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.