Dzu Nguyen - Drawings and Paintings

Happy Labor Day!

2011-09-05T14:01:00.000-07:00

This latest piece was done for The Art Order Story Extraction challenge over at www.theartorder.com. The painting is based on an excerpt from the novel "Black Bottle" by Anthony Huso.

Sketches

2011-08-25T07:23:00.000-07:00

Just a few sketches and speedpaintings. The bottom two black and whites were done as a 1 hour speedpainting demonstrations at the Art Institute of California, San Diego. I then used one for another demonstration in my Monday morning class on how to add basic color to a B&W image.

Dockside

2011-08-04T12:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a recent personal piece created in Photoshop CS2.

Process

2011-06-23T08:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a recent digital painting of Jonothan from the weekly life drawing/painting session that I host at the Art Institute of California, San Diego from 6-9pm every Thursday night. I saved my progress after every 20 minute session for a total of 120 minutes (2 hours) for the painting using Photoshop. I used 3 brushes: an elliptical brush, a textured round brush, and a soft round brush.

Shondra

2011-05-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

More photoshop experimentation

2011-05-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

Another long pose digital painting from life. Time is about 2 hours done on my laptop using Photoshop CS2.

Brush test

2011-04-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

Testing some brushes out in Photoshop. Another one of Ian from the weekly life drawing workshop.

Another one from life - 2 hrs

2011-03-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

Rob

2011-03-05T16:54:00.001-08:00

Website redesign

2011-03-01T12:14:00.000-08:00

My new website is up and running!

www.dzunguyen.com

Dzu

Portraits from life

2011-02-12T12:30:00.000-08:00

2010-12-09T08:22:00.000-08:00

2 hours from life.

A digital update

2010-11-08T15:42:00.000-08:00

Done from life, 2.5 hours with Photoshop CS2

Class demos from Comparative Anatomy

2010-08-19T15:39:00.001-07:00

Here are some class demonstrations from the Comparative Anatomy class that I currently teach at the Art Institute of California, San Diego. The goal is to understand the anatomy while at the same time designing and breaking down the body into its simple forms and shapes. The first 6 weeks of the class cover human anatomy and the last 5 weeks will compare and contrast animal anatomy. Students draw from live models as well as take a field trip to the San Diego Zoo.

Sketches

2010-08-18T14:42:00.001-07:00

It's been a while but here are some scans from my latest sketchbooks. Pen on toned paper with color added digitally using Photoshop.

Speed Paintings

2010-05-14T17:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a few recent speed paintings done in Photoshop CS2. I try to keep the time down to about 1 hour for each one. It's a great exercise to work my imagination and creativity.

Giant Robots

2010-04-13T19:21:00.000-07:00

Drawings from the Wednesday night workshop

2010-03-26T16:52:00.000-07:00

Water Break

2010-03-01T15:35:00.000-08:00

I just finished this painting last week. The dimensions are 18" x 24" oil on linen canvas. Another painting inspired by my trip to India several years ago.

2010-02-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

Sherman

2010-01-25T16:24:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

2010-01-12T15:16:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the long delay between updates but I've been out of the country for a while. My New Year's Resolution is to post more frequently. Here is a drawing of Faith done in charcoal on Stonehenge paper.

Rock Island

2009-11-18T13:43:00.001-08:00

Oil on linen, 16x20

Old Delhi

2009-11-04T07:10:00.000-08:00

Oil on linen, 16x20

I just recently finished this one. The first in a series of paintings based on my travels to India which I will be painting over the next year or so.

2009-10-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

Vine charcoal on Stonehenge vellum paper.

Taroko Gorge, Taiwan

2009-10-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

2009-10-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

Big Bear Lake

2009-09-24T19:59:00.000-07:00

2009-09-15T21:17:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on Strathmore 500 paper from life.

Ilya Repin

2009-08-13T18:21:00.001-07:00

Here's a study after the great Russian artist, Ilya Repin. The original oil painting is called The Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mahmoud IV and measured 358 × 203 cm (140.93 × 79.91 in). My study is 20 x 30 inches and the materials were charcoal pencil on smooth newsprint, which means in about 20 years it will yellow and probably fall apart. I spent about 100 hours on this over the course of 5 weeks and learned a lot about composition, drawing, values, proportion, pencil handling, observing, and most of all, patience. When I did this, I didn't have a real art studio, so I would set up a large drawing board in the tiny dining room of my apartment each morning and work until I couldn't focus my eyes anymore each evening. For background noise, I played all 10 seasons of Friends on dvd. Every episode. Twice. I think having human voices and a laugh track in the background made me feel like a normal person rather than a pathetic artist slaving away at his craft.

Samantha

2009-08-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

Here's a digital painting from life. Total time was about 2 hours working in Photoshop. Samantha takes great gestures and isn't afraid to try a pose that may seem to difficult. In this particular case, however, she choose a much more relaxed pose than normal so I wanted to capture the mood and the lighting of her at rest.

