Gou, Chuen, Ts'a, R'an

Gou, Chuen, Ts'a, R'an are the 4 required elements to execute a Chinese brush landscape painting.
This is a continuation of my last 2 blogs; "Stone Paper Scissors" where we tried to make sense of all the lines that are associated with rocks and mountains, and " What Chuen" where we delved into the application of  texture to the object.

The loose translation for these 4 elements are as follows:

Gou  means to outline, to scribe.  This is the process when we lay down the initial outline of the landscape.  The requirement for this element is that the line must not be "drawn", and must be "written."   The line must possess the quality of change, from start to finish.  The viewer has to be able to feel the variations in brush speed, pressure, center or side tip.  Hence "GOU" carries the connotation of not tracing but etching and carving.














After we have the outline done, it is time to garnish it with "Chuen" and this is the process when we can provide a qualitative description of the texture of the landscape.  In this particular example, I've used mainly the "AXE" chuen and a little bit of the "HEMP" chuen.












After texture is provided, we provide the the painting with "Ts'a"
Ts'a means scrub or rub.  This is when we used a very dry brush to rub the landscape to give it a general sense of texture.  This texture is quite generic, unlike the more specific axe or hemp chuen.
The Ts'a process is often  mingled with the Chuen process.  As one is laying down the more specific texture, one can also add the non specific texture.  In a way the Ts'a process can be deemed a prelude to shading.  The important thing to remember is the Ts'a still requires the artist to follow brush strokes, paying attention to using either the tip or the belly of the brush, or both.  This is definitely not a random, omnidirectional wild circles of shading.

The last element of landscape painting is R'an, which means to dye (wash), to shade.  This is the time when we use a very diluted ink wash to accentuate the shaded areas of the landscape, to effect a more 3-dimensional presentation of the work.  It is important to note that the R'an process must be done with patience.  It is only after repeated attempts to selectively augment the strategic areas of the landscape, each time with different dilutions of the ink solution, does one succeed in a painting that is pleasing to the eye.

This patience has to be tethered with experience for the effort not to be futile.  Xuan paper gives off a false and exaggerated saturation profile when wet.  For beginners ( and impatient journeymen alike), the wet Xuan seems to function like an abyss, where it will take up a large amount of ink and showed little difference in the apparent "blackness" until it is irreversibly too late.

This is an example of a wet Xuan,  The R'an seems more saturated than it really is, giving one a false sense of security.

The above picture is the same as  the wet Xuan picture, except that now it has dried.  As one can see, the really dark  areas are no longer pitch black.  Thus for those of us who are not patient, we will try to attain this with one step, one layer of R'an and that often ends up in overkill, and renders the painting rather unnatural.

 (example of color added)

At this point, some artist like to give the painting an overall wash, often times with the brush wash, to give the painting a more coordinated look.  Many artists dislike this process, for it tends to take away the "punch" of the painting.

If one chooses to add color to the painting, now is the time.   Color often is considered a distraction, and is typically not applied until the painting is deemed satisfactory and coud be presented as a black and white on its own merits.

What "Chuen"

Interestingly enough, when What "Chuen" is translated into Chinese and pronounced in the Cantonese dialect, pronounced "mud chuen", it carries the connotation of WTF......naughty, naughty.

After this tidbit of irrelevancy, let's get down to business and explore "chuen".

"Chuen" can be loosely translated as the act of applying texture to an object (could be tree trunks, rocks, hills etc.).  Since the cardinal rule of brush painting says one should apply "chuen" more in the shaded areas, and since the manifestation of light values in classical Chinese Brush painting is less evident, a lot of people mistake "chuen" as the equivalent of shading.

Historically there are many different methods, or styles of "chuen", and "chuen" can be done with dots or lines.   The different "chuen" imparts a different description of the object.   Let us explore the more common ways of "chuen".  Please refer to my last blog  Stone, Paper, Scissors to see the relationship between "chuen" lines and contour lines.

