love for design. During those years, through the encouragement of my design teacher, I realized that I have another talent that I am good at.
After graduating from high school, I know that I needed to balance the love of art and the economic security of my work, so my attention has shifted to graphic design and advertising. After graduation, I got an art directorship at an advertising agency in Taipei. I met my wife, RoseChen, in Taipei. She is also a graphic designer. She has a stronger ability to paint characters.
A few years later, we got married and returned to our hometown of Kaohsiung, where I have worked as a creative director for 23 years. We gave birth to a son and I am very happy that he has athletic talent and is a badminton player. When my son grew up, I had more time and returned to school to study at the university and research institute. Three years ago, I came to work in Taipei as the visual director of an online shopping company.
After graduating from high school, for nearly 30 years, painting tools and love have been forgotten because of work. Thanks to the Lord, because my wife still maintains the life of painting. In recent years, with her encouragement, I picked up the brush again. At first, I used a pen and watercolor sketching method to sketch and sketch, and occasionally sketched with only pen. About a year and a half ago, I began to paint pure watercolor.
My rediscovery of watercolor began in 2017. In fact, I have not gone through a formal watercolor course. Although I have a wife’s guidance, I know that I still have a lot to learn. Thanks to the internet, I read a lot of content about the media and watched many free instructional videos on YouTube.
I also joined many painting-related communities on Facebook and participated in events to get to know more friends who love painting. Most importantly, I tried my best to paint. I found that I can’t wait to go home every day. I can draw, sketch, practice mixing… anything related to watercolor.
I started sharing my paintings on the Facebook and Instagram pages. At first, I was dissatisfied with my creation, but I found a group of supportive and like-minded artists. Their encouragement and positive feedback, and some friends who liked and collected my work, have given me the confidence to release more work and continue painting with watercolor.
Pigments: My main watercolor paints are Winsor & Newton, some of Holbein’s and Taiwan’s UMAE watercolor pink series of transparent pigments.
Palette: My palette is given to me by my wife. That is what she doesn’t want in Winsor & Newton. There are 24 core colors in my palette. In fact, I don’t care, using new or old, what brand of color palette.
Brush: At the beginning, I also used my wife’s brush. I don’t know which brand they are. A year ago, I bought a set of Da Vinci watercolor brushes, a total of 7 different numbers and hair quality, and also included a nylon hair brush. I still use this set of watercolor brushes for painting.
Paper: I started using the Puli watercolor paper which is a Taiwanese brand, which is characterized by “cheap”. This type of paper is suitable for sketching. It is not suitable for watercolor painting. The paper is easy to wrinkle and wash off the underlying pigment. However, due to the characteristics of this painting, it is also possible to practice how to control moisture and time. At present, I mostly use China’s Baohong watercolor paper. However, pigments tend to flow with water and are difficult to control. Can also be used to create unexpected effects. I occasionally use Saunders and will try to use Arches in the future.
I look forward to participating in more seminars in the future. There is still a lot to learn. About my inspiration, those come from almost anything. Anything that touches me or has special meaning; from my cultural background to the destination of the world travel.
I like pets. I will complete the 2018 project and draw 100 different breeds of dogs because it is the Chinese Year of the Dog. I also like the inspiration for natural attractions and other attractions. I also often paint still life and flowers. I feel that there are inspirations everywhere to be found by looking around. When painting becomes the favorite thing in life except God, the rest of the results are given to God!
Jeff Wang (王光華)
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Jeff, your work is amazing! I especially like your animals. That smiling dog is exceptional! Thank you for sharing your artistic journey with us.
Thank you for your compliments and appreciation.
Whether landscapes, animals, Flowers – they all are great! I like your work very much!
Thank you, like my work.
Jeff, your paintings are exciting to look at – you beautifully capture the expressions of your living subjects and the physical atmosphere of landscapes. Pure pleasure.
I am very happy that my paintings will make you feel happy and happy.
Thanks for sharing your art and story. Your paintings are lovely.
Thank you, like my paintings.
Your work is beautiful and your animal paintings are incredible!
Thank you so much
Wow. What stunning art
Thanks so much
All your work is simply amazing!
Your work is beautiful and your animal paintings are incredible!
Thank you so much
I to love animals. And you capture thier expressions well. I love thw light coming from behind on the monkeys especially. Keep at it wonderful!
Thanks so much
Your art is great! I wish I could draw and paint animals like you do 🙂
Thank you~ I believe you can
Incredible attention to detail. Well done!
Thank you very much
wow… I feel like I’m right there in the scene… so alive, so full of heart… thank you for sharing these images
Thank you so much
Thanks for sharing your artistic journey. Loved all your dog portraits !