Trees in Mustard Seed Garden

I've touched upon some of the ways leaves are depicted in traditional Chinese brush landscape and I've also alluded to my realization that groves of bamboo appear to be telegraph poles.  It will be remiss for me not to mention some examples of how trees are represented. 

I am going to borrow examples from the Mustard Seed Garden for illustration.

It is not difficult to surmise that dots and/or little round circles are used to describe leaves on a tree.  It is quite plain.

The "antler brushstroke" is ideal to show a deciduous tree in the fall, with its barren branches, devoid of leaves.  This brushstroke resembles the antler of a deer, hence its name. 

By extending these "antlers", we have the basis for painting a willow tree, which is a very common thematic matter in Chinese landscape painting. 

The Mustard Seed Garden is also a compendium for how varies ancient masters would paint their "woods" with assorted trees species.  Again I am borrowing from the text book and try to showcase an example:

In the above exercise, the various trees need to assume different heights and not be rooted on a straight line, thus portraying a scattered look.  It is not important to accurately describe the correct species of each tree, just so the aggregate shows mixed trees in the woods.  Trees are often painted with exposed, gnarly roots to lend a sense of ruggedness.  It is often common practice to assign each tree with a different color to emphasize the diverse flora.  Branches and leaves often overlap each other; thus it is vital to distinguish the spatial relationship of these seemingly mundane brushstrokes.  This is where the craft of the artist is exemplified, and where the dilettantes miss their marks.   

Of course when it comes to the ubiquitous pine, there are numerous styles in the Mustard Seed Garden that one can study with.  Pine is important because it is symbolic for longevity and the ability to triumph through hardship. 

My favorite example comes from the ancient Song dynasty painter Ma Yuan.  He used a so called "broken brush" style for his conifer.  The "broken brush" literally means a brush that has seen better days and has lost some of its hair and is no longer able to come to a point.  In other words a worn-out brush.  Thus the brushstrokes are raw and unrestrained.  It really adds to the stubbornness of the pine.

Again, I encourage the readers to do your own research if so inclined.  Try to dig up a copy of the Mustard Seed Garden and enjoy a first-person experience. 

What are those circles

 At a recent exhibition some visitors ask me "what are those little circles?".  They are referring to my Red Cliffs Nostalgia painting.

Apparently they are not familiar with the impressionistic representation of leaves on trees/shrubs in the genre of Chinese Brush. This way of expression is actually extremely common in Chinese Brush landscape paintings.  I assumed that everybody is well versed in it and never gave it a second thought, until now that is.

There are numerous examples of how to paint trees, shrubs, leaves in the Mustard Seed Garden, a gold standard reference book for students of Chinese Brush painting.  For those who are familiar with this text I would be guilty of preaching to the choir.  For those who are strangers to the reference, allow me to illustrate some examples from the book.  I tried to research corresponding material in English and I couldn't come up with any, but I did come across terminology that is alien to me, terms like lanceolate, reniform, orbicular, sagittate.  Well, you get the picture.  

Aside from using the disc shape, there are other shapes that are utilized; some are more readily relatable than others.  The attached reminds me of aspen, alder and ginkgo leaves.  

Do these leaves not remind one of rhododendron or azalea?

Simple lines can be used to depict leaves.  The following example illustrates using upward bowing and downward bowing lines:

How about simple vertical or horizontal brushstrokes:

When my painting teacher showed me how to depict bamboos in landscape painting I thought he was painting telegraph poles along a railroad track.  Poles with horizontal cross members with telephone wires and power lines attached.

Then I had a chance to visit the countryside in China and saw the groves of bamboo:

I came to realize that that it is indeed an accurate way of describing bamboo impressionistically.  Bamboo branches grow out from the nodes of the long stem thus we are seeing clusters of branches at regular intervals along the length of the bamboo, resembling the telegraph poles that I alluded to earlier.

Center-tip or side-tip brushstrokes are used to form recognizable clusters of leaves.  The cluster on the right is written with side-tip and it has a different flavor from the center-tip on the left.

Dots and thick lines are also used for leaves:

These are only a few examples that are listed in the Mustard Seed Garden and there are many others.  I bet libraries would carry a copy that one can look at.

