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.
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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).
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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.
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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:
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Hsieh chao pi: Crab claw brush, large and
small sizes
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Hua jan pi: brush for painting flowers
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Lan yu chu pi: brush for painting orchids
and bamboo
Brushes used
for writing:
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T’u hao pi: rabbit's hair brush
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Hu ying pi: Hunan sheep's hair brush
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Holding Chinese
Brush
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Chinese
Ink
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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Chinese
Paper
and Silk
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.
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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.
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Chinese
Color
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.
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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.
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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.
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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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