Art I like

I collect paintings first of all because I like them. Looking at them lifts my spirits and makes me want to pick up a brush.

My other criterion is that they feel within reach, or just a little beyond it. There is something in the composition, color or brushwork that I can try to learn. When I feel like painting, I want to find a reference easily and begin a study, gradually making what I learn part of my own pictures and technique.

I also want to avoid being confined to one style. Different painters approach the same tree, house or stretch of water in different ways. Looking at more approaches and trying them helps me imagine more than one way to paint a subject.

This visual index grows slowly around my own taste and current abilities. Each collection has a few paintings, the artist’s Instagram account, my notes and the original WeChat post. You might find something here that you would like to study today.