Zhan Yun (China) - young architect-watercolorist

Zhan Yun (China)

I just found this young architect on Insta! Great works. Enjoy!

Zhan Yun (China)

BIOGRAPHY
"As an architect with ten-year working experience, I love architectural design and the city where I’m living, embedding in mind the dream of painting as all the other architects.

In 2016, I accidentally read online an article about a famous watercolor master and his work. Attracted by the medium deeply, I have been studying and painting watercolor since then."

Zhan Yun (China)

"Watercolor now being an indispensable part in my life, I always paint what I see and think with it when travelling, or feeling bored on the train for business trip, or seeking relaxation out of exhaustion after whole-day work. I will keep painting with continuous exploration and improvement."

Education Background: Master of Science in Architecture,
College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University
Current Company: East China Architectural Design & Research Istitute Co., Ltd.

Art Experience：

"One night in Suzhou",  Shanghai Watercolor Painting Exhibition 2019
"Lantern", The First Austrlian International watercolor Exhibition 2019 Third place
"Sunset in Anhui", Participated in the 2019 Malaysia Online Juried All Medium Competition
"Sunshine in the afternoon", Accepted for MOWS 2020 International Exhibition
"Sunshine", Accepted for the AWS 153th Annual Exibition
"The coutyard", Accepted for 2020 SWA International Exbition
 

Zhan Yun (China)

ARTIST’S STATEMENT
I’m a life-loving person, and probably due to being an architect, I always prefer to choose the themes of architecture, humanity or landscape to paint. City in rain, alley in twilight, village under sunshine, and historic houses etc. are the scenes I love, easily triggering my motion to express my feelings on paper with watercolor.
I’m used to making the paper be soaked entirely by enough water, and the rough paper of 300g/㎡ that I usually choose to paint is thick enough to remain flat.
I always draft roughly the outline or the key parts of the objects with 2B pencil to avoid getting myself bound by too many details to express freely with watercolor.
After setting the tones of the whole painting and creating the bright-and-dark relationship, I usually make some further adjustments when the paper is wet, and start painting the details when the paper is moist. I won’t finish the work until the details of the focus part are attractive enough.
And in my view, the authentic attractiveness of the watercolor to me is the uncertainty of the wet-on-wet brushworks and the fusion of the pigments on the wet paper.

Geoffrey Wynne

Impressionist watercolour painter, a member of the Royal Institute of Painters In Watercolor. Over the last 30 years this medium has taken him to many places, his aim being to try and capture the essence of what he sees and feels in each location. In the studio watercolour painting has also taken him on another journey in the sense of an exploration of the medium and its infinite forms of expression. http://geoffreywynne.blogspot.com

What is your Art background?

I was born in Stoke - on Trent, also called the Potteries. At the age of 13 i was selected to attend the small prestigious art school Portland House From 15 years of age i attended Burslem School of Art, to further my training in the arts and crafts.

For as long as i can remember painting and drawing have been an important part of my life and my passion was always for the Fine Arts.At 19 years of age i applied and was accepted at West Surrey College of Art and Design to study painting. I did experiment with watercolors in my last year, working in the style of Emile Nolde` s forbidden watercolors. The first painting i sold was a watercolour.

Geoffrey Wynne

Later i worked as a designer for Coalport China a member of the Wedgwood Group. In these years I only painted spasmodically. The frustration that i was not fulfilling my passion to paint became to much and at 32 I decided to take the definitive step in my life and dedicate it to painting.To give myself courage I enrolled on the Fine Art Course at North Staffordshire University and for the next three years i threw myself frenetically into trying to find myself as an artist. My true art education did not start until 1987 when i moved to Granada and started to paint watercolors.

Was watercolor your choice or it is the watercolor medium choosed you?

In my case the choice of painting in watercolors was a mixture of destiny, necessity and a certain impulsive trait in my character. For academic reasons in 1985 i visited Granada Spain. I became fascinated with the city and revisited again in 1986.In 1987 i sold up and moved to Granada.

Geoffrey Wynne

This old moorish town with the Alhambra Palace dominating its sky line has held a strong fascination for artists poets writers and musicians. John Singer Sergeant, Joaquin Sorolla, Mariano Fortuny,Arthur Melville, David Roberts, George Owen, Wynne Apperley RI and many more painted here. My first year in Granada i spent most of my days filling sketch books with observations of the daily life, the people in the squares and markets going about their activities.
After a year living in Granada my circumstances changed and it became a necessity to make a regular living. My paintings sold but not sufficient to maintain my new responsibilities. I tried making caricatures in the streets and seaside with some success but the winter months proved difficult. Portraits in pastel was a short lived idea as well.The only thing i hadn’t tried my hand at was painting watercolours. I decided to have a go so i bought some cheap paints paper and brushes and started painting plein air.

So was watercolor painting my choice or did the medium choose me, i would say yes to both, my destiny.

Geoffrey Wynne

Do you remember your first experience of painting on spot?
I bought my paints, paper and brushes and two camping stools, one to sit and the other to rest my palette and water.What i didn’t realize at the time that my future as an oil painter in the studio was finished and i was launching into becoming a plien air watercolour artist.

Geoffrey Wynne

I decided to sit in Bibrambla, the main square with flower stalls a beautiful fountain, bars, cafes and the cathedral as its backdrop, a daunting theme for my first attempt. After about three hours i felt a little pleased with my results, to my dismay, i didn’t realize I was being observed by a distinguished gentleman. He was a discreet admirer and only after i had finished did he approach me. His first words where that my painting for him was ,love at first sight,or better said in spanish (un flechazo).
He asked to buy the painting and invited me to his office when i had more. This gentleman was to become not only a collector for years of my watercolours but a friend, also introducing me to many other collectors.

My first watercolor on the spot opened changed my future destiny as a painter.

Geoffrey Wynne

Is there difference in approach in paimting in studio and on location?

My approach to studio painting or on location are for me essentially different. Painting still lives or flower compositions in the studio are more or less the same as painting on the spot. The differences
are basically, reference material, time lighting and weather.

Working on location is tangible reality where the elements are in constant change.It takes effort to pack my ruck sack and go in search, climate and light changes, being observed painting and knowing that each day and moment are never the same.With these in mind my aim is to capture a moment in time, to try and breath life into my watercolours.It is a short passage of time where my eye mind skill and experience are in a visual conversation with the choosen theme.

What i learned working outside is to try and breath life into my paintings. In the studio my aim is similar but with the advantages and set backs of using photography...

Extract from a new book by Konstantin Sterkhov "Masters of Watercolor. All about Pleinair"