Monkey Business

Okay I've decided to pursue my monkeys in the drawing style, characterised by more lines than brush strokes. 

I did that for a couple of reasons, my inept brushstrokes not withstanding.  I felt more secure in doodling my monkey.  Secure in the sense that I could convey my monkeys more intimately and the process is more fluid.

I also came upon a new kind of paper recently.  This paper had a light brownish color and has visible fibers on the surface.  The paper felt like thin felt (no pun intended) and was intended for calligraphy.
It had excellent absorbency, and revealed richly the  black ink.  I especially liked the visible fibers.  They should blend in amicably with the hundreds of hair that I intended to paint on my monkeys.

Before I put both feet in, I thought I better paint a few samples.  Just to reassure myself, I fretted.

After my practice runs and no disasters were noted, I proceeded to do my monkey business for real.

I basically painted the shape of the head and body with the belly of the brush, with light ink. I did not intend to define them with outline per se, but with hair and shading, hence my notion of a fluid process.

I paid special attention to the direction at which the hair grew.  I thus laid down the main tracks of hair to guide me, such that I wouldn't get lost when I did the repetitious task of painting individual hairs.  It's easy to see the tree but miss the forest!

 

Once I had a few patches of hair the job got easier

As the brush went through different stages of wet and dry, I was able to not only paint the fur, but to perform the Ts'a  and Ren (rubbing and wash)  in a continuous loop, maximizing my brush strokes.

Eventually I had both of them done.

 

 

A little color was then added

My original composition was to paint a huge peach in front of the monkey on the right.  Not just any peach, but the Longevity Peach that is commonly found in Chinese paintings.  The peach, or Longevity Peach is a symbol of good omen and auspiciousness    Chinese often celebrate birthdays not with a birthday cake, but with buns made in the shape of a peach.  But then I said, that's too cliche!

Here is a picture of  the Longevity God clutching a peach in his left hand:

To fill the void space I summoned the help of my seals.  I decided to use the yin seals, where the background is red and the writing is clear.  I wanted the red stamps to add to the composition and to satisfy the need for showing the color red in auspicious matters.  I wanted to keep the painting low key but not subdued.   Thus I needed to place them strategically. 

I stamped my seals on small pieces of paper and moved them around to different locations of the painting to see what would work.