Dr. Youping Qin is my acupuncturist. My images here are part of a larger set,
depicting the history of acupuncture and Chinese immigrants to Oregon. (This post is about the painting, not the story!) Doc Qin has been a Portland resident for many years.
I placed Doc Qin in front of a banner in his treatment room,
which I look at often when I have needles stuck in me!
(The actual banner is in black and sepia tones, but I painted it as I often see it in
my mind’s eye, which is in a vibrant red! Artistic license…)
I began with light pencil sketches to lay out the flow of the piece,
which will eventually contain writing as well.
Building color with watercolor takes patience, of which I have little.
Dry time is so important unless you want the colors to run, as I did in the areas
between sky and Doc’s walls and banner, where I let it run and mix.
For effect, I also played with salt.
I do not know Chinese script,
but did not want to spend forever making slow letters. Instead
I created pretend script
which mimics the feel of Chinese
unless you KNOW Chinese!
I tried Daniel Smith’s Masking
Fluid for the first time,
and love the effect with the wash
of bright red paint over it!
The one place I attempted to copy Chinese lettering accurately is in the Wishes for a Long Life, below.
My style or hand is mine, but I tried to work in a little of the crisp style that
I see in many oriental paintings, and pulled colors from their offices.
Golden Needle is located in the Alphabet district of Portland in a lovely old house.
This is the only part of the whole I drew onsite, then finished in the studio.
All the houses in the neighborhood are being slowly demolished to put up
what has to be the ugliest mixed use buildings ever.
How long can I ignore bad architecture?
I’m being tested.
Finished piece, altogether.
Strathmore Watercolor paper with a Pentalic HB woodless pencil,
Platinum Carbon Pen, Pentel Brush Pen;
Daniel Smith and Holbien watercolor paints.
©D. Katie Powell.
My images/blog posts may be reposted; please link back to dkatiepowellart.
D.Katie Powell Art 
Love this composition. Your architectural drawings are so impressive.
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Thank you Fran — being an architect has helped just a bit in that…..
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Marvelous! I love your sharing step-by-step. Hints at many of the elements I see when I visit Taipei. The red sign is a powerful anchor and putting Doc Qin in front of it really highlights his importance.
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I always saw it that way, despite the “truth” of it… Thank you!
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A beautiful page. Well done.
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Thank you!
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Great artwork, happy Friday!
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Thank you Maarit! I visited your page and loved the girl and the collage work around it; blogspot would not let me post my comment!
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Holy cow. So much beautiful, detailed work. The architectural details in particular are stunning as always!
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Thanks Cindy; the architecture is the easiest part for me… portraits are tough!
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bad architecture makes me feel like weeping at times… sad to lose those old buildings, but I have to say your sketches are making me swoon a bit this week… those lines!!!!
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such high praise coming from you! thank you thank you thank you!
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OMG Kate these are amazing. Excellent detail and color. Just wonderful.
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Thank you so much Nicole. I’ve been working on doing a passable portrait so that pleases me!
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What beautifully detailed artwork. SO lovely.
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Thank you Beth — I also enjoyed your page but could not comment!
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