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Knowledge about Chinese Painting and Art
1. Artistic Character and
Techniques of chinese brush paintings
2. Rules of Chinese Paintings
3. How to make a chinese painting scroll or calligraphy scroll?
Artistic character and Techniques
One of the important factors
contributing to the evolution of the distinctive style of traditional
Chinese painting has been the close relationship between the materials used and their influence on
artistic forms and
techniques.
Chinese
Brush
First, there is the
Chinese brush. Though
similar to the brush used for watercolor painting in the West,
it has a finer tip suitable for dealing with a wide range of
subjects and for producing the variations in line required by
different styles. Since the materials used for calligraphy and painting are
essentially the same, developments in calligraphic styles and
techniques can also be used in painting. |
Brush
Techniques and Strokes
The ancients used the expression yu pi yu mo(to have brush, to have
ink). These show the significance of the
meaning for the two terms pi(brush) and
mo(ink).
- The brush techniques so
much emphasized in Chinese painting include not only line drawing but also the stylized
expressions of shade and texture
(cunfa) and the dotting
methods(dianfa) used mainly to differentiate trees
and plants and also for simple embellishment.
- The brush strokes give the
painting rhythm and beauty and
depict the subject's outward and inner qualities. At the
same time, they reveal the individuality and style of the
painter himself.
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Type of Painting
Brushes:
- Hsieh chao pi: Crab claw brush, large and small
sizes
- Hua jan pi: brush for painting flowers
- Lan yu chu pi: brush for painting orchids and
bamboo
Brushes
used for writing:
- T¡¯u hao pi: rabbit's hair brush
- Hu ying pi: Hunan sheep's hair brush
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Holding Chinese Brush
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Second, there is the ink. Ink has been used in calligraphy and painting for
over two thousand years. When the ink cake is ground on
the painter's stone slab with fresh water, ink of various
consistencies can be prepared depending on the amount of water
used. Thick ink is very deep and glossy when applied to paper or silk. Thin ink
appears lively and translucent. As a result, in ink-and-wash paintings it is possible to use ink alone to
create a rhythmic balance between brightness and darkness, and
density and lightness, and to create an impression of the
subject's texture, weight and coloring. |
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Third, there is paper or silk
Chinese painting may be done either on Chinese paper or
silk.
Chinese
Paper
The original paper(around 100
AD.)was made from many different materials including pulp, old
fishing nets and bark. Modern paper is often machine
made. It is classed in degrees of weight and amount of
size used. The paper is very absorbent and the amount of
size in it will dictate the quantity of ink used for strokes on
the paper. Different paper produce different results; some are
rough and absorb ink quickly like a sponge, others have a smooth
surface which resists ink. Chinese paper is usually known
as rice paper in English. |
Chinese
Silk
Before painting on silk, the silk
should be treated with alum and glue before use. This
method makes silk less absorbent than paper. Brushstroke
is best shown on paper. Because of this reason and the paper's
variety of texture and finish, paper quickly became favored by
artists and
calligraphers. |
Fourth, there are the colors.
There are differences in the use of color between Chinese
painting and modern western painting. Chinese painting aim
is not to express the various shades of color of the subject in
relation to a fixed source of light, but to express the characteristics of the different
subjects.
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For example, the adding of traces of brown or green to
rocks, trees, leaves, grass and moss in a painting is used to
reinforce the feeling of a particular season or state of the
weather.
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Composition
and Space
Fifth, there are composition and
space. Since the creative requirements
of Chinese painting do not demand strict
adherence to reality or to a particular angle of view or source
of light, the painter has complete freedom in terms
of artistic conception, structural composition and method of
expression. To give prominence to the main subject, it is
quite permissible to omit the background
entirely and simply leave it blank. At the same
time, since the sizes and shapes of the spaces in the painting
are different, the very absence of
content can itself create rhythm and variety.
Sometimes the variety and balance created in this way is further
enriched by the addition of inscriptions in the empty
space. |
- Chinese landscape painters¡¯ aim is to depict the familiar mountains and rivers of
China from the perspective of nature as a whole and on the basis
of their understanding of the laws of nature. In artistic
conception and structural composition, most landscape paintings
create the impression that the scene is viewed from high in the
air, as if seen through the eyes of a bird.
