ArtistsNetwork.com 19WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION
FOR THIS PAINTING?
While I was traveling in Bali many
years ago, I was inspired one
morning by this scene in a tradi-
tional vegetable market.WHAT EXCITES YOU MOST ABOUT
HOW THE PAINTING TURNED OUT?
What excites me most about this
piece is that I succeeded in depict-
ing the strong morning sun, and
the unique and slender shadows.
After the work was completed, it
was identical to what I felt at that
moment in time. Th e sun was so
bright that I could barely see what
was in front of me, but when my
eyes got used to the light, I found
that many colors were gone.
I used bright solid colors, mainly
hot red, to express my enthusi-
asm for this beautiful island in
Southeast Asia.DESCRIBE YOUR PAINTING PROCESS
AND MATERIALS USED FOR THE WORK.
I chose Arches professional water-
color paper and Daniel Smith
extra-fi ne watercolor paints, and
I used a variety of brushes and
a wet-into-wet approach to com-
plete this work.WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE
IN THIS PAINTING?
For me, the biggest challenge was
that although its composition
looks very simple and the color
unvaried, it can be quite diffi cult
to fi nd extraordinary points in
simplicity and ordinariness. In
the process of creating this paint-
ing, I constantly had to remind
myself to think in this direction.WHAT HAS BEEN MOST INFLUENTIAL
TO YOUR PAINTING LATELY?
Traveling has been an inspiration.
Th e light and color of nature has
aff ected my recent work.To read more about Chow’s art and
working methods, see the feature
article, “A Global Enthusiasm”
(on page 24).THIRD PLACE
Jansen Chow
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Sun & Shade (watercolor on
paper, 36¼ x22¾ )