“Great painters must create masterpieces in order to be remembered by society and by history. They can’t just make ordinary paintings, and definitely should not waste their whole life on painting for commercial sales.“  – Yim Mau-Kun

“Realism is not about replication. It does not try to faithfully capture the subject like a camera. It is a process of extraction and distillation that requires creativity and tremendous skill.“  – Yim Mau-Kun

“Plein-air landscape painting is a process where natural (objective) beauty inosculate with artistic (subjective) beauty.  Natural beauty emphasizes “feeling” while artistic beauty focuses on “gusto,” or “fun.” If you concentrate on pursuing photo realism, then painting becomes a chore rather than pleasure.“  – Yim Mau-Kun

“I like painting people and have always preferred painting portraits from life as it is like conversing with life.  After all, is there anything more exciting and sophisticated than life itself?  Is not the ultimate expression of art the human form itself?”  – Yim Mau-Kun

“The beauty of a painting lies in the composition, the artist image, the ambiance, the colors and skillful use of brushstrokes.”  – Yim Mau-Kun

Drawing tools and 25% off online video lessons

Drawing tools and 25% off online video lessons

by | Dec 28, 2018 | , | 2 Comments

By Iris Yim We sometimes get inquiries about drawing supplies my father Yim Mau-Kun uses for his pencil and charcoal drawings. Since I’m visiting Taiwan for the holidays, I took the opportunity to take a stock of his drawing supplies. Erasers and blenders Pictured...

Light at the end of the tunnel

Light at the end of the tunnel

by | Dec 19, 2018 | , | 3 Comments

Miners’ Lament is the latest narrative painting that I finished. The inspiration for Miners’ Lament goes back all the way to my time in China. 《礦山悲歌》的構想起源很久，源自在大陸時期。 Prior to 1980, I worked at Zhaoqing in Guangdong where there was a medium-sized coal mine outside of...

In memory of Jin Yong and my days as an illustrator

In memory of Jin Yong and my days as an illustrator

by | Oct 30, 2018 | , | 1 Comment

Renowned novelist Louis Cha Leung Yung (better known by his pen name Jin Yong) passed away on October 30, 2018 at the age of 94. According to Wikipedia, he was the best selling Chinese author by the time of his death. More than 100 million of his books have been sold...