Chinese Brush Painting by Caroline Self, Susan Self Read Free Book Online Page A

classic subjects called the Three Friends of Winter: bamboo, plum blossom, and pine. Because it is an evergreen, it is considered a symbol of longevity, sturdiness, and endurance. It blows in the wind, its branches break, and the trunk blows over. But it still survives for years with scars that show its history. The Chinese call the tree “a gentleman of character.” Pine is useful for fuel, furniture, baskets, and food in the form of pine nuts. Its soot is used to make inksticks.
    A pine tree usually grows symmetrically unless branches are hit by lightning or break. But the side that gets the most sun grows better and may have longer and fuller needles. The Chinese like to paint pines in an asymmetric way that has been copied over many years. The bark looks like the scales on a fish. The technique for painting it is called bark scales .
    Pines can be painted with snow on the branches or with pine cones hanging down. Most painters show the pine as tall and stately, with its branches reaching out in all directions. These branches can vary in size and direction, with some of the needles hanging among the pine cones.

    Pine is also painted standing in front of the moon. Some species of pine have clusters of long needles hanging down, like ballerina skirts. Others have needles growing along the tips of the branches. Others have needle clusters like half wheels. There are usually 3, 5, or 7 branches with clusters of needles.

    The artist usually paints branches growing off the parts of the trunk that are lumpy. Knots in the trunk are part of where the branch grows out. Branches are thicker near the trunk and get thinner as they grow outward.
    A branch is painted not with a straight line but with the familiar press, drag, and lift stroke. You typically plan where you would place five clusters of needles before painting any branches. Plan how the wheels of needles overlap to make a cluster. Make each cluster a different size. Usually the larger clusters are at the bottom unless they overlap to make a large cluster up higher.

    Painting the Trunk
    There are several ways to start the pine tree trunk. You can try each way and then decide which is best for you. The brushstrokes for pine are similar to those you have tried before, with slight changes.

    Press-and-Lift Method
    Practice with your finger at the bottom of the page instead of a brush. Press down, drag it upward a little, and lift a little; then press again, drag up, and lift. Try this several times so your arm will move smoothly between press, drag, lift, and press. This is a very important stroke that is used in many ways.
1. Load the large brush with the dark paint mix and roll it forward and back so the hairs are filled with paint. Rotate your hand to the right into position #2.
2. Starting at the bottom of the page, press, drag up a bit, lift, press, drag up, lift, and so on.
3. Work your way up the page, making areas of thick and thin and getting smaller overall as you go up the paper.

4. Wash the brush, dip it in clean water, and run a line of clear water on each side of the dragged line so some of the color oozes out and makes a soft edge. Do this several times, trying to make it look like a tree trunk.
    Zigzag and Wet Method

1. Load the large brush with dark paint and hold your hand in position #1.
2. Make a zigzag line up the page moving to the right and then to the left to make a crooked tree.
3. Quickly add water to the brush and run a line along the right side of the zigzag.
4. Wash the brush and add clean water to the other side of the zigzag.
5. This should make a crooked trunk with dark and light areas. Where it is light, use the small brush and dark paint and outline circles to represent scales on the bark areas.
    Graded Zigzag Method
1. Load the large brush with dark paint, blot off the tip on a paper towel, and add water to the tip.

2. Rotate your hand to the right into position #2, lay the brush down on the paper, and push the brush to the left and then