Wednesday, August 6, 2025
Thursday, April 10, 2025
New Class
A new Brush Painting class has just started at the Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, NJ.
To connect to the blog for the class, please use paultongclass.blogspot.com
To view more paintings by Paul and Siu-ching <Click here>
Thursday, February 13, 2025
Art Exhibition
Sumi-e Art Group of New Jersey
February 8 to March 27, 2025
Reception: March 8 (Sat) 1:30 to 4:30
Art Demonstration
New Providence Memorial Library
377 Elkwood Ave
New Providence, NJ
***
More info: Click here <New Providence Library Gallery>
To view paintings by Paul and Siu-ching <Click here>
Friday, September 23, 2022
Wednesday, February 2, 2022
Chinese Brush Painting - An introduction
Paul Tong
2002 [Revised 2022]
What is it?
Chinese Brush Painting has been the dominant painting style of China for many centuries. While the invention of the Chinese brush and paper dates back two thousand years, the aesthetic quality of today's painting finds its origin a thousand years ago, with the rise of the literati painters. While it covers a variety of motifs, from figures to flowers, landscape has been a dominant theme since the thirteenth century.
Chinese Brush Painting has a mood all its own, imbued with a subtle and subdued beauty. It has no dazzling bright color to draw upon - it is almost monochrome. With a spare and austere feel, it is nonetheless alluring, with an almost abstract quality to it. Instilled with the philosophy of the East, with attention to emptiness and serenity, it carries an atmosphere of tranquility and harmony. Its depiction of space can be intimate or grandiose, but always quiet and ethereal, with an air of mystery.
How is it done?
It is a water-based art form with a strong emphasis on ink. The focus is on brush technique, to achieve the most out of each stroke. It places a great demand on the quality of the ink application. This means the inks have to be applied in a lively intentional manner, with many shades of gray. The artist must make each stroke count, providing form, tone and texture. The Chinese brush, with its pliant shape, is the key. Capable of changing shape during use, it can be applied to produce a variety of effects. The other element is the Chinese paper, sometimes called "rice paper", which is a raw paper and highly absorbent. When a brush stroke is applied, there is a delayed diffusion and blending of the ink or colors as the water spreads in the paper. The changing brush shape and the spreading water work together to provide intriguing and spontaneous effects.
The painting process starts out with the application of ink to frame out the forms. Later, color can be applied in a wash process. The brush stroke must be applied with deliberation and without hesitation. In the ideal process, the forms should just flow naturally from the mind out of the brush onto the paper. The painting process itself has a spiritual dimension to it. It requires a mental state of effortless focus, a Zen-state of calm and mindfulness.
What are its aesthetic qualities?
The ultimate goal is the mood of a scene, to allow a connection to the viewer in an emotionally transcendent way. In this, Chinese aesthetic philosophy, founded on Taoism and Zen Buddhism, provides a guide. Just as the Eastern philosophy focuses on inward cultivation, direct intuition and poetic truth, its art seeks to express the subject's inner spirit 神, its essence. Thus the idea of "spirit-likeness" 神似. To express the inner "spirit" rather than just the exterior form of the subject, the painting should allow room for the viewer's imagination to roam and invest life into the scene. It should exhibit both likeness and "unlikeness". When the representation is too alike, the spirit is lost. It is too “stiff”, leaving no room for the imagination. Obviously, it should not have too much "unlikeness". All in all, Chinese painting is not overly concerned with an accurate depiction of the external form. The tonal and textural qualities of the brush strokes, diffused in the paper, all come together to achieve this state of "likeness-unlikeness".
Then there is the sense of space. For landscape especially, the scene should draw in the viewer; it should transport the viewer to another world. Not only must the painting give the sense of depth, it should also provide a sense of mystery, attending to what is veiled and not revealed. The un-revealed will come alive in the mind's eye of the viewer. Another feature of Chinese landscape painting is the flexibility of perspective. The painting is usually not restricted to a single viewpoint. This is consistent with the goal of "spiritual likeness" outlined above. After all, the spirit of the mountain cannot be appreciated by looking at it from just one point of view. One must feel the mountain by traveling through it, and so it is with the painting.
How about the inscription and seal chop?
The painting usually has a calligraphic inscription colophon and a red seal. Painting and calligraphy is considered to have the same origin in China and even to be the same art form by some. Calligraphy augments the painting. Sometimes it is a poem associated with the scene. Other times, it is a note on the inspiration of the painting. The crimson seal adds the third artistic element. The carving of seals from soapstone is an art form in itself. The seal showing the artist's name is essential, but seals with incidental messages, such as the year and place, are often included. The placement and the scope of the inscription and the seals serve to balance the painting and should be an integral part of the design. In this way, Chinese painting is actually a synthesis of three artistic elements: painting, calligraphy and seal.
