Meet Kai Lun Qu | Oil Painter & Instructor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kai Lun Qu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kai Lun, do you disagree with some advice that is more or less universally accepted?
The conventional advice that I disagree with is practice makes perfect. It simply makes permanence. I believe that it is the quality of the process within your practice that will make or break the results. You can draw a portrait one thousand times but if the anatomy is off, then your portraiture will not magically become better. I believe before we put in the time to practice, we must put in the time to prep, and study what needs to be practiced. Working smart is always going to triumph over working hard.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I like to think that I usually am not one to back away from different types of subjects within my paintings. I like to paint things that are of interest to me, from more traditional subjects like figures, portraits, still life and landscapes, to pop culture influenced and inspired pieces stemming from Star Wars and Superhero figures. I grew up in California and resided there throughout my childhood, during which I enjoyed drawing pop culture cartoon characters from both anime and comics. When I was starting high school, my parents send me back to China to study at the art academies due to my father being a professor at the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts University. It was there that I studied the academic approach to drawing inspired by the 19th century Russian Academic method. I stayed there for one and a half years before venturing back to the US to finish my education. When I came back I realized that I wanted to learn how to paint after seeing a John Singer Sargent painting in the National Portrait Gallery. It was definitely a challenge, especially when there were very few resources available to me. It was through a series of attending workshops, going into museums to study the old masters, looking up information online, and reading the Richard Schmid: Alla Prima book, that I was able to hone in on my craft that is painting. I learned that nothing comes easy, especially learning to do what you love to do. The entire reason behind why I give my time to teach nowadays is to help aid the next generation of artists, allowing them to have an easier time than I did in their artistic journey. My teaching philosophy is that I don’t believe talent is necessary in order to become skilled within a particular artistic practice. As long as you seek out the right information and put in the quality efforts of training, you will be able to achieve the skills you are seeking.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Being new to LA having recently moved here with my fiancé, I would absolutely first take them for food. The crème brûlée crepe served at Millet Crepe, Honeycomb Ice cream at Honeymee, as well as the ramen and udon at Daikokuya and Marugame Monzo respectively. Afterwards, we will go to a few gems in the city depending on whether they are my visual arts friends or dance friends. For visual arts friends, I would definitely take them to Gallery Nucleus, a gallery that features works of illustrators and concept artists. For dancers, I would take them to Tabo’s session thats held every week on a bridge in downtown, where Tabo, a japanese dancer will teach them the basics of animation dance. It is a hidden gem for dancers in the city of LA where likeminded individuals will come together to practice and train while being inspired by Tabo’s teachings.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to give a shoutout to my first mentors. Daniel Keys, Michelle Dunaway, Tim Rees for giving me my first opportunities to study painting the way I wanted to during the start of my journey. Richard Schmid’s Alla Prima book for guiding me throughout my journey to this day, as well as my family at Sentient Academy and Trekell Art Supplies, who are constantly supporting my every endeavors and puts belief and trust within my abilities as both a Instructor and Artist.

Website: www.kailunqu.com

Instagram: @kailunqu