Duck pond

Having finished my dragonfly painting when the pond is stagnant, I couldn't help but remanence the days when the pond was full and beautiful.  I am talking about late spring, when flowers are in bloom and the geese welcome their new family and the pond is filled with runoffs from the spring rain.  

So instead of ruminating whether the glass is half full or half empty as I alluded with my dragonfly painting, why don't I attempt at something that is definitely a full glass.

The reflections of the yellow water iris and red rhododendron in the pond, interrupted by ducks lazily peddling is what I am going to attempt to paint.

For me, the challenge is to bring about the motion of the water; to bring about the transitory and ever evolving reflections.  They seem to be dancing around all the time, yet being stationary, in the sense that their position in the water never change.  So how does one portray a dancer who dances in place?

I definitely do not possess the expertise to answer that question, nor do I own the skills to depict that.  To me that's almost like asking me what is love, what is happiness.  All I know is that I just want to pick up my brush and strike while the iron is hot.  While I am still feeling it.

I want the ripples in the water to be the stage and ducks as prop.  I have an idea of how and where I want my ducks so I just pencil in their cutouts and wrote in the feathers.

The water immediately next to the fowls is relatively flat, showing only a semblance of ripples, so it is  easy to insert the palette denoting the sky, the water and the vegetation along the banks of the pond.

As I continue to build the stage with brushstrokes of concentric circles the brownish duck at the bottom gets drown out by all the vibrant colors.  A touch up with titanium white on the feathers gives that duck a little more presence.

I am not too concerned about my brushstrokes.  You can say that I am out of control; allowing my

feelings to guide me and pray that I've developed an adequate brushstroke over the years; even while I am not paying attention.  At the same time I am well aware that my Xuan paper reveals a very saturated look while wet, so I've learned to ignore that seemingly awkward appearance. 

The painting is making more sense now that the sky is painted in.

Finally the painting has dried, my duck painting!  The good old days!

Presenting my dragonflies (Summer Pond)

Perhaps it's due to the complexity of my coloring scheme, or my child-like mischief, I want to do something unconventional to my mounted painting on Xuan before I frame it.  

I want to varnish it.

I remember reading somewhere that oil paintings get their vividness by virtue of light being refracted through the oil in which the pigments are suspended.  I figure my displays of blue and green and yellow could benefit from a coating of oil or varnish.  I suppose the traditionalists would protest vehemently of my sabotaging paintings done on Xuan paper.  Well, no pains, no gains is my answer.

The mounted painting is now dry and taut and is ready for harvest at this point, normally, that is.

I am using Liquitex gloss medium as my varnish.  To demonstrate the effect of my experiment, I am varnishing half of my painting to begin with.

Needless to say, the effect is dramatic.  There is an immediate reveal of depth and details are made more vivid.  I get the wet look back!  Obviously it would be ludicrous to varnish only half the painting.  I did it to prove a point.

I choose to lap on the varnish while the painting is still taut and fixed to the hard board.  This is to prevent any warping of the paper due to the uneven coating of the varnish.

The following photo shows the before and after the application of the gloss medium on my painting.

After the gloss medium varnish is dried the painting is now harvested from the hard board.

The shine on the lower left corner is the light reflection off the dry surface of the now varnished painting.  This is where the argument is valid from the traditionalists; that the quaint and understated feel/taste of the Xuan paper is totally annihilated.  My painting now reminds me of a printed poster with the sheen and all that.  I suppose I am lucky that this is not a traditional Chinese painting on Xuan.

Or, better yet, maybe I can try using a matte medium next time.  Food for thought.

I am quite happy with how this experiment turns out.  There is now a richness in the color that wasn't there before and the dragonflies look so vivid they are ready to fly off the paper.  It definitely delivers the effect I am looking for.  I am also happy about my use of sprayed alum solution.  I can see the clear margins around the multitudes of slight voids amongst the colors.  They look almost like divots on a golf course.  They help to portray the shimmering surface of the pond.  I am using them as subtle clues to augment our visual processing of the picture.  

