Waves on Calm Waters

Waves on Calm Waters, a photo by Paul&Siu on Flickr.

Chinese landscape painting is referred to as "mountain-water" in Chinese.   Clearly water is an important element.   Water serves many functions.  A calm lake can expand the space, and calm the mind as in the current picture.  
Here,  the lake is calm, but not a still calm.  We can tell from the reflections.  As there are minor waves in the water,  the reflections of the shore objects are broken up, as in the boat's mast.  Near the shore, the water is rendered by a series of "dragging" strokes, pointy at both ends and wider in the middle.   A few of them together gives the idea of calm waves.
For the shore in the foreground, we use similar strokes to provide the water.  These are like reflections of the sky.  Reflections of the rocks themselves require a more definite form.  This is done by a sideways application of the brush. 
The composition leads the eye to the far shore overshadowed by high mountains.  A classic "mountain-water" idea. 

A Looser Style Painting

A Looser Style Painting, a photo by Paul&Siu on Flickr.

A complement to the traditional style would be the free style -- a spirited and loose approach to paint.   A good command of brush strokes is required,  so that lots of variations are incorporated in each stroke -- variety in shapes, ink tones, wet- versus dry-brush etc. 
In the current picture, those strokes build the landforms in the right side.  Then a loose and lively effect forms the left.  This was done with a crumpled lump of tissue paper in a type of dabbing action, resulting in a natural irregular pattern.  Then careful strokes render the temple, the trees, the boats and the distant landscape.   An application of color finishes the picture. 

Waterfall Picture in Traditional Style

Waterfall Picture in traditional style, a photo by Paul&Siu on Flickr.

Here's another picture in the traditional style.   To do the waterfall: it basically involves leaving a gap in the rock cliff face.   The flow is conveyed with just a single brush stroke.  It is important to make sure the stroke is crisp --use a dry brush.  The water must remain white and clean.   The mist from the cascading water is created with a wet wash, i. e. , layering a bluish tint (at the periphery of the mist) the damp/wet paper.

Final version of the Dai Jin painting

Final version of painting, a photo by Paul&Siu on Flickr.

Previously we performed two stages of a rendition of a Dai Jin painting.   We did the initial ink work, and added a first glazing of color (see previous blog).  The picture has taken shape.   The final stage would involve some "tweaking" --to clarify certain elements and to reinforce depth effects, we strengthen certain edges, darkening the lines, adding dots etc.  We added more texturing to the rocks, more blues to the shadows...
Then after the latest paints have dried, we wet the whole paper, blotting away excess water, to produce a uniformly damp substrate.   Then we do a "wet-wash", which provides a very soft and even coloring. This brings out the mist/fog by coloring its surroundings --otherwise the mist's white (the blank space) will not show.  We do the water.  Note the selective glazing of the water to bring out the sense of flow. We also darken the foreground some, and voilà!

Dai Jin painting: stage 2.

Dai Jin painting: stage 2., a photo by Paul&Siu on Flickr.

Stage 2 will comprise of selectively strengthening the edges between layers of scenery,  by darkening of lines, or new dark lines, and/or dots. Then when dry, add color.  When glazing on the color,  use a brush stroke consistent with the texture or lay of the object.  Thus, if the rock runs at some angle,  glaze in the same direction. 
Typical colors: For rocks, mix brown and blue.  The bright side of the rock,  use brownish tint.  For the shadow,  use bluish tint.   Tree leaves, use yellow mixed with black. 
Make sure the colors are well mixed and dispersed. They should be a dilute mix.  Intensity is built up by repeated layering of colors.   If you color too intensely in one go, it will look too stiff. 
As for the interface with the fog or clouds,  use a dry brush to provide an irregular edge.   For the edges of the waterfall, also use a dry brush, to ensure no bleeding into the waterfall,  which must be kept white! 
See my version of coloring is as a guide. 
Keep in mind there is still stage 3, which is a wet wash process,  to come.

Doing the Dai Jin painting

Doing the Dai Jin painting, a photo by Paul&Siu on Flickr.

A few blogs ago, we showed a section of a painting by Dai Jin.  Here we discuss how to proceed with creating a version of it.   To start,  it's best to begin with ink of light to medium intensity.   That way,  we can make modifications or augmentation later with darker ink. Start at the most prominent feature in the middle section of the painting.   It is the large boulder. The rest will build up from there, and will be scaled and positioned relative to it.  My rendition, the first stage is attached --as a guide to show the ink tones and the degree of development appropriate for the first stage. Again,  certain parts will be darkened, and details added in later stages.

