Hai-Ou Hou has racked up a lot of awards in plein air competitions, including prizes in prestigious events such as Plein Air — Easton!, Paint Annapolis, the Sedona Plein Air Festival, and the OPA Annual Juried Exhibition. But when New Year’s Day rolled around, she wanted to stay home.
Her solution was to throw a painting party in her Maryland studio, with models available for figure drawing and painting.
The full studio of Hai-Ou Hou on New Year’s Day, starting 2014 off with a brisk figure-painting session
“Painting from life — indoors or out — enhances my ability to see and to impose that vision on my canvas,” says Meg Walsh, one of the artists who participated in the painting party. “The figure, in particular, requires careful observation of form, which really helps refine an artist’s skills.”
Such a party is surely a great tone to set at the start of an artistic year.
