Paul Cheng - Echoes in the Night

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While creating this painting, I was not aiming to depict a specific place, but rather to capture the emotional overlap of city, memory, and night. Fragments of lights, buildings, and crowds surfaced in my mind and quickly dissolved. I kept the composition suspended between order and chaos, hoping viewers could find their own stories and memories within the rhythm of color.
I worked with a combination of impasto and scraping, allowing the paint to build strong textures and layered surfaces. Warm tones dominate the palette, punctuated by cooler accents to create visual tension and movement. The brushwork remains direct and spontaneous, avoiding over-refinement so the painting retains immediacy and emotional authenticity.

Paul Cheng

Oil Painters of America (OPA) Signature Member


Paul Cheng was born and grew up in Guangzhou China and studied at Guangzhou Fine Art College China, one of the most prestigious fine art schools in China. He received his BFA degree from and taught at the same school. His paintings have exhibited at different fine arts competitions in China, Australia and the United States and has become an award-wining artist. Paul Cheng was featured in Southwest Art Magazine in April 2013. He has worked for some main entertainment companies as a Sr. visual development artist, art director and an Sr. illustrator of gaming companies in Australia and the United States. These projects he has worked were either nominated for Oscar Best Animation Feature Film or won Oscar Outstanding Achievement in Character Design in an Animated Feature Production and an Emmy award.

FINE ARTS EXHIBITIONS/AWARDS/HONORS:

Oil Painters of America 2025 Western Regional Exhibition

Oil Painters Of America 34st Annual National Juried Exhibition Of Traditional Oils (2025)

Oil Painters of America’s 32nd Annual National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils (2023)

Oil Painters of America 2022 Western Regional Exhibition

Oil Painters of America’s 31st Annual National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils (2022)

Oil Painters of America’s 30th Annual National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils (2021)

Oil Painters of America 2021 Western Regional Exhibition

Oil Painters of America 2019 Western Regional Exhibition

The Virtuosos of OPA Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils 2019

Oil Painters of America’s 27th Annual National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils (2018)

Oil Painters of America 2017 Western Regional Exhibition

Oil Painters of America’s 26th Annual National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils (2017)

OPA 2016 Juried Salon Show of Traditional Oils

Oil Painters of America 2016 Western Regional Exhibition

Mountain Oyster Club 46th Annual Contemporary Western Art Show & Sale(2015)

Oil Painters of America 2014 Western Regional Exhibition

'Seascape Honorable Mention’ on Oil Painters Of America’s 23rd Annual National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils (2014)

Greenhouse Gallery Salon International 2014

Western Art and Landscape Show-2/2014(Greenhouse Fine Art gallery),

Small Gems - 02/2014(Christian Daniels Gallery)
Holiday Open House and Group Show-12/2013(Concetta D. Gallery),

'Finalist'- BoldBrush Painting Competition (November 2013),

‘Honorable Mention’ (OPA Online Showcase - Spring 2013),

Oil Painters of America’s 22nd Annual National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils (2013),

Top 60 Greenhouse Gallery Salon International 2013­

'Finalist'- BoldBrush Painting Competition (August 2012),

‘Honorable Mention’ at OPA Online Showcase Competition (Summer 2012),

OPA 2012 Western Regional Exhibition



Bibliography


“ Artist Focus: Paul Cheng” by Froala Editor, American Art Collector magazine, November 2021 Edition

"The spirit of art " by Bonnie Gangelhoff, Southwest art Magazine, April 2013


Animation Film and TV Credits as Visual Development Artist


"The Book of Life" (3D Animation feature 2014)
"Free Birds " (3D Animation feature 2013)
“Back At The Barnyard” (3D TV series Nik, Won 2009 An Emmy Award 2009)
"Barnyard”(3D feature film Paramount 2006)
"Tarzan II”( 2D direct to video 2003)
"Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (3D feature film Nickelodeon, Nominated Oscar 2002 Best Animation Feature 2001)
"Titan A. E." (2D feature film 2000)
"Bartok the Magnificent" (2D direct to video 1999)
"Anastasia" ( 2D feature film 1998)
"The Lion King II-Simba's Pride" (2D direct to video 1997)




Teaching Experience

Instructor at Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art, China, 1986-1989.



Membership

Oil Painters of America (Signature Member)