Tag: Chinese brush

Chinese Painting Class, 23 May 2009 – iii

The Demonstration

Chinese and Japanese paints must be waterproof once they dry, because of traditional mounting processes. In class, we use Marie’s, which come in packages of 12 or 18 colors. The picture of Marie’s shows you the ones we use; if you are new to Chinese painting, be sure to get the ones shown, as Marie’s also makes western watercolors, which are not waterproof.

Teacher has set his table up to work.  If you look at the picture, you will see that the other tables are covered in green paper.  On his working table is a large, felt pad.  This is used to absorb any paint or ink which bleeds through, as well as support, the thin paper used in painting.  You can see ink stains all over it.  To the left, the paints are placed, and the ink.  Above this, water.  The book or subject matter is above the paper, and below that, to the right of the paint, is the paper itself, which a soft, unsized paper.  Finally, note the paper towel that Teacher is using.  Make sure you have soft, absorbent rags on hand, or paper towels when you paint.  You will certainly need them, to blot your paper to prevent bleeding, as well as to pull excess moisture from your brush – if you don’t, you could end up with a sea on your paper because it is so absorbent!

As with western watercolors, it is important to have a palette which will allow pigments to remain pure and uncontaminated by others, as well as large areas where colors can be mixed together.  This palette is a tray for a desk drawer, bought at a dollar store.  You can see how it is being used.

Teacher has chosen the painting to copy, and has begun to paint.

The peony color is alizarin crimson. The brush is loaded with water, dipped into a wash of alizarin crimson, blotted, and then dipped into a more concentrated or pure mix of alizarin. When you dip your brush into water, just dip the tip, and allow the absorbency of the brush fibers pull up water. Then, in the dilute paint, use only the tip, and allow the fibers to absorb the color. When you blot your brush, lay it on its side, and you will see how the colors are stronger toward the brush tip. Again, dip your brush into the alizarin. Blot your brush again, or not at all. If you want to, you can also hold your brush with the tip upward to move pigment up the bristles; this is really effective you are using more than one color on your brush.

Before I continue, I suggest you take a look at how Teacher is holding his brush, even though it is a western one! (The sumi painter Susan Frame describes how to load the brush, and hold it.)  To paint the petals, he is using the length of the brush, at an angle, not just the tip, and creating the petals in one or two strokes. This way the gradated paint in the brush, in combination with the absorbency of the paper, create the subtle variations in color which characterize the flower petals, as you can see below. Note that as Teacher paints, the colors become weaker. He uses the paint in the brush to make many petals before reloading his pigments.

If you look in the above pictures, you will see that the colors range in intensity from light to medium. I think most of the petals have been done with the first loading of the brush. Now, Teacher has reloaded his brush, and is using pure pigment to create the a sense of depth in the petals, as would be seen toward the center of the flower. As the pigment is used up, lighter petals may be painted toward the edge of the flower. Notice the aura around the petals – this is the water spreading into the paper around the paint.

Tonality is an important element in any painting. It gives a sense of dimension and depth. Without it, a painting is weak. For many artists, this is difficult to see. For myself, I see color before I see tones, and if the color is more intense, or I have a preference for it, I can miss it altogether. To combat this tendency, use your digital camera and software to compare a color image next to one which is rendered solely in greys. This is a great tool to understand tone. You can see below that Teacher has done a great job!

At this point, Teacher lets the painting dry. This is necessary for the fine brush strokes which will be used to emulate the stamens and pistils of the flower’s center. Sometimes, to hurry things along, you can use a hair dryer! The paper’s absorbency will work against you for detail, so a very dry brush, and pure pigment (fresh out of the tube is best!) are your best options. If you don’t do this, the paint might bleed into the petals, and ruin everything you have just done.

A closer look will show that the blue is quite opaque, probably straight out of the tube, but the yellow is diluted. Because the paper is dry, the thinned yellow does not bleed into the paper and make a mess, but remains settled on top of the alizarin petals.

Now, it is time to add the stems and leaves to the peony. Teacher has chosen a large brush with dark bristles. This is a “hard” brush, with a resilience that can give crisp lines which vary as pressure is applied – very effective for painting twigs, branches, and stems. Notice how Teacher holds the brush for the leaves – at an angle. I expect the lighter leaves were a combination of yellow and green loaded into the brush – water, yellow, green. The darker ones were most likely water, green, and ink. Also, notice how fine a point is possible. This is a large brush, which is perfect for laying down large leaves, but the fine point allows for more delicate strokes as well. The brush is considerably dryer for the stems and leaves than it was for the petals.

The painting is nearly done. However, to complete the composition, Teacher added some peony buds, and veins to the leaves, which were worked in while the leaves were somewhat damp. Often, as he paints, Teacher presses the paper, checking for its moisture content before adding to an area.

And finally, the peony is finished. Calligraphy is added – sorry, but I don’t remember what it means! – and the painting is completed. You can see it below, including my shadow in the lower left corner! The finished size of this painting is probably about 20 inches (50 cm) square.