I anguish over the matting of the painting.  Just a little bit.  My dilemma is that I have unequal heights in my upper and lower borders.  Typically a Chinese painting would have a wider upper margin because we designate that margin as the "Heaven", which trumps everything.  The example is most obvious in all the vertically hung scrolls.  But I am not dealing with a typical Chinese painting here, so I am not bound by that tradition.  I am going to cut my mat with unequal top and bottom margins and designate the bottom end as the one with the wider border. 

I am using a white mat with a black underside, thus the beveled edge shows up in black.  I really love the look of the thin black line between the painting and the white mat.  It bestows a bespoke feel to the whole setup.  

At last, my Summer Pond painting.

The Art of Rejection

Having my works adjudicated for exhibitions is one way to find out if my works fit in or not.  There are only two possible outcomes; being accepted or being denied.  I am sharing one such thumbs-down experience here.  Isn't it fascinating that rejection is also an art form.  283 words were used to describe the two letter word "no".

Thank you so much for applying for inclusion in the upcoming exhibition.  I appreciate the time, thought, and energy you put into your work and your entry.

Unfortunately the above mentioned work was not selected at this time. Please be aware that the jury process is blind, meaning that images are reviewed and artist's names are not revealed until the process is complete (this method works best).

This years' call (after 8 tough rounds) is punctuated with an ethereal quality shrouded with elements of nature and the static interruptions of technology! Additionally, elements from all verum themes seem to have shown up and their arrival strikes a haunting reflective sense of the 'in-between'. Notes of the past and future collide through abstract expressions that balance the entirety with biomorphic interpretations that speak of worlds (known and unknown)!

As I am sure you are aware, in the jury process a grouping becomes relevant and works are selected for their intrinsic aesthetic value and appeal, but also (as importantly) for their relationship to the other chosen works (and the theme as a whole). It is a truly strange phenomenon, but I reject so many works that I admire (this happens because of my creative curatorial process where I elect to focus on a collective voice that emerges around the theme).

This jury process was particularly challenging (with so many visionary and skilled works submitted) and this rejection does not reflect the high quality, time, energy, and care of the work you submitted.

I am so appreciative that you gave me the chance to spend time considering your work for this exhibition. It was truly an honor (perhaps more so than ever before)!

with profound gratitude,

Hence the rhetorical question is: would you rather receive a simple one word "no" or a 283 words embellished "no"?  I must admit that I have problem understanding some of the terminologies and phrases used in this short essay. They pose a striking resemblance to wine tasting notes, which I also fail to understand by the way.  Allow me to indulge you in this exercise by substituting a couple of words from the original text:

This years' vintage is punctuated with an ethereal quality shrouded with elements of nature and the static interruptions of technology! Additionally, elements from all vines seem to have shown up. and their arrival strikes a haunting reflective sense of the 'in-between'. Notes of the past and future collide through abstract expressions that balance the entirety with biomorphic interpretations that speak of the palate!

Obviously I am out of my elements here.  

Wet mounting my painting

One of the complication for using alum solution extensively is that it makes the Xuan paper very brittle, as I come to find out.  I don't know if the culprit is the alum itself or the tiny bit of animal glue (suppose to work like a binder) that I mixed in with the alum.  In any case my Xuan paper is like the dried outside skin of an onion.  I inadvertently snag the edge of the paper on my felt under pad and the paper immediately rips.  

 

That means wet mounting is the only viable alternative to present this painting.  In the wet mounting process, the painting itself is thoroughly wetted down to relax the fibers, in this case, to soften the dried onion skin.  If I can be careful to align the torn edges and fit any detached pieces back into the proper position ( like a jig-saw puzzle ), I stand a pretty good chance of repairing the rip.  Obviously I must take extra caution when I apply the starch onto the back of the painting.

My wetted painting lies face down on a smooth surface and starch is applied onto the back with a stiff brush.  The brush looks extremely intimidating at first.  Surely it will tear the wet tissue like Xuan paper into pieces.  It is counter-intuitive, but the stiff brush actually helps to spread out any creases and expel air bubbles that are trapped under the wet Xuan.

A piece of blank Xuan which is larger than the painting is carefully placed over the painting which is wet with the mounting starch.  This is now covered with several layers of newspaper.

