Chinese brush painting is an art form that dates back millennia. Here I must add a disclaimer that I am not, by far, a scholar of Chinese art (or similarly, Japanese sumi-e painting). For that, kindly check out Wikipedia. The practice of brush painting derives from Chinese calligraphy (the brush), using black ink on so-called rice paper, which is actually made from mulberry or other tree bark. Traditionally Chinese brush artists teach by example, demonstrating how to paint a work or part of a work copied from the “old masters;” or they may present their own work for students to emulate. Students try to copy the work, learning by practicing how to control water, ink, pressure, color. This may horrify Western-trained artists for whom the notion of copying means something else entirely. Not to worry though; in a class of ten students, ten different paintings will result, because a mastery of the brush includes moving it with one’s “chi”, that is, one’s essence or spirit. My paintings labeled “traditional landscape” are derived from (my teachers’ versions of) a classical—-or more current—master. Alas, I am unable to identify the specific master whose style is emulated.
With brush painting’s long history, different subjects and styles flourished. Two frequently referenced categories of brush painting are “bird/flower” and landscape paintings, and my gallery follows this nomenclature. Studying bird/flower painting usually begins with “the four gentlemen”: the plum blossom, wild orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum. Paintings of these plants are often correlated to the four seasons. Learning the brushstrokes for the four gentlemen provides the foundation for all other flowers, birds and little animals. The plum blossom in this picture represents winter and illustrates the adage, “Plum comes before spring.” Traditionally a saying or poem might be written in one corner of the painting.
Looking at traditional Chinese landscapes, it’s immediately apparent that they are not realistic. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that they are primitive because they lack realism’s vanishing-point perspective. They were not intended to depict a realistic scene but rather reflect a journey, possibly with spiritual implications. Thus, the eye moves up and across the picture from earthly beginning to the desired destination, perhaps even a heavenly one. This scene takes the viewer/traveler from rocky stairs in the foreground, up beyond trees to a village, and finally towards a waterfall. Note that the perspective shifts within the painting---sometimes the view is almost aerial and in other areas face-on.
Once a brush painting is finished, it’s not complete until it is wet or dry mounted (glued) onto another piece of rice paper to stretch it. Rice paper, unlike Western watercolor paper, is quite thin, somewhat translucent, and wrinkles easily. Done improperly, the mounting process can ruin a painting.
Because they were initially designed to be mounted on scrolls, Chinese paintings are often long and narrow, compared to chunkier Western art. When mounted on a vertical scroll, the painting is positioned asymmetrically, with a narrower area below the painting and a much larger space above. According to one of my teachers, a Chinese saying explains this perspective: “heaven high, earth low.” Transferring that placement to a framed painting, the mat would be cut considerably wider at the top than the bottom. Most of my framed landscape paintings use a more symmetrical Western-style mat cut or only a slightly larger depth at the top.
Comentarios