Thanksgiving Greetings

Thanksgiving Greetings, a photo by Paul&Siu on Flickr.

We have been having a really fine October here at the Lower Mainland of BC.  Dry!  Bright foliage!   With all different colors, the trees are especially beautiful, each showing its unique shape and stance.   Wishing all a happy fall season.

About Rocks

How to render rocks? Lets consider a rectangular block, on the lower left, with natural light coming coming from the top. Then the other 2 visible sides will be in the shade or shadow.  These will be depicted with texture strokes.  Progressing towards the right , we just make the block more and more irregular.  Think in terms of edges and shades.  The top edge is obtained with a bold line.  The lower parts are mostly texture and shadows.  The bottom edge of the rock is best done together with the texturing.   Do the top edge/line with a sense of flow and rhythm --  movement, pauses, and turns, like a dance. Then together with its baselines, do texturing for the shades and shadows to create the volume.  The character of the top line and the texture strokes govern whether the rock is hard or soft, angular or rounded, flat or sheer.

The upper part of the figure shows on the lower left a pile of 5 rocks rendered as above, with the outline stroke providing a series of different shapes -- round, square , angular etc. Note also that the five are lined up in a lively manner, i.e., irregularly.  As we move to the right, we dissolves some of the top edges of each rock.  In so doing, the rocks merge into one big complex shape (the middle figure).  This shows how a series of incomplete edges and textures can form a complex shape.

A more lively rendition will be doing the shades and texture first, and then outlining the edges, as shown in the rocks on the right.   A free-style brushwork renders the shades in an irregular way, the edges are placed to include the white space into the rock.

Whether the pile of shapes are rocks or mountains will depend on the context,  i. e., the surroundings.   In the top, I added trees, a building,  and some boats.   Then the same shapes turn into a mountain overlooking a lake!

Dots -- tree leaves and beyond

Dots -- tree leaves and beyond (2), a photo by Paul&Siu on Flickr.

Dots are very useful in landscape painting.  To depict tree leaves, often we have to do a lot of them, and to do them willy-nilly can lead to chaos.   Thus, it is helpful to do them in clusters.  Examples of such are shown in the above figure.  A cluster of 4 is shown in the upper left, and comes in pointy or blunt variety.  A blunt type was used in the the Daijin picture.  The clusters are best done with some overlap, and distributed irregularly.  For a lively effect, the distribution should be irregular -- some overlap, some spaced apart, some concentrated, some dispersed, etc.

Clusters of 5 arranged like the petals of a flower are in the upper right.  Note the 5-configuration can have variations in itself, some arranged in a round pattern, some in a flat pattern.  I also show this pattern crowning the rocks.

Vertical dots dots are shown next.   These are best done using a very dry brush with bristles somewhat splayed.  The stroke starts off heavy (top) and ends light (bottom).  Then one can go over them with lighter ink strokes to give depth (after the strokes have dried). This is the common practice to give depth.  The horizontal dots can be done as a dragging motion of the brush at a shallow angle, again with a dry brush.  Going over with light ink again adds depth.

A few final words.  Vary the pattern.  For the 4-cluster, vary the orientation, length, width of the 4 strokes  For flower pattern, vary the arrangement as discussed above.  Vary the ink tones.  Vary the size and width; (vary the pressure of the strokes and wetness and ink content in the brush).   In dotting a tree, the dots at the periphery of the tree are most important.  They show the most clearly, and should be done with more care.

Dots -- tree leaves and beyond

Dots -- tree leaves and beyond, a photo by Paul&Siu on Flickr.

Dots are very useful in landscape painting.  Here's another segment of the Daijin painting of the previous blog post.  It provides examples of various dot patterns.  To do dots, it is helpful to do them in clusters.  Examples of such are shown in the next blog.  Just note that in this painting, the trees towards the left are done with a dot pattern of a 4-cluster.  The tree toward the right, above the bridge, can be considered to consist of a flower cluster of 5 (though the picture is too fuzzy to make out with confidence).  The rocks and landmasses are crowned with dot patterns as well.  It is useful to think of these also as consisting of distinct clusters;  a 5-cluster appears to work in most cases.

