Dec 6 - Lynne Sims Chinese Brush Painting demonstration
Artist Lynne Sims gave an interesting demonstration of Chinese brush painting technique. After an intro of her background and interest in this method, she began with a discussion of the four “treasures” which are: the solid ink, the ink stone, the brush, and paper. She showed how the solid ink is mixed on the ink stone, but also said it’s now available in liquid form. She also displayed the brushes she uses, from softer to firmer. Lastly, she talked about the paper: it was interesting to learn that what we think of as “rice” paper, is actually made from the mulberry tree. Lynne had some samples of paper she passed around so we could see differences in practice paper, and better quality, as well as to notice that there is a front and back side to the paper.
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Throughout her demo she also mentioned that the artists are not trying to make a perfectly precisde image. Through their drawing and artistry they are rather seeking to indicate a spirit or emotion of the subject.
To simplify her demonstration she had prepared an “underpainting”—ink line drawing of fruit shapes and directions for stems—as a guide which she slipped under the paper sheet she was painting on. She indicated she would use paint first for the fruit, then the leaves, and finally do the stems using ink. She started painting by loading up her soft brush with yellow, then a mid-red, and finally a darker red—all on the same brush but somewhat graduated from top to tip. As she applied the brush to the paper, the darker red became the edges of the shape (the pomegranate) and the yellow developed the center/body of the fruit. The colors blended wonderfully helping to give the shape, sense and shading of the fruit all at once. The seeds were done with a smaller brush and darker red. For the leaves, she loaded the brush with two colors—green and yellow— to give the desired variation in color.
When she got to the stems, she left her brush somewhat dry, making the stems more interesting and giving a fading out of tone. Then she used shortish, broken strokes to show directional changes of stems, and added thin lines for twigs and leaf connections. With a few dots on edges of stems, giving texture and interest to the lines (instead of “straight pieces”) the painting was complete—except for the (name) seal. This seal is considered part of the painting and placement is part of the compostion. Over time older pieces would have not only the seal of the painter, but also the person(s) who had owned the painting subsequently.
It was a fun demo, and gave some good background and info on this ancient art method. Lynne also donated a very lovely painting for the raffle (seen at the right bottom of the photo of her display). Thanks for being with us!
To simplify her demonstration she had prepared an “underpainting”—ink line drawing of fruit shapes and directions for stems—as a guide which she slipped under the paper sheet she was painting on. She indicated she would use paint first for the fruit, then the leaves, and finally do the stems using ink. She started painting by loading up her soft brush with yellow, then a mid-red, and finally a darker red—all on the same brush but somewhat graduated from top to tip. As she applied the brush to the paper, the darker red became the edges of the shape (the pomegranate) and the yellow developed the center/body of the fruit. The colors blended wonderfully helping to give the shape, sense and shading of the fruit all at once. The seeds were done with a smaller brush and darker red. For the leaves, she loaded the brush with two colors—green and yellow— to give the desired variation in color.
When she got to the stems, she left her brush somewhat dry, making the stems more interesting and giving a fading out of tone. Then she used shortish, broken strokes to show directional changes of stems, and added thin lines for twigs and leaf connections. With a few dots on edges of stems, giving texture and interest to the lines (instead of “straight pieces”) the painting was complete—except for the (name) seal. This seal is considered part of the painting and placement is part of the compostion. Over time older pieces would have not only the seal of the painter, but also the person(s) who had owned the painting subsequently.
It was a fun demo, and gave some good background and info on this ancient art method. Lynne also donated a very lovely painting for the raffle (seen at the right bottom of the photo of her display). Thanks for being with us!