Friday, December 31, 2021
Joint Art Exhibition -- PAUL TONG & SIU-CHING LUI
Art Exhibition
Paul Tong & Siu-ching Lui
Chinese Brush Painting (Watercolor)
Shimon and Sarah Birnbaum Jewish Community Center
775 Talamini Rd
Bridgewater, New Jersey
January 4 to January 28, 2022
***
Hooray! The paintings are all up!
You are invited to visit and view the artwork. You can enter after ringing the front door bell and checking in. JCC's hours and info are here.
***
To view the exhibition paintings online, use this link, and click the re-direct link.
***
Due to the Pandemic, there will be no reception. Please email me for questions: pauluctong@gmail.com
Sunday, May 30, 2021
Artist Ya Ming
Artist Ya Ming (1924-2002) is known for a bold and cursive style. I was not aware that his work also has a lot of spare and sparse compositions, with lots of white space for the soul and contemplation, as seen in the following link.
Ya Ming's mastery of white space.
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Fi2Au8-jTF_RCsw7rLtsPQ
The third painting in the above site is a good exercise for a simple framing of a marsh, with lots of empty spaces, where a recluse is keeping quiet and cool in a boat. It looks simple but requires brushwork sequencing to achieve the layering and density of the marsh grass groves. Also important is the rendering of the grass in a irregular and non-repetitive manner. Note also the flock of birds in the distance.
My version of the picture is as follows:
Friday, January 4, 2019
Saturday, October 6, 2018
Class Notes 10-5-2018
Bamboo
Leaves:
shape, proportion, relative lengths and widths, orientation, curvature,
Think in term of groupings, clusters.
Groupings and clusters: distinguish between major and minor components.
Mindful of leaves that "fly" out; these give flair and spirit to the grouping.
Stems: avoid parallelism and alignment; they unite the leaf clusters to form a balanced whole.
Video:
https://youtu.be/XES07nzIj8E
LANDSCAPE
Use medium ink to start.
Mainly lines and angular shapes. Pay attention to the quality of the lines.
To build space, to separate land-form "in-front" from "behind", strengthen the lines with dark ink, and adding dots (distant trees).
Texture with lighter ink to show "lay of the land-form" -- sheer? rounded? flat? smooth? rugged?
Use larger strokes (brush at a shallow angle) to do the distant mountains and waterfall. White gaps left behind is the waterfall -- use a dry brush to draw in the flowing water (just a short stroke, rounded at top and sharp at bottom).
[Adding color will be subject of the next class.]
Video:
https://youtu.be/mCVes5fSjOk
Leaves:
shape, proportion, relative lengths and widths, orientation, curvature,
Think in term of groupings, clusters.
Groupings and clusters: distinguish between major and minor components.
Mindful of leaves that "fly" out; these give flair and spirit to the grouping.
Stems: avoid parallelism and alignment; they unite the leaf clusters to form a balanced whole.
Video:
https://youtu.be/XES07nzIj8E
LANDSCAPE
Use medium ink to start.
Mainly lines and angular shapes. Pay attention to the quality of the lines.
To build space, to separate land-form "in-front" from "behind", strengthen the lines with dark ink, and adding dots (distant trees).
Texture with lighter ink to show "lay of the land-form" -- sheer? rounded? flat? smooth? rugged?
Use larger strokes (brush at a shallow angle) to do the distant mountains and waterfall. White gaps left behind is the waterfall -- use a dry brush to draw in the flowing water (just a short stroke, rounded at top and sharp at bottom).
[Adding color will be subject of the next class.]
Video:
https://youtu.be/mCVes5fSjOk
Thursday, October 4, 2018
Class notes of May 18, 2018 -- Adding color
A belated posting of the coloring process for the ink painting of the previous blog. The class video, in two parts, are viewable below.
https://youtu.be/Md6JCx7Nkdk
https://youtu.be/hjryJ1x3ms0
The final product is:
https://youtu.be/Md6JCx7Nkdk
https://youtu.be/hjryJ1x3ms0
The final product is:
Tuesday, May 8, 2018
Class Notes 5/4/2018
Here, we form yet another landscape picture using essentially the same elements as discussed in my blog of April 2, 2018 (Class notes of March 30, 2018). We move those elements around, magnifying some, shrinking others. We flip some around (like a mirror image). Extra layers are added. For a scenery with a body of water, we draw in the line to indicate the contact of the elements with the water surface. Thus, another picture is obtained. To add depth, we include a tree in the foreground to frame the scenery. Water lines (like waves) and reflections work together to render the illusion of water.