The newspapers help to absorb any excess water that seeps through the backing, and also shield the wet painting from the harsh pounding and brushing with a dry coconut fiber brush.  This process is very similar to a press which wrings out excess water and forces the backing paper to adhere firmly to the back of the painting.

The now moist newspapers are now peeled back, revealing a completely smooth and flat backing.

Starch is now applied to the edge of the border.  

The piece is now carefully lifted from the smooth surface onto a hard board for drying.  The lifting process turns the piece face up now, which is the way it sits on the hard board.

The drying process will shrink the paper a tiny bit, enough to pull it taut and flat.  Remember the starched shorts days?  You get the gist!!!  The dried piece can now be cut from the glued border and is  ready for framing.

Dragonflies

 

I pinned my algae pond painting on the wall and have been digesting it for a couple of weeks.

 

I know I did the painting out of a notion of trying to capture the algae infested pond in my backyard but I am also keen on playing with my alum solution and the gold speckled Xuan paper.

I know this exercise seems to have nothing to do with traditional Chinese brush but it is so liberating to be able to play and goof off like a rambunctious kid.  This painting somehow reminds me of Monet's water lilies pond.  Obviously I am not suggesting my painting here is eponymous with the great master's but I suppose I could sniff out a smidgen of that scent.

Whereas I don't have any water lilies in my pond, I do have ducks, frogs and heron.  I contemplated adding a heron to my painting but for some reason I think it might be trite.  Forget about the marquee actors.  Let me give some unknown performers a chance.

How about bees and butterflies and dragonflies.  When I think of painting insects, one painter comes readily to mind.   Chi Baishi is known for offering a platform for insignificant subjects like fish, cicada, shrimp, crab, mouse, dragonfly, moth etc.  His paintings on such topics are simple and honest and ground breaking.  Everybody else was painting the lotus flowers and peony.

I see dragonflies darting around my pond.  There are a few varieties of them, but the most prominent ones are the red ones and ones with a white body and black markings on their wings.  The black and white scheme make these dragonflies very noticeable and should stand out against my blue green background of my painting too.  I presume.  I shall paint them, they are my unknown performers.

 

I am posing this dragonfly with its body tilted upwards, revealing its underbelly.  I am going to situate this dragonfly resting on top of a twig sticking out of the water.  The straight up composition guides the viewer to or away from the painting.  It works both ways.

 

This dragonfly sits farther down the twig, showing its entire white body with wings spread.   This is the black and white effect I am looking for.

 

A dragonfly that is flying away reveals only the white abdomen.  Its wings crossed like a propeller due to the lighting conditions.  This dragonfly is made to be not entirely succinct to hint motion and also add depth to the perspective.  It is my hope that this dragonfly assumes a role of a supporting cast in the background.  It gives its presence without robbing the lime lights of the main characters.

I've painted in little blobs of algae that break off from the main patches.  I use yellow highlights and dark shadows to give them a three dimensional feel.  I treat them as if they are the fresh oregano leaves one sprinkles onto a dish when the food is presented.  They are there to decorate and to add flavor.  

 

 

This shows the composition of the 3 dragonflies.  The blobs of algae have not received their yellow highlights and shadows yet and look flat on the paper.  

  

I'm adding a fourth dragonfly to my painting.  This one is flying away from the others; its white body radiant in the sun and its wings just a blur.   I am giving this dragonfly the strongest white value despite the fact that it is apparently not the main character.  It is used to add motion; suggesting the insect is zipping around the pond and direct the viewer to imagine beyond the edges of the painting.  This is to contrast with the upward pointing dragonfly at the top of the painting.  I've also added a few specks of nondescript bright white objects around this particular dragonfly as a tease.  They could be anything, any floating debris.  I am using them like decoys to help guide the viewers to this particular dragonfly.  You may say that they are like the guiding elements on a UHF antenna.  I am hoping that the convergence and divergence of points of interest will help to add intrigue to my painting.

 

 

I am trying to avoid parallel lines, which is common in painting water, by painting an undulating, swirling  pattern with the help of algae.  I am hoping to avoid being stoic and create a sense of liveliness out of this dead body of water.

