Sometimes people ask me whether I paint from reference photos or purely my imagination. While most of my paintings are based on my mental imagery, sometimes they are inspired by photos taken by others or myself. They tend to end up looking quite different from the original references though, as my mind prefers to use them as a starting point of a fun and inventive journey.
(Photo by Trinity Zhang, reference for The Sun Watcher)
The Sun Watcher, 40" x 30"
(Photo by Dian Zhou)
The above photo is the reference for the following two paintings:
By the Shore, 30" x 24"
Colourful Memories, 24" x 18"
I took this photo in a small Moroccan town on my way to the Sahara desert. It was the inspiration behind Moroccan Sun:
Where do your inspirations come from? p.s. All paintings shown here are available for purchase on my website.
[Originally posted 01/07/2020]