Chinese Brush Painting (22 page)

10.
Load the small brush with dark paint. The leg is attached to the body at the bottom. Paint the leg almost as you would paint the joint ring on a bamboo stalk. End the stroke differently by making two finger-like forms that attach to the tree branch. Behind the joint, add another small leg.

11.
Practice this bird several times before attempting to add it to a design.

Painting a Pine Branch Design

Go back to the lesson on pine trees and plan a branch with wheels of needles and a space where a bird might sit.

1.
Load the large brush with dark paint. Tap it on a paper towel and dip the tip into water.

2.
Using this double-loaded brush, press and lift and zigzag to make a branch that moves up and down and up again and splits to make two small branches.

3.
Load the small brush with dark paint and roll the brush to make a point.

4.
Remember how you put a dot in the center of the wheel of needles. Place some dots in diagonal lines going up and down along the branches.

5.
For each wheel, paint needles with even lines going toward the dot.

6.
Load the large brush with light paint.

7.
To fill in between the needles, swing your arm from left to right over each wheel using the whole brush.

Adding a Bird to a Pine Branch

When you have painted the wheels of needles, plan where on the branch a bird might sit. Notice in this example that the bird is sitting on a branch and is facing toward the right. Its legs are tucked under it and do not show.

1.
Paint the pine branch design.

2.
Plan how large the bird should be compared to the size of the wheels of needles. The bird should be at least as large as a wheel.

3.
Paint the bird in the design.

4.
Keep practicing the combination until you like your results.

5.
Paint the design on rice paper to make another masterpiece for your folder. Remember to paint on the smooth side of the paper to prevent the pine needles from blurring.

Painting
Landscape

The Chinese word for landscape is made of the characters for “mountain” and “water,” since mountains and water are often found in landscapes.

Ming dynasty artists included three different viewpoints in their mountain scenes. In the painting to the left, we are looking
down
at the man crossing the bridge.

As we move up the painting, the houses and trees are at eye level.

Beyond the trees, in the mist, we look
up
at the mountains, which makes them look very tall and monumental.

Principles of
Landscape Painting

When they paint traditional landscapes, artists follow specific principles:

Always include some form of water. This could be mist, fog, rain, snow, river, waterfall, lake, or ocean.

Include three levels of viewing the scene:

1.
Up on a cliff or in the sky looking down on the scene from above

2.
Looking straight out at eye level

3.
Looking up at the mountain from below

Include evidence of humans in nature, such as a path, a house, a bridge, a boat, or people. They are always very small in relation to the grandeur of nature.

Painting a Mountain Scene

We’ll learn more about landscape by trying the painting above. This landscape painting shows two mountains with a waterfall flowing out from between them. The sun is rising from behind one mountain and shining down on the trees below. When you have finished the painting, you can add calligraphy that means, “The sun rises over the mountain and shines on the forest of trees.”

If you prefer, you could do a painting with simpler mountains, such as one of the mountain scenes below.

Painting the Mountains

Look at the picture with the two mountains on page 56. The brushstroke that paints the first mountain starts up the left side and moves over the top and down. Use your finger like a brush to follow the line. Move to the other mountain and follow its outline.

1.
Load the large brush with medium black paint and roll the tip to make a fine point. Use a vertical brush in position #1.

2.
Swing your arm up and follow the line up the mountain and down the other side.