C'est la vie, it is up to us to find beauty and inspiration in something that is dull and mundane.  Whether the situation is an eyesore or poetic topic for a painting, it is our call.  

Algae in the pond

We've had a string of days that are warmer than usual.  It is the succession of days of 90 plus degrees that tires a person, especially when that person has to rely on natural convection cooling.  The fan does help to move the air and create some evaporative cooling from the moist skin, so it helps somewhat, psychologically at least.

When the rainy season stopped the pond behind my house ceased to enjoy the flow it normally gets from the creek that feeds it.  The water level has dropped a couple of feet behind the weir and the pond has become stagnant, overgrown with algae.  The homeowner's association has spent good money seeking supposedly professional advice, planting shrubs and tall grass next to the bank to ostensibly lower the water temperature and therefore slow down algae growth.  To no avail.... I could have told them that.  Then some homeowners do not like the raggedy look of the plants and trimmed them down, as if they are ornamental hedges.  One homeowner even resorted to putting algaecide into the water, which is a violation of environmental protection laws.  It is a contentious issue, to say the least.

For lack of better ways to spend a hot day, I've been looking at this body of pea soup through my blinds.  There are still ducks around, lazily paddling their feet in the summer heat, feeding occasionally under the water.   They carve out channels amongst the algae, like an icebreaker creating passages through the artic ice.  I suppose I am visualizing ice subconsciously to squelch this suffocating heat. 

Now these patches of algae are forming an interesting floating mosaic.  They look more yellowish than green.  The sun still glimmers off the water in dancing flashes despite the lack of any perceptible wind. The thickness of the day is breached only by the ducks quacking.  This looks like painting material.  

I am looking at this as a challenge to myself, like every painting that I've attempted.   I am going to attempt to put that suffocating feeling onto paper and I am going to try something new in the process.

Normally Xuan paper is not conducive to heavy staining or repeat brushstrokes.  Chinese brush painting hinges on the artist making the right brushstroke the first time.  Whatever comes out of the brush is indelible and seals the fate.  What I am internalizing is not something that is airy or elegant.  It is musty and dense and confused.  I have to attempt to lay down as many brushstrokes as possible without wearing down a hole in the paper.  I am not going to adhere to the usual Chinese Brush preferences.  I decide to use the gold speckled Xuan that was gifted to me.  This paper is more substantial than the standard Xuan.  

The random gold speckles elicit the feeling of the shimmering surface of the pond.  I hope to enhance the appearance of patches of reflected surface with the help of alum solution.  Alum as you recall is used for sizing Xuan paper.  It makes the paper less absorbent.  I use a spray bottle to spray some saturated alum solution on the paper and allow that to dry.  The hope is that these droplets will block subsequent coloration and give off a painted surface with random voids in it.

AS long as I am experimenting why don't I mix the blue color into my saturated alum solution.  Hopefully the spray will help form the foundation of the water.

I do the same with the green color, for my algae.

There is only one way to find out if my theory works or not, and that is by doing it and let the result speak for itself.  One can see clear borders around the droplets, especially the small ones.  The large drops are overwhelming their neighbors and obfuscate the clear border.  So I am on the right track.

It is time to write numerous brushstrokes, each emulating a minute part of the water surface.  The surface of the gold speckled Xuan has gone through three sprayings containing saturated alum solution, thus these brushstrokes stay wet longer without going into the paper fiber quite as fast.

In other words, these markings are less indelible and more forgiving.  The gold speckled paper behaves more like a watercolor paper than Xuan.  It allows the color to float a bit.  

I am using a yellowish green as highlights on my algae patches since that's the way I perceive them.  I just hope that the color is not too overwhelming. Yellow is such a tricky color.

This is what I get after all the dust has settled. I am now writing the report for my experiment.

The droplets of alum solution can be traced to all the round void spaces. I think they are nicely juxtaposed with the rest of the brushstrokes, showing off the reflected sky and the algae in the water.  The gold speckles are not obvious at all in the photography but they are more noticeable in person.  One has to view the painting at a certain angle to see the sparkle.

Dense and garbled.  The way I saw it.