June 10, 2016. Pencil on paper. 35cm x 55cm.

Master Tang was the best teacher I met so far.

He didn’t owe the perfect teacher method as Mastee Yim. He didn’t have the bright and big big studio as Master Jim. His class was short. He was low key. He didn’t have the best work and the fame in the industry.

Yet. This teacher had a high level of taste in knowing art. His painting was very original and unique. He was a honest and straight forward and kind man. Most importantly, he had a heart to his student. 

Everytime, in his small public estate apartment, we careful put our oil painting tool and listen to his instruction and comment. I had been there for 12 lessons. This was an amazing journey – he led me ro enter the door of professional painter and notice all the necessary criteria to be a good painter. I was very grateful. Very.

The master was very harsh. By all means. I was a part time student who needed to go to work full time. I was also a full time housewife who needed to take care a household of two adults and two kids without a domestic helper. Everyday I woke up at 6am and started work until 9pm/11pm. Then I had my rest hours and painting practise hours.

Out of this schedule, Master Tang wanted me to do drawing and painting homework as much as possible.

It was difficult. Pencil sketching requested high level of concentration, long hours like 10 hours each assignment. My apartment was dark. And I could barely concentrate at home during the waking hours of the family. My eye sight was deteriorating very rapidly. My spare time wasn’t long enough for sketching.

I had handed in 7 homework in 12 lessons. Most of the time Master Tang will critise fiercely. Occasionally he would demonstrate. He told me that my work were inferior product from small art home factory. Not up to standard and without any heart. Could tell I was rushing to meet deadline. Using 2 hours work to replace a supposed 20 hours one.

Later 2 works he started to notice I had changed my rush character and try to put more heart into my homework.

I nearly quitted all my activities including the life painting practise to give more room for the homework.

I knew that he had a good intent: pencil sketching skill was the fundamental skill of all painting. If I could pass through this gate, no matter how much paintings I produced they were all inferior paintings, repeating all the wrongs again and again, piece after piece.

I genuinely appreciated all the harsh criticism and all the big push Master Tang  gave me to get things right. It was him to tell me I needed to stay a calm and elegant mindset during painting. Both helped me to change and improve a lot. It was like I started learning from the very beginning.

This drawing was the 7th homework and the best one I had did so far. It was full of details, captured the bone structure, and contained a kind of strength. The original was a homework from a Beijing Art College student, graded 5-. His work was magnificent.

It was not perfect but I believed that I was on the right track. I needed to be more down to earth in the next one year before I went out to do life painting or plein air painting! The future was so promising. Very grateful that I got a great master.