The Chinese Art Paintings: May 2012

Thursday, 17 May 2012

What are the benefits of learning Chinese painting?

Chinese culture is so fantastic and beautiful, by learning traditional Chinese painting, we can have a comprehensive understanding to traditional Chinese culture, including the Chinese poem, drama, traditional dance, folk music, calligraphy. traditional Chinese clothing courses and other martial arts, art and physical culture courses, and activities which include visits to famous attractions. Besides all this, Chinese painting and calligraphy require intense focus and concentration, it can help us to stabilises our mood when we are angry or anxious. We will also start to be extremely sensitive to the colours, beauty and nature. With calligraphy, we begin to appreciate the beautiful meanings behind the poetry verses.

All of these are the advantages of learning Chinese paintings. =D

The classic Chinse paintings

Tang Dynasty

During the Tang Dynasty, figure painting flourished at the royal court. Artists such as Zhou Fang showed the lustre of court life in paintings of palace ladies, emperors and imperial horses. Figure painting reached the height of elegant realism in the art of court of Southern Tang (937-975 A.D.). Most of the Tang artists outlined figures with fine black lines and used brilliant colour and elaborate detail. However, one Tang artist, the master Wu Daozi, used only blank ink and freely painted brushstrokes to create ink paintings. From his time on, ink paintings were no longer thought to be preliminary sketches or outlines to be filled in with colour.

*White-night Horse: White horse, ink on paper, inscription is a poem written by Emperor Ch'ien-lung in 1746, drawn by Han Gan:

Five dynasties

*Night Party: Han Xizai gives a banquet, painted by Gu Hongzhong about 910-980 A.D.

Song Dynasty

Song dynasty period (960-1279 A.D.), landscape of more subtle expression appeared. Immeasurable distances were conveyed through the use of blurred outlines, mountain contours disappearing into the mist, and impressionistic treatment of natural phenomena. Emphasis was placed on the spiritual qualities of the painting and on the ability of the artist to reveal the inner harmony of man and nature, as perceived according to Taoist and Buddhist concepts.

*A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains: Hand-scroll, ink and heavy colour on silk, painted by Wang Ximeng (1096-1120 A.D.) in North Song Dynasty.

*Li Bai Strolling: Painted by Liang Kai in Southern Song Dynasty.

Yuan Dynasty

During the Mongol Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 A.D.), painters joined the arts of painting, poetry, and calligraphy by inscribing poems on their paintings. These three arts worked together to express the artist's feelings more completely than one art could do alone.

*Bamboo in the Winds: Hanging scroll, ink on paper, painted by Wu Zhen.

Ming Dynasty

During Ming period (1368-1644 A.D.), was immensely popular with the narrative painting, with a wider colour range and a much busier composition than Song paintings.

*Garden of the Unsuccessful Politician: Album of eight paintings with facing pages of calligraphy, ink on paper, drawn by Wen Zhengming in 1551 A.D.

Qing Dynasty

During the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 A.D.), painters known as individualists rebelled against many of the traditional rules of painting and found ways to express themselves more directly through free brushwork. In the 18th and 19th centuries, great commercial cities such as Yang Zhou and Shanghai became art centres where wealthy merchant-patrons encouraged artists to produce bold new works.

*Painted by Pu Ru.

*Rock Pillar, painted by Zheng Xie (Zheng Banqiao), 1693-1765.

*Bamboo, painted by Zheng Xie (Zheng Banqiao), 1693-1765.

20-th Century

Beginning with the New Culture Movement, Chinese artists started to adopt using Western techniques.

*Ink Painting of Lotus, painted by Zhang Daqian (1899- 1983 A.D.)

*Fisherman, painted by Qi Baishi (1864-1957 A.D.)

Reference:
Classic Chinese Painting. (n.d.). Chinapage.com. Retrieved from http://www.chinapage.com/paint1.html

Photo References:
Classic Chinese Painting. (n.d.). Chinapage.com. Retrieved from http://www.chinapage.com/paint1.html

-http://www.chinapage.com/qibai/qibai.html
-http://www.chinapage.com/changda.jpg
-http://www.chinapage.com/painting/puru/puru.html
-http://www.chinapage.com/painting/zhengbanqiao/zhengbanqiao.html
-http://www.chinapage.com/painting/wenzhengming/wenzhengming2.html
-http://www.chinapage.com/painting/wuzhen01.html
-http://www.chinapage.com/painting/liangkai/liangkai2.html
-http://www.chinapage.com/painting/wangximeng.html
-http://www.chinapage.com/painting/guhongzhong/guhongzhong.html
-http://www.chinapage.com/painting/hangan.html

The tools used in traditional Chinese painting

Generally, Chinese painting is drawn on the rice paper. We can also find the beautiful Chinese pictures in the fans, bowls, porcelain and dishes when we are shopping in the tourist spot like streets or some special restaurants. What is more, the Chinese pictures are also drawn on the silk, screens, even on many ancient tombs' walls. Therefore, Chinese painting is really a very typical form of Chinese fine arts (Materials and Tools for Chinese painting, n.d.).

There are several tools used in traditional Chinese painting, which are writing brush, paintbrush, ink-stick, ink-stone, ink, traditional paint and special paper or silk and so on. Among the various tools of calligraphy, writing brush is peculiar to China. The brushes are varied , white goat's hair, black rabbit's hair and yellow weasel's hair are three major types of brushes to be mentioned (Materials and Tools for Chinese painting, n.d.). On the basis of the function of tip, the brushes are distributed into three groups: "hard", "soft" and "both". The handle is made of not only wood, bamboo, porcelain and lacquer, but also some precious materials like mother-of-pearl inlay, ivory and jade.

