Chinese painter Irene Cao was born in Shanghai in 1981, and now situated in Britain. She works in watercolor pens and acrylic paints, usually on cartridge paper. She is a self taught artist, since May 2017.
Irene always had an interest in art before that too, and always wanted to start. She had bought colouring books, her first being one called Secret Garden. Previous to her paintings, she was a Graphic Designer, and always had a passion for the creative arts, patterns, colours. Irene has displayed her works in two art gallery events in London.
Irene describes her artworks as a bridge between reality and her own imagination, combining elements of the West and the East, and her own interests into a fascinating painting of fantasy realism. Her artworks are thought-provoking with deep meanings and story behind the canvas, evoking curiosity. She draws a variety of subject matters, from recording moments from everyday life, to Chinese celebrities, to the Buddha.
Irene first painted everyday life, as a form of journaling, to record every day passing by, to explore her passions and hobby for art, and fill likely boring days of doing nothing with a skill to develop. She combined her hobby of being a fan of celebrities and her hobby of painting to create artworks of celebrities, living through stories she had created on paper, which provides her great joy. Irene feels like painting these celebrities brings her closer to them. Her paintings of Ancient China contain the Buddha, bringing a feeling of comfort and peace.
“I find that I must connect reality and imagination to create a more meaningful painting. Reality by itself, you might as well take a photograph, it is too boring. Pure imagination is too fake, and nobody will believe or understand. A perfect combination of both creates a dreamlike image, which makes a composition interesting and unique, manifesting a feeling of mystery and magic.” - Irene
Irene first finds photos that inspire her, that she sees and wants to draw the people in it. For the background, she finds one that matches the feeling of the character, or she imagines it herself. The background and clothes must all have harmonious colours. Irene first draws a basic sketch, and when she thinks it’s fine, she draws it onto her watercolour paper, whilst still making changes. She then starts with the colours. First, she must pick good colours and mix them well, and be very specific. She paints layer by layer, with lots of detail. One painting normally takes her about 1 month. Irene paints during evenings and nights, as that is when she finds her inspiration and motivation, when nobody is around and she can be alone. She likes to listen to music or watch shows and dramas as she paints.
You can see Irene’s painting process here.
Irene began painting as her friend, who was also a painter, was returning to China, and there would be no way of contacting her. She decided to begin painting so she could send her paintings to her everyday and keep contact with her, which was her motivation at the start. From there, Irene grew her skills through all her works over the years, and her favourite is ‘Unsolved Myth’, as it is a painting of her favourite celebrity, Cai Xukun.
There aren’t many struggles with painting, but the hardest part is back and neck pains when being in one spot and painting for a long time- especially since she uses watercolours, which run and aren’t good to use standing (unless it’s your style, of course).
Finally, Irene’s advice for aspiring artists is to draw whatever your heart desires- it does not matter. Just like how people journal about daily life, you can paint such daily observations too. She recommends painting just moments of life passing by, and not to think too much about it.
You can find more of Irene Cao’s artwork on Instagram, @artirene_2022
