I learned how to draw at my middle school drawing club in Qingdao, China. Most days after school, I spent an hour or two studying still life with a 2B pencil and eventually got really good at crosshatching. My art training ended before I got into an academic high school and went on getting an engineering degree in China and an MBA in the U.S.
Decades later, living in the U.S. and having been working full time at technology companies specializing in product marketing and pricing strategy, I wanted to draw again in January 2015 after taking my two older children to drawing lessons. I started with still life and figure drawing and found that I love using charcoal and watercolor for their spontaneity, fluidity and expressiveness. To make up for my lack of formal art training, I took week-long workshops from master painters - David Taylor, Joseph Zbukvic, Eudes Correia, Mary Whyte and Henry Yan - and made tremendous progress thanks to their teaching.
I also started sketching Jersey City in the spring of 2018. Initially, I was just passing time while waiting in line at Wonder Bagel or having ice cream at Torico. The more I sketch, the more places I found interesting. My casual doodling grew to an ambition to document my neighborhood as we know it today. I always sketch on location in order to capture the energy of the moment and the place..
After many years in Jersey City, I now live in Montclair, NJ with my family.