*Four treasures of the study: Brush, ink-stick, paper, and ink-stone.

*Various type of brushes

The ink-stick is the unique pigment of Chinese traditional painting and calligraphy. At the initial stage natural ink or half-natural ink was generally used (Materials and Tools for Chinese painting, n.d.).

*The ink-stick

*Ink-stick and brushes

Paper is one of the most famous Chinese inventions- one of the four great inventions ( Stevenh, 2009). It is widely accepted that paper was invented by Cai Lun in the Eastern Han (105 A.D.). After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, paper extensively used instead of traditional writing materials such as bamboo slip and silks (Stevenh, 2009).

*Drawn on rice paper.

Ink-stone is the most important of "four treasures of the study", because of its solid texture, ink-stone can be handed down from ancient times. The ink slab is indispensable for Chinese calligraphy, it is also called ink stone or ink tile. The ink made by grinding an ink stick on a good ink slab is fine, smooth and suiting the brush. Either for calligraphy or painting, it is an essential tool. At the same time a good ink slab concentrates in it the art of painting, calligraphy, sculpture and word carrying, making itself not only a valuable practical cultural instrument but also a handicraft with a high artistic value (Materials and Tools for Chinese painting, n.d.).

*Ink-stone

*Ink-stone made by jade with a dragon designed.

References:

Stevenh, (2009). 10 Great Ancient Chinese Inventions. Retrieved from http://listverse.com/2009/04/18/10-great-ancient-chinese-inventions/

Materials and Tools for Chinese painting. (n.d.). Sino Impression. Retrieved from http://www.sino-impression.com/Culture2008425165249.html

Photo References:

Materials and Tools for Chinese painting. (n.d.). Sino Impression. Retrieved from http://www.sino-impression.com/Culture2008425165249.html

Japanese Calligraphy: Tools. (n.d.). Japanese Calligraphy-Headquarters-. Retrieved from http://japanesecalligraphyhq.com/?p=67

The History of Chinese Painting

Our prehistoric ancestors at first knew little more than hunting, the rudiments or survival. Their needs were few and simple, and the tools and implements they used were limited. With time, life became more settled. Ceramic vessels were formed from clay, and eating and drinking became convenient. Designs were painted on pots and bowls that gets our attention and appreciation today (Hough, 2012).

* Painting on pots and bowls.

By historic times the various arts and crafts were in practice. Gradually vessels were cast of stone, jade and metals were chiselled and ground, ivory and rhinoceros horn carved, each art object demanded physical effort and thought, and dwellings, chariots and clothing were all subject to design and adornment (Hough, 2012). At the same time, the thoughts and sayings of the sages of antiquity were recorded and engraved.

After generations of practice, Chinese painting can be divided into two major stylistic modes: (1) The fine-brush style and (2) the less detailed approach called "sketching ideas" (Hough, 2012). In both cases, however, there is a shared attitude that internal spirit guides outward form. At root is the Chinese belief in the Middle Path "Zong Yon Chih Dao," neither following one extreme nor the other. A painting may be finely detailed, but it will not be concerned solely with the outward appearances that fill one's eyes. Another painting may adopt the liberated approach of following one's ideas with abandon, throwing aside the basic rules of representation, but it will not become wholly a representational or abstract art (Hough, 2012).

A Chinese painting may be composed of hundreds of mountains and valleys, or it may only describe a single tree, a single peak, or even a single flower or leaf, a glance between two people or a person and an animal. In all cases, the goal is to lead the viewer into the painting, to make one feel that one has entered a true scene that attains the reality in which heaven and man become one.

Last but not least, Chinese painting and calligraphy are sister arts. when the painting does not fully express the artist's feeling, the artist inscribes it with a poem. In some cases, a specific poem will be the subject, and without having written a single character on the painting it is filled with a lyrical mood. Thus, painting, poetry, and calligraphy are fully integrated. And when the habit of the applying one's seal on it, the spirit of Chinese painting is presented in its complete form (Hough, 2012).

Reference:

Hough, J. (2012). Origin of Chinese Painting. Retrieved from http://www.art-virtue.com/painting/history/origin/index.htm

Photo reference:

Hough, J. (2012). Origin of Chinese Painting. Retrieved from http://www.art-virtue.com/painting/history/origin/index.htm

Intro: The Definition of Chinese Painting

Chinese Painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Chinese painting in China is known as "guo hua"(In Chinese Pin yin), which means "national" or "native painting".

We often name it " Chinese Painting", it does not mean that Japanese painting, or Korean, or anything else is excluded. It does mean going back to the roots, to the original spirit and purpose of painting in the Far East, and this phase of art had its source in China (Cheong, 2001).

The concept of the term Chinese painting only came into use at the time when Western art was flowing in to China. After China was liberated, she began to be more tolerant of other countries' painting, and thus named her painting Chinese painting (Cheong, 2001).

Nowadays, with its open concept in policies, China has no worries about her national treasure being diminished. Water-ink Painting is being reinstated as the general term for Chinese painting in consideration of its medium used as well as a scientific term. More so for the reason that Chinese painting now exists all over the world, no longer an art monopoly of china or Taiwan (Cheong, 2001). Therefore, such painting as an expression when the principal medium is ink and water, even with colour, is commonly called Water-ink Painting.

Loquates and Mountain Bird, Chinese Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279)

Recommendation:

Here is a video to show how to paint a Bamboo and Bird step by step, which is the basic of Chinese paintings. Paints with Chinese inks and silk dyes on rice paper. There is no pre-sketching and no reworking the brush strokes.