A Guatemalan Girl

Jing Zhao

"My goal is to capture the beauty of my subject. My works use the line, shape, value, color, texture, and edges of all these technical elements to create a poetic interpretation of my inner voice. These basic concepts provide the fundamental structure for my visual goal."

Jing Zhao lives in Frisco, TX. USA She learned drawing from a private teacher from her childhood. Even through her career path leading her in law, art has always been a companion to her. She is a professional oil painter now and is already snapping up top awards for her figurative work. She is the Best of show winner at the 20th American Impressionist Society's Juried National Exhibition 2019.


Tell us about yourself and your background.
I was born and raised in Qingdao, China and now live in Frisco, Texas. I have been drawing since the age of five. I began my formal art education at the age of eleven with a private art teacher. From eleven to eighteen, I drew at least 4 hours every day in hopes of someday attending the top fine art academy in China. For various reasons, I studied law instead. After having been an attorney in China for many years, I moved to America to continue to study American law and worked at an Immigration law firm. After that, I changed course, getting a computer science master's degree and becoming a software engineer working in the telecommunication industry. Later on, I was back to the legal consulting field and became a business owner. Meanwhile, art has always been a companion to me and I eventually returned to my true love; painting.
​To further develop my artistic skills, I attended the Peninsula School of Art, Scottsdale Artists' School, and studied with the great artists such as Kevin Macpherson, Zhaoming Wu, John Michael Carter, Daniel Gerhart, Huihan Liu, and many other great artists.

Play Poker On The Beach

"It is not my goal to merely depict the scene I see, but rather to use my artistic eye to express my inner response towards what I see."

Take A Bow

Young Mother In Guatemala

Tell us about your work and style, why is it unique?
My goal is to capture the beauty of my subject. My works use the line, shape, value, color, texture, and edges of all these technical elements to create a poetic interpretation of my inner voice. These basic concepts provide the fundamental structure for my visual goal of the paintings. I think that my work leans towards Impressionism. Impressionism is an emphasis and accurate depiction of light on forms without very specific details and using bold, broken colors and brush-strokes. It is rooted in realism. When I see the subject, I try to interpret it and communicate my unique vision. It is not my goal to merely depict the scene I see, but rather use my artistic eye to express my inner response towards what I see, depicting my emotion and mood from my personal life experiences and my inner- spiritual world. I use the technical
elements to capture the expression while nature's color influences the light and atmosphere. My visual vocabulary has to do with what I initially see in the subject so that I can create my own mental image of the result of the painting.

Building Sand Castle

"I think the best artists are those who are painfully self-critical. This is good for self-betterment, rather than defeat."

Self Portrait

Check My Phone First

Tell us about your process and what do you feel when you are creating?
Some ideas always come to me after I did some research or when inspiration struck. Once I have a solid idea with the mood and emotion, I will quickly glance at all the photos to see which one grabbed my eye immediately. Since I have traveled to different places in the world, I have thousands of pictures I took during the trips. Sometimes I find the picture as a reference, while at other times I find a model painting from life. Before I begin to paint I always ask myself what kind of mood I am trying to capture, what the image is in my mind, what I intend to paint and what kind of emotion I am trying to express. After making a few decisions I begin to think about the technical approach. First I tone my surface with a major background color. Then I use charcoal to do a simple drawing with design and composition which is easy for me to make changes and analyze focal points and simplify the subject. Then I place big shapes and values to block in the shadow part and paint from the dark to light. In the whole process, I pay attention to placing the brushstroke with variety and always checking back with technical requirements - it is a problem-solving process. If all these elements are accurate then my painting will be complete. When I am painting at the beginning, I feel so excited and passionate about the image in my mind. However, during the process sometimes I feel frustrated and impatient because your eye sometimes is much more critical than your hand. I think the best artists are those who are painfully self-critical. This is good for self-betterment, rather than defeat.

What are your sources of inspiration?
I enjoy creating portraits or figures and landscapes in which I can find a certain beauty in a special characteristic or moods either from my daily life or a photo I took. I try to hold onto a child-like curiosity and use the artistic well-trained eye to see the beauty of our routine life. This is my inspiration.

​Why are you attracted to your preferred mediums?
My favorite medium is oil because of its flexibility and depth of color.

Jing Zhao

Frolicking In The Shallow

"I enjoy creating portraits or figures and landscapes in which I can find a certain beauty in a special characteristic or moods either from my daily life or a photo I took. I try to hold onto a child-like curiosity and use the artistic well-trained eye to see the beauty of our routine life. This is my inspiration."
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Equestrian Performers

Tell us about some of your achievements?
I have the Memberships including: Oil Painter of America, American Impressionist Society, Portrait Society of America
Outdoor Painters Society, California Art Club. My works had been Juried into many National Exhibition including: Oil Painters of America's 27th Annual Juried National Exhibition / Oil Painters of America's 28th Annual Juried National Exhibition / Oil Painters of America's 29th Annual Juried National Exhibition / American Impressionist society 20th Annual Juried National Exhibition / The 34th Annual Juried Bosque Art Classic Exhibition / The Allied Artists of America's 106th Annual Juried Exhibition / Oil Painters of America's 2019 West Regional Exhibition / The 4th Annual American Impressionist society Juried - Impressions Small works showcase / Outdoor Painters Society Juried invitation for PleinAir Southwest Outdoor Painting Competition and Show / Artists on Location Juried invitation for Artists on Location Plein Air painting Event.