Workshop Demo

2009-07-30T11:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a digital painting demo I did at the Art Institute San Diego. Total painting time was about 2 hours after lecturing and answering questions. It was a packed room and I received a lot of positive feedback. I hope to continue doing these at school every quarter. The next workshop will be a digital landscape workshop. This time i will try to work in layers so that the attendees can see more of my process.

Bum portrait

2009-07-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

Bum's have the greatest faces sometimes. This fellow was walking around downtown Seattle when I noticed him and took the photo. My medium for this painting is gouache and watercolor on oatmeal colored scrapbook paper.

More Venice gondolas

2009-07-12T13:10:00.000-07:00

Here is a watercolor and gouache color study for a large painting that I will be painting in oil. The final size for the oil painting will be something close to 20" x 30"

This study of a gondola was also painted in watercolor and gouache. For both studies, I'm interested in the color relationships rather than the specific color that I see when I stare intently. I'm trying to resolve the color harmony and the mixing before I get to the more refined finished oil painting.

Downtown SD

2009-06-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

Tivoli bar and grill located on 6th and Market St. in Downtown SD. This was done on location in about an hour or so. This is watercolor and gouache in my sketchbook. The paper is for drawing but it has a roughness and thickness to it much like cold press WC paper (but for about 1/3 the cost).

Tuscany Fence

2009-05-27T21:15:00.000-07:00

Here's another quickie somewhere in the Tuscan countryside. I have more stuff to upload but I need some time to actually photograph them.

Cinque Terre

2009-04-12T20:09:00.000-07:00

Another from my Italy trip a couple years ago. Has it really been that long? I forget which of the 5 towns this was but I'm guessing it was Vernazza. I was pretty sick this day and had on the wrong pair of shoes to hike the trails connecting the towns.

Gondola anyone?

2009-03-17T00:54:00.000-07:00

Another Photoshop quickie. The best thing about digital is I don't have any brushes to clean or dried paint to scrape off my palette!

I like trees...

2009-02-25T09:39:00.000-08:00

Trees are so fun to paint. Very organic and chaotic and yet structured at the same time. This was on a hike somewhere in LA.

Rocks!

2009-01-31T10:08:00.000-08:00

Another speedpaint in Photoshop. This location was on a trail in Idyllwild/San Jacinto

2009-01-20T15:04:00.000-08:00

These were done in Photoshop using one brush but varying the different properties. They were painted from photo and memory of a hike I did in LA with my buddy Pat while training for our Peru/Macchu Picchu Trip.

Something from the old country...

2009-01-14T23:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick digital speed paint from a photo my parents took on their trip to Vietnam. It took a little over an hour in Photoshop.

Sketchbook fun

2009-01-05T12:23:00.000-08:00

Water color and gouache in my sketchbook. These took about 45 minutes and were done on location. They are both about 2x3 inches in dimension.

Still life

2008-12-07T00:17:00.000-08:00

This is pretty small. Oil on 4x6 cotton canvas.

It's not the best surface, but i had some scrap laying

around. I should do more of these...

Good ol graphite

2008-10-20T14:55:00.001-07:00

Regular pencil, 6x8

Bob the Knight

2008-10-13T21:05:00.000-07:00

Bob has some of the coolest stuff. This was done using both alla prima and glazing techniques.

12 x 16 Oil on masonite

Red and Blue

2008-08-25T09:40:00.001-07:00

Orange light

2008-08-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

12x16 Oil on canvas panel

Scarf

2008-07-18T08:47:00.000-07:00

12x16 Oil on canvas panel

Green Stripes

2008-06-24T18:47:00.000-07:00

12x16 Oil on canvas board

Adrienne

2008-06-11T18:33:00.000-07:00

12 x 16 Oil on canvas board

Purple

2008-06-01T12:20:00.000-07:00

12x16 Oil on canvas board

Jen

2008-05-24T09:38:00.000-07:00

12x16 Oil on canvas board

Momotaro

2008-05-18T17:24:00.001-07:00

16x20 Oil on linen

El Muerto

2008-05-18T17:19:00.000-07:00

16x20 Oil on linen

Another charcoal

2007-11-20T14:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a drawing I found floating around on my hard drive.

Lavanya

2007-10-09T18:18:00.000-07:00

11x14 Charcoal on Strathmore 500 paper

A feather hat

2007-09-02T10:27:00.000-07:00

This was done from life, Charcoal on 18x24 'Windpower' drawing paper. I think the total time was 24 hours of work

A little color

2007-08-03T07:34:00.001-07:00

I decided to add something with a little color to liven things up. This is oil on linen panel, 9 x 12

Female portrait

2007-06-23T11:23:00.000-07:00

Another digital painting using Painter X

Violin

2007-06-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

Digital painting from life using Painter X

Unknown model

2007-05-31T00:54:00.000-07:00

This drawing is charcoal on Strathmore 500 paper. I believe the size is either 11 x 14 or 12 x16 inches.

Kim

2007-05-30T23:03:00.000-07:00

My first post in an ongoing artblog. This motivates me to upload more frequently since it's easier than updating my website. I will be posting daily sketches, studies, doodles, and paintings. Here's a drawing I did a while back. It's charcoal on Strathmore 500 paper, 11 x 14 inches.