The video are as follows:
Yet another landscape -- Water Scene -- Part 1
https://youtu.be/KbrD5CO-D8o
Yet another landscape -- Water Scene -- Part 2
https://youtu.be/oxX3OuCR7nc
The video are as follows:
Yet another landscape -- Water Scene -- Part 1
https://youtu.be/KbrD5CO-D8o
Yet another landscape -- Water Scene -- Part 2
https://youtu.be/oxX3OuCR7nc
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Class Notes 4/27/2018
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Class notes 4/20/2018
"Wet Wash" represents the final stages in the Landscape Painting. This is done after appropriate color has been applied to the picture, with paper being dry. Now color is added when the paper is wet/damp. With wet-wash, one can work more slowly and deliberately, and it is a matter of achieving an overall feel and atmosphere. Also, the wet rice paper shows the color more vividly and accurately -- closer to the effect after the picture is mounted with a backing paper (an essential final step).
Wet-wash is done on a felt substrate. The wet rice paper is quite flimsy, and needs the support. Be sure that the felt is clean!! It must not have any flakes of ink or color on it. Completely wet the paper using a spray bottle. Then use paper towel to blot off excess water -- paper should be damp, not wet. Apply color, being mindful that the brush cannot be too wet. Also no heavy color.
3 tasks to do interactively. There is no formula, but make sure you step back and look(!!).
First, strengthen spatial relation. Near and far elements should have proper relation; usually the near is darker, and has a warmer tone.
Second, build clouds and mists, by adding bluish color to their periphery. The white space left behind, uncolored, is the cloud. Be mindful of the shape of the cloud -- it should convey a sense of movement.
Third, add distant mountains with bluish color. White again needs to be preserved, at the lower edge of the mountain form -- atmospheric haze.
Finally, a light bluish grey is brushed on to the sky. Make sure the color is well mixed and uniform. Use horizontal strokes.
If desired, additional wet-wash can be done, after the paper has dried and the color fixed.
See the videos below.
Landscape Painting -- Wet Wash
Landscape Painting -- Wet Wash the Sky
The end result:
Wet-wash is done on a felt substrate. The wet rice paper is quite flimsy, and needs the support. Be sure that the felt is clean!! It must not have any flakes of ink or color on it. Completely wet the paper using a spray bottle. Then use paper towel to blot off excess water -- paper should be damp, not wet. Apply color, being mindful that the brush cannot be too wet. Also no heavy color.
3 tasks to do interactively. There is no formula, but make sure you step back and look(!!).
First, strengthen spatial relation. Near and far elements should have proper relation; usually the near is darker, and has a warmer tone.
Second, build clouds and mists, by adding bluish color to their periphery. The white space left behind, uncolored, is the cloud. Be mindful of the shape of the cloud -- it should convey a sense of movement.
Third, add distant mountains with bluish color. White again needs to be preserved, at the lower edge of the mountain form -- atmospheric haze.
Finally, a light bluish grey is brushed on to the sky. Make sure the color is well mixed and uniform. Use horizontal strokes.
If desired, additional wet-wash can be done, after the paper has dried and the color fixed.
See the videos below.
Landscape Painting -- Wet Wash
Landscape Painting -- Wet Wash the Sky
The end result:
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Class Notes April 13, 2018
Continuation of Rock Landscape Mark 2 -- Adding color using a traditional color scheme.
A traditional color scheme uses brown (burnt-sienna) for the bright part, and blue (indigo) for the shade or shadow. Note that the main effects of the painting are already in place from the ink work. Color functions to augment the ink lines and to build space. Hence quite a light touch is often sufficient -- quite dilute color. Near elements are brownish; distant elements are bluish.
The rice paper is absorbent, (color tends to spread beyond the form) and it also tends to show each brush stroke distinctly. Thus, in applying the color, it is best to attend to the brush strokes. First, the flow of the stroke should conform with the lay of the land -- is it round, sheer or angular? Second, color each form with just a few decisive strokes; the more strokes, the more the brush contacts the paper, and the more water gets into the paper, leading to more color bleeding. Hence, be quick and decisive.
Mix the color: brown goes with a little blue. Keep mixing the colors afresh so that there will be variations each time. Do each form separately. Allow to dry a little, then use a dry brush with blue color to add blue to the shade and shadow. Maintain a dry brush for the blue, again to minimize water and color spreading.