I have the following National level Awards: Best of Show at the 20th American Impressionist Society’s Juried National Exhibition 2019 / Boren-Selvidge Award at Bosque Art Classic 34th Annual Juried Art exhibition 2019 / Art Muse Contest Emerging Artist Winner in May 2019 / State-level Award / 1st Place Award in the Texas members of the Portrait Society of America Exhibition 2018.

I have been featured in Southwest Art Magazine and my works in American Art Collector and Fine Art Connoisseur. I was a speaker as American Impressionist Society National Best Show Winners Panellist, as well as a featured demonstrator at the AIS National Small Works Show.

​“A Girl from Festival” I had my ideas first come to me such as mood, emotion. Based on these concepts, I quickly glanced at all the photos until I found a picture I took many years ago. The beauty immediately caught my eye. I decided to use that picture as a reference. Before it comes to the actual painting, I see a mental image of the painting usually revolving around design, shape, tone, light, color, brush- strokes and edges. All these kinds of visual elements and the image lead me thinking and working from day and night and sometimes I couldn’t fall asleep. "A Girl from Festival" won the best of the show in the American expressionist society 20th annual national exhibition which was held at the Salmagundi Club New York 2019.

​From the Guatemala trip, I spotted a beautiful girl in a crowded market. The girl’s brightly colored head scarf caught my attention first. Then I noticed the girl’s expression: not happy, kind of sad. I knew that that was the kind of emotion I wanted to paint. After returning home, I created “Guatemalan Girl in the Market.” “Guatemalan Girl in the Market” went on to win the Boren-Selvidge Award at Bosque Art Classic 34th Annual Juried Art exhibition 2019.

In the Shadows

Mountain Child

​"The livelihood of youth from different backgrounds is a common theme I explore in my portrait paintings, especially from the mountain areas or the poor country. I try to depict the lovely youth of the poor mountain areas and evoke people's compassion to carry hope to these lovely children."

​Tell us about some of the themes and concepts that you have explored.
The livelihood of youth from different backgrounds is a common theme I explore in my portrait paintings, especially from the mountain areas or the poor country. I try to depict the lovely youth of the poor mountain areas and evoke people's compassion to carry hope to these lovely children. “Mountain Child” is an example, as well as "Young Mother in Guatemala” which was from the trip with Art Ambassadors for a Colorful World to Guatemala in 2018. I was so touched and impressed by many young mothers who are hungry or sick, and couldn’t attend school but had to raise children. They are beautiful and their eyes filled with purity and wish. After that trip, I created that painting. “A Guatemalan Girl” for 2019's Art Ambassador for a Colorful World Trip.

What are you passionate about?
I am passionate about the figure or portrait which I could capture some characteristic beauty.

Alicia

Little Cowboy

"Art is a way to bring forward a moment in time that takes away from the tension or stress of life and high-light the stories that make life beautiful."

Tell us about some of the feedback you typically receive.
There are a lot of positive compliments and encouragement that I always appreciate and am very humbled to receive.
​Here is one of my Award Winner Judge’s feedback: “A Girl From Festival” "In Jing’s painting, composition and a feeling of “controlled Abandon” find their perfect subject in the flamboyant dancer she has chosen, Masterful use of Color, Light, and shade, lost and found edges and creation of textures, are all built on a creative framework of shapes and lines woven together as by a musician or composer. It’s natural, but beyond nature. Explosive!"
​Another Award Winner Judge’s feedback for "Check My Phone First” "There is a lot that can be said with a suggestion and for me, that always wins over a rendering. So many artists torture the brushwork to death leaving a static and uninteresting surface. I loved the simple yet confident brushwork and the concentrated chroma in this lovely work. All of this supports her posture and the mood. It's excellent."

What are you currently working on?
I am currently on some equestrian performer pieces. When I was in France visiting Chantilly last fall, I was so lucky to bump into a group of equestrians preparing for a horse show. I got permission and took hundreds of photo references in this one-in-a-million opportunity. I was shocked by the beauty and historic story. So I try to depict the beauty scene from my mind’s eye.

Guatemalan Girl In The Market

Jing Zhao

"Most of my subjects are people from different backgrounds and cultures. I sometimes consider whether these subjects will draw in the viewer to wonder about their life story or what’s going on in the scene."​

Waiting For The Orders

What can we look forward to in the future... what directions will you be exploring?
I think I will explore combining portrait or figure and landscape together to create more storytelling themes or new arenas of interest, and so on and so forth. To explore my own personal creative direction will always be my future efforts in my life.

Tell us about your location and its influence on your work.
I live in Frisco TX , USA. Since I love to travel, I like to learn and paint all over the country. I studied with many top great master artists in different locations in the USA. Such as Kevin Macpherson, Zhaoming Wu, John Michael Carter, Daniel Gerhartz and many other great artists, So I got so much influence from them. I also admire the great masters in art history like Sargent, Sorolla, Fechin, Zorn. Their masterpieces are always my guide to keep my goals in my sight.

How do you feel about art and its role in the world?
Art has always been a way to communicate feelings or a story. Art can bring back fond memories, bring peace, provide a colorful retreat for our daily life or even speak truth in times of conflict. In our world today there is often unrest. Art is a way to bring forward a moment in time that takes away from the tension or stress of life and high-light the stories that make life beautiful. I believe art has the power to change the world. It inspires individuals and changes individual’s life.


How do you want your art to affect the viewer?
Most of my subjects are people from different backgrounds and cultures. I sometimes consider whether these subjects will draw in the viewer to wonder about their life story or what’s going on in the scene. I want my art to bring about understanding and perspective to my viewer.
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www.jingzhaoart.com
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