Before you move on to the rest of this rather long entry, I also want you to observe what Teacher has done in this very simple painting.  From top to bottom, he has moved from light and medium into dark.  The peony is light, and so are some of the leaves, toward the top of the painting, but increasing in darkness toward the bottom.  From left to right, or in different areas, the shades of the leaves vary from warm to cold.  This is a subtle element in the finished painting, but without it, the painting could be dull and uninteresting, yet you would never understand why.  Try this out – painting only a “cold” or “warm” painting, and you will see what I mean.  Unfortunately, my camera does not do justice to the painting at all.

Whenever I look at a painting, I enjoy looking at the details of different areas. Consequently, below you will see details of different areas, each of which has its own beauty. Try to analyze the details as you look at them – consider how it was painted, the sequence of color on the brush, the movement of the brush and number of strokes. Was the brush hard or soft? Was pressure applied and then lifted as the line was created? Was the tip of the brush used, or the side, or both? Was the paint very dilute, or pure? Was the brush loaded with water as the area was painted, damp, or dry? When you think about these, you analyze the painting. When you apply them, you learn skills. When you do them, and master them, you then are capable of creating a painting which combines all the elements with which you have struggled. And, in mastering your brush, you will also be mastering the paper!

The Four Treasures: Brushes, i

The brush used in ink painting and calligraphy, as practiced in countries such as Japan, China, and Korea, is very different than those used in traditional western painting arts, such as watercolor or oil painting. Because of the differences, it can be very frustrating for the westerner to learn how to hold and how to use the Asian brush. How the brush is held, and how the brush is manipulated, requires re-learning and re-thinking habits instilled from childhood.

Older Americans who learned cursive writing using the Palmer Method will appreciate the importance of posture in Eastern brush techniques, as well as exercises designed to help learn how to manipulate the brush. Younger people, unexposed to daily handwriting drills in school, may or may not find it a challenge to hold the brush in the prescribed methods, as well as practicing exercises designed to enhance one’s skill in using the brush. Learning how to use a brush may be equated with learning a musical instrument, or, for that matter, learning anything new – practice makes the unfamiliar familiar, and provides the basis from which an acquired skill becomes the vehicle for artistic expression.

For all who wish to learn to control the brush, some information about differences in materials may be helpful. The western paintbrush consists of three parts – the handle, ferrule, and bristles. The handle is generally made of wood, though acrylic or plastics can also be used. It can be long, straight, or curved. At the end the handle is the ferrule, usually made of metal, which holds the bristles of the brush. Some companies, such as Isabey, make brushes with a goose quill wrapped with metal wire, to hold the bristles in place.

Traditional bristles in western brushes are usually sable, squirrel, camel, and hog. Sable is a soft hair from the tail of the sable marten, and is used primarily by watercolorists. Squirrel and camel are also very soft, but do not form the fine point that sable does; their ability to retain water as well as reasonable cost makes them attractive for both professionals and students. Hog bristle is stiff and bouncy and generally used in acrylic and oil painting. Synthetic bristles are also used to create equivalent natural hair brushes.

The shape of a western brush is also different than that of the traditional Asian brushes. Type of medium and desired use determine the shaping of the bristles in the western brush. Broadly speaking, western brushes come as rounds, flats, brights, fans, filberts, slant or angle, riggers, and mops. Rounds are primarily used for detail, with the tip of the brush coming together in a fine point. Sable is famous for this quality. Squirrel and camel can be used to create soft brushes primarily used to spread thin medium quickly, such as in watercolor washes; mops are often made of these hairs. Fans are used spread paint, and for blending. Brights are short and stiff, and have the ability to push paint deep into a canvas, as well as create texture in impasto painting. Flats have longer bristles than brights, and are used spreading paint evenly across the painting surface. Filberts are a variation of the flat brush, having long bristles, but they are structured so that the bottom of the brush is curved. Riggers are detail brushes, with long, narrow bristles capable of creating long graceful lines.

Generally speaking, western brushes do not contain mixtures of hair. Asian brushes can be made up of all sorts of hair – from that of newborn babies, to elephants, to sheep, pony, wolf – and even feathers! These are often mounted in a bamboo handle, although wood or other materials can also be used for the handle. The qualities of different hair determine their usage, just as they do in western brushes. Soft, absorbent hair, such as sheep, is used to create brushes for “boneless” painting, washes, and the beautiful soft shades of dark to light found in sumi-e. Harder hair, such as wolf or pony, is used to create sharper lines, such as found in calligraphy. Combinations of different hair create brushes which might have a firm, hard point along with an absorbent soft hair. In addition to hair and feathers, brushes can also be made of shredded bamboo or dried grasses. In combination with ink, the textures produced by such materials can be very interesting and exciting.

The creation of well-made brushes, whether western or Asian, is labor intensive, with numerous steps involved in the creation of a single brush. Hair is chosen, sorted, cleaned, combed, mounted in a handle. A soft glue is frequently used to help retain the shape and protect the bristles of a brush when shipped. This is easily dissolved by soaking the brush for a while in cool water, and then rinsing out the softened glue prior to initial use. Proper care and cleaning of a paintbrush will aid in its lasting several years, and even old and worn-out brushes still serve their owners in many ways. After use, all brushes need to be cleaned and put away to dry. Asian brushes usually need nothing more than cool water, blotting, and reshaping to a point. They are left to dry either hanging, if there is a loop on them, or on their sides. Never let your Asian brush dry tip up – the glue holding the bristles in place may dissolve, or worse, the brush could mildew or rot.