The coloring at the lower part of the mountain is for the creation of cloud and mist. The blue color will define the contour of the cloud, gathering at the base of the mountain, in the valley. Be mindful of the shape of the "white".
The next stage (after drying) will involve a wet-wash, i.e., adding color with the paper completely wet/damp. This will yielding a soft effect, especially effective for the clouds! This final wash will serve to unify the overall picture.
Coloring the landscape -- Part 1 (Preliminaries)
Coloring the landscape -- Part 2
A traditional color scheme uses brown (burnt-sienna) for the bright part, and blue (indigo) for the shade or shadow. Note that the main effects of the painting are already in place from the ink work. Color functions to augment the ink lines and to build space. Hence quite a light touch is often sufficient -- quite dilute color. Near elements are brownish; distant elements are bluish.
The rice paper is absorbent, (color tends to spread beyond the form) and it also tends to show each brush stroke distinctly. Thus, in applying the color, it is best to attend to the brush strokes. First, the flow of the stroke should conform with the lay of the land -- is it round, sheer or angular? Second, color each form with just a few decisive strokes; the more strokes, the more the brush contacts the paper, and the more water gets into the paper, leading to more color bleeding. Hence, be quick and decisive.
Mix the color: brown goes with a little blue. Keep mixing the colors afresh so that there will be variations each time. Do each form separately. Allow to dry a little, then use a dry brush with blue color to add blue to the shade and shadow. Maintain a dry brush for the blue, again to minimize water and color spreading.
The coloring at the lower part of the mountain is for the creation of cloud and mist. The blue color will define the contour of the cloud, gathering at the base of the mountain, in the valley. Be mindful of the shape of the "white".
The next stage (after drying) will involve a wet-wash, i.e., adding color with the paper completely wet/damp. This will yielding a soft effect, especially effective for the clouds! This final wash will serve to unify the overall picture.
Coloring the landscape -- Part 1 (Preliminaries)
Coloring the landscape -- Part 2
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Class Note April 6, 2018
Rock-Landscape: Mark 2
We have arranged the rock-elements (referred to by letters) of the last lesson into a different landscape, as shown below. Thus the distant mountain on the left comes from flipping the E rock. To tie everything together requires some additional elements, just various C-like lumps of different shapes. These are designated by the letter O. This is a fun exercise to illustrate how a landscape picture can be built. It is also interesting that quite a range of scenes can be obtained by putting together a limited set of shapes.
We have arranged the rock-elements (referred to by letters) of the last lesson into a different landscape, as shown below. Thus the distant mountain on the left comes from flipping the E rock. To tie everything together requires some additional elements, just various C-like lumps of different shapes. These are designated by the letter O. This is a fun exercise to illustrate how a landscape picture can be built. It is also interesting that quite a range of scenes can be obtained by putting together a limited set of shapes.
Monday, April 2, 2018
Willow & Plum Flower Picture -- preliminaries
Demonstration of the first stage of painting "pussy willow branches and plum branches in a vase". This is done at Chinese New Year 2018.
Class Notes of March 30, 2018
Class Notes at Somerset Run 3/30/18
-Practice on five different rock combinations
-Assemble them into a landscape picture
-The target picture, with color added, is shown below.
The demo are shown in the following videos:
How to do rocks
https://youtu.be/I4pAOdkMnus
Adding color to the rocks
https://youtu.be/i0r9l2KTvMU
********************************************
-Practice on five different rock combinations
-Assemble them into a landscape picture
-The target picture, with color added, is shown below.
The demo are shown in the following videos:
How to do rocks
https://youtu.be/I4pAOdkMnus
Adding color to the rocks
https://youtu.be/i0r9l2KTvMU
********************************************
Saturday, January 21, 2017
River Gorge
A small work depicting the Yangtse River Gorge The brushwork emulates that of Fu Baoshi, famous for his "splayed bristle" 散鋒 technique in his brushwork. 乱麻皴。
Towering cliffs, boat traffic, temples, villages... are characteristic features of the traditional gorge.
(A better copy of the painting is in Google+ as follows)
https://plus.google.com/104810833786391031500/posts/FoNgFhf8Rdu
Towering cliffs, boat traffic, temples, villages... are characteristic features of the traditional gorge.
(A better copy of the painting is in Google+ as follows)
https://plus.google.com/104810833786391031500/posts/FoNgFhf8Rdu
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Another village modeled after village of France
Here's another village inspired by villages of France, set alongside a river.
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