We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Zheng Lu a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Zheng thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I started pencil sketching at a young age and knew early on that my professional path would be in the creative industry with my love for art. I have full childhood memories of taking painting trips and spending days painting outdoors. I did not end up with a fine art degree or becoming a full-time artist after graduating from school, but I did work in digital product design where I could leverage my artistic background and use my sketching skills to visualize solutions. My interest in painting rekindled from a family vacation to Italy five years ago. After that trip, I took Michael Holter and Dan Marshall’s workshops and learned a great deal from those two amazing artists. It opened the door for me to paint watercolor in an impressionistic and expressive fashion. To truly become an artist, you have to fully embrace it – Art to me is a lifestyle and a lifelong pursuit. I continue to push myself and enjoy my painting journey until today.

Zheng, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Sure, my name is Zheng Lu.  I am a watercolor artist and use my painting to express my feelings and tell stories around us. My first watercolor training came from my college days when we had to practice architecture renderings in transparent watercolor. The drawing had to be so tight and the dark colors could be achieved only by the layering effect, it almost became a very rigid mechanical process. As you can imagine, my early encounter with the medium was rather negative. Not until almost 10 years later by accident, I uncovered the artistic side of watercolor, and it completely took me in and I became obsessed with the medium. After taking a few workshops, I began to put what I have learned into practice. I love watercolor for its immediacy, spontaneousness, the quick and effective way it can capture mood and atmosphere, and its ability to express the intangible, illusion, movement, and the energy of the space.

After the initial struggle, now I have become much more comfortable with the medium and I rely on watercolors to express my feelings while continuing to respect the source of inspiration. I hope I can evoke certain feelings beyond the subject itself and bring this emotion to my audience. Most often, I paint local scenery, especially urban life and nature with an emphasis on light and atmosphere. I usually try to reveal the hidden beauty of our surroundings and tell stories about the lives of people and places in an artistic way. Apart from the local landscape, I also love to portray classic European architecture, piazza, and street life.

Besides finding my own subject, I love painting commissions. The process usually begins by giving me a reference photo. However, I always like to go deeper by listening and understanding the stories behind the picture and establishing a trustworthy relationship with my client. Quite often, I will present a free small vignette to make sure it captures the spirit of the picture & story of my client, and get approval before proceeding to the final painting.

My philosophy on painting is very simple, just focusing on improving and not too worried about sales or entering painting shows. It will come eventually. I truly believe that there are no shortcuts in painting. All that matters is the painter’s growing wisdom and the stronger connection between the heart and the brushstrokes. As the result of continuous practice, my paintings have been regularly accepted into local and regional juried shows (southwestern watercolor society (SWS), society of watercolor artists (SWA), and The Western Federation of Watercolor Societies (WFWS) ). I am also one of the youngest signature members of the southwestern watercolor society.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I have three goals in painting. First, I want to use my drawing skills to promote sketching in the design and the creative problem-solving process. Not only can I explore many design options simultaneously, drawing almost as fast as I can think, but in some mysterious way, solutions seem to emerge from my open-ended scribbles on the paper.

Second, I want to teach watercolor workshops and share my knowledge and process. Like everyone else, I struggled with watercolor at the beginning and it was a love-and-hate relationship. For me, if watercolor works, there should be fun and joy.

Finally, perhaps it is also a lifelong pursuit, I am trying to develop my own unique style of painting. Sometimes it is very easy to follow the masters and get carried away and forget who you are. One of the beauties of watercolor is diversity. I am still exploring and developing my own understanding of the medium through my unique approach with my brush marks.

My overall painting goal is to continue to paint and promote my art, as I do believe that art will reach everywhere and everybody.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Similar to other artists, I am also using Instagram to promote my work (@luwatercolor). My regular weekly postings are a record of my painting progress, a platform for doing self-critique, and a place to interact with other painters. I often find areas to improve when examining my past paintings, this to me is a very positive signal for bringing in new perspectives and ideas. Eventually, what makes a good painter is not just the techniques or painting subjects, but the continuing fresh ideas and new perspectives he/she can bring and pass on to the viewers. Through social media, I do get opportunities to take on commissioned work or teach online workshops.

On the other hand, because of social media, artists have more opportunities than ever to promote themselves. Before the technology exists, you have to find a gallery and be featured in a magazine to get your work out. Now that anyone can share their work with the world via the platform, however, this convenience can also become a trap for artists. I often felt the urge to post something on Instagram to keep a strong social media presence, however, typically good quality of work takes time to develop. If you try to post your painting every day, you might not be able to stay focused and craft your skills, and the self-imposed deadline might end up reducing the quality of your work. So my advice is to seek a balanced approach and use social media as a way to showcase your cohesive body of work that has a consistent level of quality and focus on keeping both the quality and the quantity.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.luwatercolor.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luwatercolor/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zheng-lu-47a22a29/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL5lDvzroAUYEqx6DuBN-QA

Image Credits
All the images are my original painting.