Revisiting old skills

I've been given a few opportunities lately to show people how to paint with a Chinese brush. I was apprehensive at first about shouldering such a responsibility.  It was going to take time away from me twiddling my thumbs.  I had better use for my time!  Then I was timorous about my own inadequacy.  I did not want to be branded as a dilettante.  I eventually placated myself that my job was to offer my knowledge as a coach and not how well I could do it as a player.  

The fundamentals of using a Chinese round brush is in mastering the brush tip within the brushstroke. Hence center-tip and side-tip.  Such techniques can best be seen in paintings of bamboo.  

A bamboo painting by Shi Tao (1642-1707)

 

Bamboo is also symbolic for being a good citizen.  Bamboo is stiff, yet flexible.  It is difficult to break a bamboo.  Bamboo is a symbol for humility, because it is hollow in the center.  The bamboo represents integrity, as the word for the "node" in a bamboo is a homonym for the word "integrity" in the Chinese language.  Bamboo branches out only at the nodes, thus a mature bamboo plant shows distinct layers of leaves, resembling rungs of a ladder.  Hence the bamboo teaches us to shelter and nurture those who are below us, allowing them to grow as well.  My mentor encouraged us to paint bamboo with reverence to the virtues of the bamboo.  Then I had a student painted a Christmas card with the bamboo as a wreath.  Definitely couldn't fault the originality, but there was a cultural disconnect somewhere.

Rungs of leaves on bamboo plants,

 I used a photo that I took as the model for my bamboo tutorial, 

I was cognizant with the virtues and symbolisms of the bamboo when I took this photograph.

The long stem to me represented the spirit of an aging plant which was truncated at the top node.   The yellow leaves perhaps signaled the inevitable end, despite putting up a good fight.   Yet it persisted.

The younger, greener leaves flourished under the embrace of the aging plant.

With the help of modern technology, specifically the "clean-up" and "add sticker" functions available through the IOS photo app, I was able to create a composite using my photo and examples of bamboo leaves from a textbook.

My task now would be to do a proof of concept rendition, one that could be reasonably painted and narrated within the framework of an hour. 

I needed to reacquaint myself with writing bamboo leaves again.  Sure one would not forget about how to ride a bicycle once the skill is learned, but there's a difference between riding in a straight line versus cutting a zig-zag path.  Some practicing was called for.

Onwards with my proof of concept,

This proof of concept might even pass as a painting with appropriate cropping,

Bamboo Tutorial continued

The painting I took to class was very two dimensional and lifeless.   Somehow it looked like a manikin.  I suppose it was sufficient for instructional purposes.  I figured since I do not paint bamboo that often, I needed the practice.  I ended up with the one shown above.

I attempted with different ink tones to show the spatial relationship of the different stems and leaves.  The bold ink color of the lower vertical stem gave anchor to the painting and helped to defuse the parallel lines.

My painting colleague had this critique............. a weak left flank.

But I had already mounted the painting.  Any alteration now will disturb the sandwiched starch layer and cause the paper to warp.   Oh what the hell, it's only a piece of paper.

Armed with concentrated ink right out of the bottle, and a very dry brush ( really too dry to paint bamboo leaves, but I had few options), I attempted to build on the left side.

One thing is for sure, this painting has more spunk than the one in the last blog.

I had to do another class demo, so I tried my hands at bamboo again.  This time paying a little bit more attention to contrast and harmony.  The more noded stem has denser and adhering leaves, versus the less noded stem with sparse leaves that hang away from the main stem.  More or Less.

Finally, the painting is cropped and mounted on canvas, and I even made a frame for it.

P.S.  For more material on bamboo leaves, please watch video on my blog on Bamboo Leaves and Pronation published on Oct 29, 2011.