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When you paint plum blossom in Chinese brush style, I bet you usually paint the branches first and then add the flowers. But did you know you can do it the other way round? I'm going to show you step by step how I develop a Chinese brush painting of plum, starting with the blossoms.
Tip:
Tip:
- I am using a raw (unsized) single xuan rice paper. Double xuan is fine too.
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Click on arrow below to watch iris video.
I am using a small soft bristle brush for the flowers and a larger mixed hair brush for the leaves. My colors are Winsor & Newton Violet and Marie's Chinese watercolors. The paper is a thin, raw single xuan rice paper. You can see more of my iris paintings in this gallery.
Chinese brush painting video demonstration of an iris in splashing ink style
I hope you enjoyed this video. Feel free to ask questions. You may inspire another video!
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Bamboo Trunks and Leaf Stems
The composition is established by your trunks. Because I am right-handed, it is most comfortable for me to start bamboo trunks on the left and have them sweep or arc towards the right.
Tips:
Tips:
- If you are left-handed, start on the right and move left. If you are working from a right-handed model, you can print it in reverse so it works better for you. Remember too that if your composition calls for trunks going in an awkward direction, you can always turn your paper!
- Vary the shade of your trunks, from black and dark grey to light grey, or black to green. The variation will add visual interest and give a sense of three-dimension to your composition.
- When adding the stems for the leaves, make sure they grow out of the knots or joints of the bamboo trunks. Watch my video tutorial on painting bamboo leaves.
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Click on arrow below to watch video
Whenever I paint wisteria in Chinese brush technique, I remember my childhood bedroom in London, where the wisteria climbed the outside wall and would fill my sleep with scented dreams.
I am using Marie's Chinese watercolor paints on thin, raw xuan (absorbent rice paper). My brushes are a small soft brush for the flowers and leaves and a fine, springy brush with a point for the tendrils. You can find good quality supplies at Blue Heron Arts and Oriental Art Supply. You can see more of my wisteria paintings in my gallery
Whenever I paint wisteria in Chinese brush technique, I remember my childhood bedroom in London, where the wisteria climbed the outside wall and would fill my sleep with scented dreams.
I am using Marie's Chinese watercolor paints on thin, raw xuan (absorbent rice paper). My brushes are a small soft brush for the flowers and leaves and a fine, springy brush with a point for the tendrils. You can find good quality supplies at Blue Heron Arts and Oriental Art Supply. You can see more of my wisteria paintings in my gallery
I hope my demonstration of wisteria was helpful. You can see more of my wisteria paintings here. If you have questions or feedback, please put them in a comment. I'm always happy to answer!
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Click on arrow below to watch video
Here's the first in a regular series of short Chinese brush painting videos created in my studio. It's all about the brush dancing - no pre-planning or sketching. I am using a thin raw xuan (rice paper) and Marie's Chinese watercolors. My brush is Japanese—Yasutomo / Haboku-artist 8030 Small.
Here's the first in a regular series of short Chinese brush painting videos created in my studio. It's all about the brush dancing - no pre-planning or sketching. I am using a thin raw xuan (rice paper) and Marie's Chinese watercolors. My brush is Japanese—Yasutomo / Haboku-artist 8030 Small.
I hope my demonstration of chrysanthemum was helpful. If you have questions or feedback, please put them in a comment. I'm always happy to answer!
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Step One of a Chinese landscape: well, you have to start somewhere. Some artists plan out an entire composition; others - like me - start with a gesture of the brush. In this case it was the double staircase descending from the right. My thought (if indeed one can categorize it as such) was to avoid the pointy rocks that I had fallen into the habit of painting. You can see how it would be easy to despair at this point: what on earth am I going to do with these brush strokes? They may not be pointy, but they are inarguably parallel - a heresy in Chinese brush painting.
The paper is a thin, raw xuan (unsized rice paper) and I am using a mixture of ground Chinese ink and liquid Chinese ink.
The paper is a thin, raw xuan (unsized rice paper) and I am using a mixture of ground Chinese ink and liquid Chinese ink.
The only answer is to soldier on, trying one's best not to be so judgmental that one becomes paralyzed. I seem to have reverted to some of those pointy rocks, but they seem to blend well with the staircase. A jolly little waterfall has made an appearance and if I'd wanted to, I could have trimmed the paper at this point, added some mist and had an okay Chinese landscape. It's so hard to know when to stop. I carried on.
Tip: your landscape needs to grow in a zig-zag fashion. Avoid horizontal steps up the paper. Go for diagonals in your composition.
Tip: your landscape needs to grow in a zig-zag fashion. Avoid horizontal steps up the paper. Go for diagonals in your composition.
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Welcome to my new Chinese painting blog. My hope is that you will find it interesting enough to ask me questions, make comments and requests. I really am writing it for you, since my thoughts entertain me quite enough without being written down.
Since I have been painting in Chinese brush style for nearly 40 years, the thought of starting a Chinese brush painting blog is mind-boggling. Where on earth do I start? With the first uncontrolled squiggles and blobs executed in 1976? Long gone into the trash! With the sheets of black ink bamboo leaves, or the painfully executed bird beaks and eyes? Used to light fires years ago! With agonized descriptions of books smacked on furniture amid groans of frustration? Long overcome... er, well....no, I lie. I still get frustrated, still groan and shriek. At least I haven't broken any books lately.
So let's jump right in.
Since I have been painting in Chinese brush style for nearly 40 years, the thought of starting a Chinese brush painting blog is mind-boggling. Where on earth do I start? With the first uncontrolled squiggles and blobs executed in 1976? Long gone into the trash! With the sheets of black ink bamboo leaves, or the painfully executed bird beaks and eyes? Used to light fires years ago! With agonized descriptions of books smacked on furniture amid groans of frustration? Long overcome... er, well....no, I lie. I still get frustrated, still groan and shriek. At least I haven't broken any books lately.
So let's jump right in.