Free-style Landscape

This picture is created using a free-style technique. The near land form was produced using a rolling action of the brush. Key is the non-uniform taking of ink, and a lively rhythmic contact with the paper. This leads to the natural-looking pattern of ink gradation. Then a suitable sculpting using lines and dots fulfills the form suggested by the free brush work. The distant mountains are created using an open brush, i.e., the bristles are deliberately splayed open to provide a multiplicity of tips, which touches the paper to form the natural mountain texture. The tree on the right is also produced using an open brush, using a jabbing action followed by careful shaping with lines and dots.

All that remains is to put in the gazebo/pavilion and boats, carefully; and then a series of color washes to set the overall mood.

The key here is not to make things too clear. Fuzziness is part of the charm.  It allows movement and room for imagination.

Autumn Leaves

This picture "Autumn Leaves" is created primarily with free brush strokes. I especially like its sense of movement. The blowing wind is such a defining feature of the autumn season. I actually created this in two stages, years apart. I first did the flowers and the foreground leaves, as a kind of play. The results were surprisingly attractive. Then I put it aside and forgot all about it. Years later, it re-surfaced, and I finished the composition by putting in the background leaves, balancing with the calligraphy.

This year, I started to teach at the Community Centred College for the Retired in Burnaby, BC. Two sessions of 8 lessons have taken place. The second series was devoted to landscape. We had a lot of fun. The students are enthusiastic and have made much progress. They tackled the various elements of landscape, and then put them together in a picture. I believe it is important to go through the entire process of creating a landscape. This way, the students appreciate the process and how the individual elements are used.

Here is a picture I created in stages during the class. I use basic standard techniques for this picture. Basically, the space is created by stacking layers upon layers of landform from distant to near. The composition is based on a painting by Huang Jun Bi. First we need to study the composition and identify the various layers. To start, use medium to light ink to outline and texture the mid- to near- distance layers (trees, rocks...). (The far distant mountains come later in the wet wash.) Next use darker ink to sharpen the near layers. Color the elements in terms of their innate color, as well as light and shade. Use fluid line of light ink to do the flowing water. Repeat the process of sharpening, color glazing, texturing. The near should be darker (warm color) and the distant light (cool color). The water has color, but leaving the white (no color) is critical. Then a wet-in-wet treatment put in the distant mountains and the cloud/mist. This wash is repeated to build volume. The goal is overall unity in the picture. The whole process takes time and patience, as the paper needs to dry between the stages. This standard technique forms the entry point for more advanced free-style methods.

I believe that a goal of art is trancendence. By achieving a sense of depth, we transcends the 2-dimensional paper. The next level would be a sense of life, or movement. This is harder to achieve or to describe. This mist and flowing water in this picture have some of that. Generally, a freer or looser style is more conducive to life. I'll touch on free-style methods in future.