Then there are the overhanging trees in the upper part of the picture.  One has vertical strokes for leaves, and the other has horizontal strokes.  These are typically done with a dry brush, with the bristles somewhat splayed apart.  Note that these linear strokes fall also under the category of dots.  "Dots" in Chinese painting is a broad concept.

In the next blog we discuss how to do these dots.

Happy Autumn 月是故鄉明

Happy Autumn 月是故鄉明, a photo by Paul&Siu on Flickr.

To celebrate the Autumn Equinox, and the Chinese Mid-autumn festival, and to welcome in the fall Chinese Painting class at Kensington,  here is a landscape with a moon added.  The original painting was by Dai Jin 戴進, from the Ming Dynasty.   Titled "Ten thousand leaques of the Yangtze River 長江萬里圖",  it is a long scroll with a long horizontal continuous scenery.  I extracted a small segment,  added the moon and calligraphy, and imbued it with a blue hue using Photoshop Touch on my tablet.  Just for fun 贺中秋！

Using the Samsung Note 10.1 for quick sketch

Using the Samsung Note 10.1 for quick sketch, a photo by Paul&Siu on Flickr.

One key attraction for this tablet is the touch-sensitve pen integral to it.  The pen works well.  It can produce lines with flow and energy!  This sketch took just minutes.   The red and the black go well together,  very bold and sharp.

Happy Year of the Snake

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR! This greeting card is created using the stylus-equipped Samsung tablet. It has quite a bit of potential as a creative tool! There is enough control and flexibility in the stylus to render lines and shapes in an artistic manner.

 Wishing everyone a successful new year, with good health and happiness.

Adding Colour to Painting

Here is a picture of the painting of yesterday's blog, with a clearer and more accurate depiction of the colour.      A key feature for Chinese landscape is subtlety in colour and nuanced variation in the colour tones.  Look closely to see how it varies both within each land-form blocks, and also between them.  This variation is obtained by putting on colour in layers (glazing).   Chinese watercolours are mostly transparent, so that the layers will add on top of one another.

First make sure the colour pigments are well dispersed in water.  Maintain a not-too-wet brush and take the colour at the brush tip,  Then use a broad brush stroke to quickly apply the colour to the element in the painting.  The element could be a rock face, a tree trunk, a slope, or one layer of land-form.  Work,  in sequence, on each block/layer/element as one unit.  Another glazing layer can be added when the paper is dry, or almost dry (just moist).  Maintain a lively variation.  For example, in this painting, while the whole colour scheme is one of sepia/brownish, some blocks are more reddish, and some are yellowish.   Of course, the shaded or shadowy areas are bluish.  Glazing of layers produces these.  The sky, water and cloud/mist are maintained as white, even though there may seem to have other tints, artifacts of digital photography.

Doing Rocks and Landform

Landscape can be thought of as lumps of landform layers stacked from front to back on the painting.  Each layer is separated from each other by an edge, which can be depicted by an outline stroke.  So to build the landscape, we use a series of outlines.  To illustrate, we use the painting below.  On the left is the painting.  On the right, I show the outline strokes used.  The red show the foreground rock outcrop.  As you can see, it is built from a series of lines, rendering the layers... Each layer has its own shape, and the texture strokes provide that.  Texture strokes are shown as orange patches.  The layers's edges are further strengthened by dots, which are the trees and shrubs, shown in green.   A similar scheme is deployed for the far mountain.  The strokes are shown in blue.  A careful comparison of the left with the right should be useful.  The rest of the landform can be constructed in a similar manner.
 After the outlining, texturing and dots, colour will be added.  The very distant mountain is done with a broad stroke.

Class of Winter 2013

The following prototype trees can form useful exercise for brush practice.  Remember the brush can be used for drawing lines for outlines.  It can also be used for painting broad strokes.  Experiments with different wetness in the brush -- use the brush in an upright centered manner, or slanted as in a side stroke.  Dots can be made large or small, elongated (like short lines) as in  pine trees.  Use the pine tree to practice these short strokes, as well as the texture on the tree trunk.  Have fun.

Tree trunks can be single stroke or outlined on two sides.  Dots can be a repeat of a pattern (cluster) of a few dots. 

Pine needles consist of a cluster of pointy strokes, and the clusters are put into groups using overlaps and irregular positioning.

The pine tree is a tree of strong character, and has a definite stance and gesture.   Noting these features help to render the trees.   Start the trees in the middle main fork, and work up and down, adding texture, needles and twigs, while being mindful of the overall shape of the tree.