Shi Tao Revisited

I mentioned that I was not pleased with my rendition of the flat tops in my emulation.  I sensed there was something wrong and I was disappointed at myself that I just brushed over it (pun intended).  What was the haste?

The reason my flat tops looked awkward was because I ignored the minute breaks in the lines.  I had dealt with this subject matter in my blog More Than Just Broken Lines dated 3/29/2012.  In that blog, I surmised that the breaks in a line are often used to create distance, depth.  When these gaps are strategically placed,  an illusion of 3-dimensional thickness is created.

When I painted the flat tops, I painted the parameter line as a continuous, non-broken line.  Thus it was boring and two dimensional, despite the presence of vertical ch'uen lines denoting a folding feature in the land mass, i.e. a raised ridge or slope of sorts.  I magnified the original print of Shi Tao's landscape and was delighted about my observation.

In the above cut-out, one could see a break in the line at where the fold could occur.

Here I have an example of another ancient Chinese brush painter whose name escaped me, but his technique of using the gap was even more astute and deliberate.

While examining Shi Tao's painting I also noticed evidence of light markings underneath the darker ink.  He sketched his paintings.  The practise of sketching had at times become a contentious issue with me, at least during my encounter with various teachers.  Some of my teachers are staunch objectors to sketching; they deem that a sign of incompetence.  Whereas I had teachers who advocated sketching, regardless of whether one was doing brush work or not, especially in laying out a landscape painting.

Armed with this knowledge, I made another attempt in Shi Tao's landscape painting.  This time I sketched it out in charcoal first.

After the sketching is done, I went over the charcoal lines with my brush work.  I must say this allowed me to control my brush tip much better.  I could devote more attention to the quality of the lines, since I didn't have to be too concerned about placement of shapes.

In my once over with light ink brush work, I was paying special attention to the breaks in the lines when I got to painting the flat tops.

As usual I filled in my ch'uen lines and shading whenever the brush was in the right condition to do so.

This was followed by my blues.  After that I took a day off, which I shouldn't have done.

The reason I regretted taking the day off was because I had allowed the blue to totally dry, thus it would not bleed into the browns, forming hard, artificial boundaries between the different colors.  I found the lack of transition unpleasant to look at.  I should have known better!  Is this what people refer to as wet on wet technique?

I paid better attention to the round leaves too by using better brushstrokes and using side-tip strokes on one side to denote thickness/shadow, allowing a more 3-dimensional appearance.

With the mixed foliage, I tried to paint in the under layers with light ink first to give an impression of a fuller tree.

A wash with brush cleaning bath was applied to blend the colors.

After the final wash is dried

The first and second attempts side by side

The two works have a different color cast, mainly due to the different time of the day when the photo was taken. The one on the right is the second attempt.  It shows better articulation of the flat tops, as it should be; that was my motivation for this second edition.    It turned out that there is an additional flat top on the right that I didn't catch during the first attempt, and the little water level drop  right next to the red round leaves that I omitted is now added back in.  Obviously more ch'uen lines, albeit in disarray they seem.   I need to hone my skills in having a rich field of lines without making them look  like a wad of jumbled  noodles.  I also do not like the blotchy look of the colors; a consequence of my not mixing the colors in a timely manner.  I suppose it wouldn't be fun if it was easy!

Attempting Woodblock

I had grown increasingly dissatisfied with my brushstrokes, and my calligraphy.  I sensed that I was placing too much emphasis on the shape rather than the energy.  I was tracing instead of writing.

I thought doing some woodcut might be a good diversion.
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I had never done woodcut before, but this "First Time" trepidation was exactly the motivation I needed.  I had a piece of scrap pine board left over from frame making.  Perfect material for trial and error.

I thought I would do trees.  Simple lines, and a good challenge to be able to show spatial relationship of the limbs.

I started out by painting 2 trees onto this block of wood.   I wasn't concerned about mirror image or upside down or else.  Que sera sera!   My goal was to have two trees with a few overlapping branches.  My challenge would be to show which limb is in the back.

Initial draft and scribing

 

 

 

Close-up on woodcut

 

 

Since this was my maiden voyage into woodcuts, I was anxious to see if this would fly at all.  I dabbed ink onto the one tree that I had finished so far and laid a piece of Xuan on it.  I used a piece of dry dish washing scrub pad for the rub out since I did not have a roller at my disposal.  The result was better than expected.  I was particularly happy with the wood grain from the pine board showing up.  The beading was probably due to the virgin wood surface, as the ink had not yet soaked into the wood fiber.  I was able to showcase the different ink tones.

Finished board with ink

 

Print made from the woodcut.

 I was not able to achieve the same drama with different ink tones.  The wood fibers were wet now and they seemed to have diffused the ink for me.

I did not like the hanging branch on the right.  It was ostentatiously annoying.  So I lopped it off.   The resulting image is more coherent .  Amazing how a little alteration goes a long ways.

I brushed  concentrated ink onto the left tree and diluted ink onto the other, creating a contrast between the two stands.  I printed on the bamboo paper for calligraphy.  This paper is more absorbent than the regular Xuan.  Instead of using the scrub pad I used my fingers to press down on the paper.  I was able to modulate the pressure at various spots, resulting in a print with varied intensity and emphasis.

I used broken lines to define the spatial arrangement of the limbs.  Branches that are in the back received the broken line treatment (areas circled in red).  This is a technique frequently used in Chinese brush painting.  For further discussion of this topic please refer to my blog on More Than Just Broken Lines dated 3/29/12.

I am quite tickled with my first attempt at woodblock.  I would definitely pursue this further in the days to come.