Methods 1: Inspiration
"Ideas for my paintings come from my readings of philosophy, poetry, and other visual arts like film and theatre. I enjoy opera and dance, because I love the dramatic lighting and elaborate sets. I keep a notebook of ideas and thumbnail sketches which I add to nearly every day, including a dream journal. Many ideas come from dreams, some are inspired by earlier sketches I have made of models. Sometimes I am struck by a photograph or painting by another artist, and I just want to achieve something similar in my work.
"Usually ideas for paintings come in a flood, sometime after midnight. Unfortunately I have many more ideas than I have time to paint."
Methods 2: Sketching
"For me, nearly all the rest of the painting process is hard labor, a long path leading down from the heights of inspiration. I think that might be why so few artists paint as I do. It is a struggle to keep the craft of painting from overwhelming the early inspiration. But for me the craft is as much a challenge as the original concept.
"The first step is to try my ideas out with a model. I draw from life as much as I am able, but sometimes use photography, especially for recording background elements. My models are mostly members of my family or friends, and I have used some professional dancers as well. When sketching a model I try to work quickly, allowing the model to move naturally. I want to reveal an inner strength and drama. I love to work with models. Each model lends his or her own personality to my work; meditative or proud or sexy... they inspire new ideas.
"I sketch with a Chinese brush and Chinese ink, and later add color from a palette of watercolors I bought in Japan. My training as a Chinese ink painter gives me very steady hand, but it is accuracy that counts most, and this I develop by drawing all the time. "I'm happiest when my sketches look effortless and fluid. But many people don't realize the amount of hard labor that went into achieving that light touch." "I have tried using photographs, but the results are usually disappointing. The lens distorts the figure and exaggerates the perspective, and the film flattens skin areas, losing all the color and volume information I need to paint living human flesh. Portrait photographers use film to hide their subject's blemishes and soften transitions between surfaces that change direction. That is exactly the information I need to paint well, so I rely more on my sketches and experience."
Methods 3: Refining the Idea
"With my sketches and other reference material laid out before me, I continue to refine my ideas, sometimes by adding a background to a figure, or by composing figures together, or by finding a figure for a powerful background. The elements in my painting must work together without narrating a story. I want them to echo each other. There must be a relationship, as between characters in a novel.
"I believe beauty is in the details. I love to add luxurious fabrics and jewelry, not only because I enjoy these things as all women do, but also because they allow me to explore a hierarchy of detail and give structure to my compositions. Broad areas of loosely painted space balance small areas of glittering detail."
Methods 4: Beginning the Painting
"Now for the hard work. It can take between two weeks and half a year to finish a painting. The time doesn't depend so much on size, but on the area covered by the skin, whether there is a face to paint, how elaborate the background is. I usually work on as many as ten paintings at one time.
"I transfer my final sketch to canvas by squaring up, projecting or tracing an enlarged copy, whatever works best. I do a pale line drawing in charcoal on a prepared canvas. Almost immediately I begin the underpainting in thin layers of oil paint mixed with a little turpentine.
"My father always says good painting is based on strong drawing skills. He means that as you paint you must be aware of the relationship between lights and dark, the correct proportion of all shapes and the balance of warm and cool colors. All of these vary subtly next to each other. I have found he is absolutely right. The hardest thing about painting is getting those relationships right. I still struggle with them every day; they are a source of continuing challenge."
Methods 5: Middle Layers
"Now I fix problems in the underpainting and add detail. For the skin, there are as many as ten layers, to build the appearance of volume and add depth and transparency to the flesh. At this stage I often change the appearance of my models too, borrowing features from other models or making them up. Palace Performer was one such invented figure.
"It's usually at this stage that I sense whether a painting is going to work or not. I rarely abandon a painting that is not working. Instead I try to recompose the figure, change the background, experiment with other color tones. If nothing works I put the painting away for a few months and look at it with fresh eyes later.
"This stage of work requires intense concentration and infinite patience, and for me, lots of sleep. I usually work with the television on, half listening to Oprah or the History Channel."
Methods 6: Final Layers
"Those finishing touches seem to take forever. I'm impatient to move on to new work, but I must rework the entire surface of the skin with a very fine brush, always adjusting, correcting, refining. I add jewelry and highlights. I glaze over portions of the background. I redo areas of color that have become muddy. I am so fussy with this last stage because I am thinking, ’my collectors will live with this work for years.’ I want it to be perfect. Normally I am still making changes even after it has been framed and photographed."
Methods 7: Meeting Collectors
"One of my greatest joys is meeting my collectors at exhibitions or at their homes. They lend me so much encouragement and love. I tend to pay more attention to their criticisms, because I truly feel I am learning from everyone who has a suggestion to make. Of course, I am very touched when a viewer can see something of their own life in my work. And at every show there is someone who comes to me on the verge of tears because of a painting. To me that is the highest compliment. It means I have communicated. It confirms I am on the right path."
Materials 1: Oil paints
My father always taught me that the best paints in the world are made by Winsor Newton. I don't know if that's true, but I rarely use anything else. I use the freshest colours I can, especially for skin: cadmium yellow middle and deep, bright red, cobalt violet and manganese violet, even a little sap green. My grays come from mixing high key complementary colors. I rarely use black, preferring veridian green, winsor blue or alizarian crimson. I mix my colors on one of those pads of disposable paper palettes. I sometimes add a little linseed oil or liquin to improve paint consistency and speed drying.
Materials 2: Brushes
"Most of my brushes come from China, where they are inexpensive and well-made, although some of my favorite brushes are the Expressions series made by Robert Simmons. After underpainting with 2" to 1/2" brushes, I do most of my work with very small chisel and Chinese tip soft-haired brushes.
"When I first studied Chinese painting, I was humiliated by my teacher for holding my brush incorrectly. My father was an oil painter and I thought a chinese brush was held the same way. It amuses me that now I am an oil painter, I still use Chinese brushes, and hold them the way my teacher would be proud of."
Materials 3: Canvas
"I use pre-stretched standard sized canvases as much as possible, for they save me time. The canvas is 100% cotton or linen, tightly woven. I usually add five additional coats of gesso, sanding between coats for a smooth surface that shows detail well."
Materials 4: Accessories
"I am afraid my perfect eyesight has become something less than that. I don't know if it is age or eyestrain, but I have found a pair of glasses and eyedrops get me through the day, plus every electric massage aid that has ever been made, including a vibrating, head-mounted, eye-soother that makes me look like a stupid superhero, or just super stupid. During the summer, I live on watermelon. In winter, Chinese tea. My Sony mini-television is always on in the background. I couldn't paint without it."
Works in Progress
Most artists do not like to show unfinished work, and Jia Lu is no exception. Her studio is usually closed to visitors. But we persuaded her that a glimpse of a few works in progress would help us understand the tremendous work that went into each piece. We will try to repost these paintings as they progress, with the artist's comments.