Today we’d like to introduce you to Zheng Lu. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Lu Zheng was born in Beijing, China and migrated to the United States in 2009. He started pencil sketching at a young age and knew early on that his professional path would be a blend of his love for art with a connection to nature. He came to the US to pursue his master’s degree in Landscape Architecture. As a landscape architect, Lu works on both domestic and international projects and continues to enjoy his job. Until a family vacation to Italy four years ago sparked his interest in painting, Lu had never painted expressively in watercolor. After that trip, he took Michael Holter and Dan Marshall’s workshops and learned a great deal from those two amazing artists. He says that he loves watercolor for its spontaneousness, the quick and effective way it can capture mood and atmosphere, and its ability to express the intangible, illusion, movement, and the energy of the space. He relies on watercolors to express his feelings while continuing to respect his source of inspiration. Most often, Lu paints local scenery, especially urban life and nature with an emphasis on light and atmosphere. He says he tries to reveal the hidden beauty of our surroundings and tell stories about the lives of people and places in an artistic way. Making art and celebrating nature have always inspired him, but he is also drawn to painting Texas rural life and prairie landscapes because they offer enormous opportunities to create moody watercolor paintings.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Lu has two goals for painting. First, he wants to use his drawing skills to promote sketching within his profession. Second, he wants to teach watercolor workshops and share his tips and tricks. Like everyone else, he struggled with watercolor at the beginning and it was a love-and-hate relationship. For him, if watercolor works, there should be fun and joy! In addition, since he is not a fully time artist and is not being represented by any galleries, he is also struggling with the sales. However, his philosophy is very simple, just focusing on improving. The reason he loves watercolor so much is that there are no shortcuts in painting. All that matters is the painter’s growing wisdom and the knowledge behind those brushstrokes. As a result, Lu is starting to see the fruits of his hardwork. His paintings has been regularly accepted into local and regional juried shows (southwestern watercolor (SWS), society of watercolor artist(SWA), The Western Federation of Watercolor Societies (WFWS) ). He also did YouTube live demo and mini-workshop with art organizations, Lu also has been invited to community art shows (art on the trail-fine art show located on the Northaven Trail at Preston and Northaven Rd. in the Preston Hollow neighborhood of Dallas, TX. / https://www.artonthetraildfw.com/). His goal is to continue to paint and promote his art, as he does believe that art will reach everywhere and everybody. Besides all the easy obstacles, perhaps the biggest challenge for him until today is how to develop his own style of painting. Sometimes it is very easy to follow the masters and get carried away and forget who you are. One of the beauty of watercolor is diversity. He is still exploring and developing his own understanding of the media through his unique approach with his own brush marks.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a professional landscape architect in Dallas. My past projects range from large-scale masterplanning, resort development, parks, residential, and commercial. I see design and painting is intrinsically interconnected. I like to use the analogy of the color of ultramarine blue and burnt sienna, both are excellent colors; however, when mixing together, depending on the color temperature, you will get an amazing array of grays! Therefore designing and painting enhance each other in a significant way and opens endless possibilities. I also employ my sketching ability to help visualized design and bring ideas to life. I think both design and painting is fundamentally a way of storytelling.
How do you think about happiness?
As a painter, what makes me truly happy is the witness of my art growth. Painting to someone seems intangible to measure. However, to me, there are good principals in painting and inspirational watercolor masters to follow. As a Millennial, I am not shy away from using Instagram to promote my work (@luwatercolor_sketch). My regular weekly postings are a record of my painting progress, a platform for doing self-critique, and a place to interact with other painters. I always see mistakes in painting are valuable. They showed you the way where to improve and challenged you to plan carefully in advance. I often find areas to improve when examining my past works, this to me is a very positive signal for bringing new perspectives and ideas into my works. Eventually, what makes a good painter not just the techniques, painting subjects, but the continuing fresh ideas and new perspectives he/she can bring and pass that on to the viewers.
Pricing:
- Original watercolor painting price range: 200(11″X15″) to 500(12″x16″), see my website for details
- Commissioned art: landscape, cityscape, seascape starting from 250
Contact Info:
- Email: luwatercolorsketch@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.luwatercolor.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luwatercolor_sketch/