- With flower-and-bird paintings, sometimes a single flower hangs as if
suspended in space, or the flowers and plants of different
seasons appear together. Explained by one of the Ming
painters, Wang Fu(1362-1416), as ¡°likeness through unlikeness¡± and Qi
Baishi(1863-1957) as ¡°subtlety of a
good painting lies in its being alike and yet unlike the
subject¡± Chinese painters attach great
importance to reality, science, space and time and yet manage to
disregard them at the same time. The laws of these things
must come second to the requirements of artistic creation and
should not become shackles that bind artistic expression.
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Seals and
Calligraphy on Chinese Paintings
Calligraphy and
Seals
One of
the distinctive characteristics of Chinese painting is the use
of inscriptions in poetry of
calligraphy and of special seals as part of the painting
itself. This was a major contribution made by scholar
painters. Its significance lies in its ability to express the theme and artistic conception of the
painting more clearly and deeply while, at the same
time, giving great insight into the artist's individuality, emotions and views on art and
life. In ink-and-wash paintings, the bright
red seal adds a final touch of
beauty. When preparing the inscription and
seal, therefore, the Chinese painter, in addition to considering
their content, has always given great thought to the placement, length and dimensions of the
inscription and the position
of the seal on the painting. |
The simplest inscription consists of
the artist's name and the date. Sometimes the inscription
could include the occasion for the painting and the name of the
person for whom the painting was done. It could be about the
subject and style of the painting. Quite often the artist might
include a piece of poetry or a literary allusion. These are all
followed by the artist's own seal.
The seals can be carved in stone. It can contain a name,
poetical saying, a design or symbol which has a connection with
the painting. The seals are pressed into a pot or tin of
cinnebar paste, a scarlet red color, and are impressed onto the
painting. The paste contains mercuric oxide, ground silk and
oils. It required a careful stamp as it is rather permanent.
When using red seal on a monochrome painting, it is said to be
"adding the eye to the dragon". |
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Rules about Chinese painting
The Six Qualities of
Painting
- To
display brushstroke power with good brushwork
control
- To
posses sturdy simplicity with refinement of true
talent
- To
possess delicacy of skill with vigor of
execution.
- To
exhibit originality, even to the point of eccentricity, without
violating the li(the principles or essence) of
things.
- In
rendering space by leaving the silk or paper untouched, to be able
nevertheless to convey nuances of tone.
- On
the flatness of the picture plane, to achieve depth and
space.
The Twelve Things to Avoid in
Painting
- To
avoid is a crowded, ill arranged composition
(composition)
- Far
and near not clearly distinguished
(composition)
- Mountains without Ch¡¯i, the pulse of
life
- Referring not only to the need for pictorial vitality
created by composition with a quality of spirit, particularly since
mountains were symbols of life. Of the Yang(of Heaven and the
Spirit)
- Water with no indication of its
source
- The
element regarded as a source of life and associated with the
Yin.
- Scenes lacking any places made inaccessible by
nature(natural and logical)
- Where man has ventured, paths are a sign of his
presence and should naturally lead somewhere.
- Paths with no indication of beginning and
end
- Stones and rocks with one face
- The
rock has 3 faces, referring to the third dimension and technical
skill in rendering it .
- Trees with less than four main
branches
- The
tree has four main branches and is represented as having solidity,
roundness, and unity
- Figures unnaturally distorted
- Emphasize fitness based on naturalness, contributing
to the harmony of the parts and the whole of a painting.
Figures not only should be undistorted but should be shown in
action, their position and mood in tune with the rest of the
painting and thus with the order of nature.
- Buildings and pavilions inappropriately
placed
- Houses, pavilions, bridges, waterwheels, or boats,
never overshadow other elements in the picture but contribute to its
main theme, usually some aspect of nature rather than of human
activity.
- Atmospheric effects of mist and clearness
neglected
- Color applied without method
- Mountains and water are not only the main structural
elements in a landscape painting, but serve as symbols of the Yin
and Yang. They are structural ideas, hence the significance of
the term ShanShui (mountain water) for landscape
pictures.
How to make a chinese scroll
Chinese scrolls are made by first creating a wonderful piece of art, such as chinese brush watercolor painting or calligraphy, on a rice (Xue) paper, Then the rice paper is mounted to a few more rice paper sheets and silk brocade cloth. A wooden top with a ribbon for hanging is added to the top of the scroll, while a roller is added to the bottom with wood or Porcelain on both ends. |
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