November 2015-
Have you ever seen Chinese paintings before? I think they're quite beautiful. I especially love the natural subjects and settings that are featured in many of these paintings. The paintings are simple and elegant. They take the essence of the subject and let it shine.
I'm learning gongbi. It's a style of painting that is more detail oriented but is also easier for us common folk or foreigners to learn. That said, it's NOT easy …it's just EASIER. First you trace your drawing using black ink and a very fine paint brush. The WAY you hold the brush and do the actual painting is important. You're supposed to keep your wrist still and move your entire arm with no abrupt starting and stopping. The flower petal outlines are supposed to be very faint and light whereas the leaves are done with a dark black and thick lines. Next comes adding color – using two paint brushes. One loaded with paint and the other just water (used to feather out the color). I added color to the petals. Layer upon layer upon layer of color until my teacher was satisfied with the results. And – more often than not – my teacher shook his head at my painting and told me I wasn't doing it correctly. Apparently I have a lot to learn when it comes to the proper technique! Once the teacher was satisfied with the petals he had me add black ink to the leaves. The darker leaves got dark black ink while the lighter leaves received a lighter shade of black ink. Next came the color for the leaves with the finishing touches at the end. Actually my teacher did the final delicate additions to the painting.
Renata, Ivana and Isabelle carefully watching the master (our teacher) demonstrating how to make long, swooping strokes.
My camellia …you can see the original that I've been using. The petals of my painting have a more velvety quality than the original.
Our teacher painted us each a painting. Each featured a unique and different bird. He made it look so easy! Each stroke was calculated and thought through.
This is my bird:
I think it's time to get my paintings framed.
This is a reminder that I need to practice my painting technique until the next class (which will be after Chinese New Year….or Spring Festival as they call CNY here).