First is the Hemp chuen.    This is typically a dash initiated with a tapered point.  Think of this as a hemp fiber, with one end kneaded and ready to be threaded through a needle.

Hemp chuen

An embellished version of this is the Unravelled Ribbon chuen.  This can be best described as a bunch of Hemp chuen in close proximity to each other, as if a ball of ribbons of hemp fibers in unravelling.

The "chuen" can be done in any orientation... vertically, horizontally, sideways, etc.

Then we have the Lotus Leaf Vein chuen.  As the name implies, this style mimics the veins of the lotus leaf.  It is a effective way of animating the topography of a landscape, giving the viewer a perspective of the ridge tops and valleys and lobes.


Finally, we have the Axe chuen.  This style is used to document straight line fractures, fissures commonly seen in granites or lime stone layers.  Imagine swinging an axe into a hard surface.  The resulting sharp edge and the splintering along the sharp edge defines this method of "chuen".  It is done by using a dry ink brush laying on its belly with a sharp rubbing.

To witness how these different "chuen" are applied to a real painting, I like to borrow a magnum opus from the late Master Zhang Da-qian; his Lu Shan painting. (painting of Mt. Lu)

Please click on the pictures to enlarge them so you can see the pasted remarks.

The final picture below shows the segment of the painting where I borrowed as examples to illuminate the concept and application of "chuen".

Hopefully we have all gained a little bit of insight into contour lines and "chuen" lines by now, and we won't be uttering "what chuen" (tongue in cheek) when we are asked to write a landscape painting.

Stone, Paper, Scissors

I am going to delve more in depth with painting rock(stone) or hills(mountains).  I have discussed this topic briefly in my "Ridge top Explained" and I hope to use more illustrations to explain away the fear of tackling this discipline.

Hills and rocks are the backbones of Chinese landscape painting.  When we consult the bible of classical Chinese Brush Painting, the "Mustard Seed Garden", we would be told that to paint rocks(hills) we have to convey the 3 facets of the rock.  We have to demonstrate that the rock possesses energy(ambiance) to form the backbone of the universe.  The ability to express this quality depends on the artist's expertise in rendering the personality of the rock(hill, mountain).  Thus the Alps would flaunt the soaring chiseled lines that inspire awe, and the Appalachians with its soft and open embrace.  This blog however, is not to discuss how to depict the temperament of the landscape, but rather on how to physically render the lines of a rock(hill, mountain).  By the way, a lot of us who learned to paint the traditional way, learned by the method of rote, and our reference book is the Mustard Seed Garden.

In this art form of traditions, it is prescribed as to how to group together multitudes of rocks (or multitudes of hills, land masses).  It is suggested that aestheticism is attained  if these rules are followed.  Therefore when we paint 5 rocks, it would be most pleasing if we place them according to the bottom arrangement.

The MSG (Mustard Seed Garden..... not monosodium glutamate !!) also stipulates that the contour lines of the rocks(hills, mountains) should be done with stops and rests abundant.  The lines need to show variations in ink tones, speed and direction.  We then adorn the contour lines with "chuen" (rubbing technique, to describe texture) and shading, thus we are able to form the 3 facets of a rock, i.e. a 3 dimensional reveal of the landmass.

To have a clear conceptual picture of a rock(stone, hill, mountain) I used a stack of left over mat boards and cut them into the profile of a hill, hence the title Stone,Paper, Scissors.  As I found out these boards are too much of a match for ordinary scissors, so I cheated by using my Dremel.  Each piece of mat board now represents one slice of this landmass, and the aggregate stack of all these pieces gives you the 3 dimensional form.

  As I carved away with my Dremel, the straight edges represent the center tip strokes of the brush, and the beveled edge exemplifies the side tip stroke.  Thus the outline of each piece is analogous to the "contour line" that we shall paint, and the twist and turn of the cuts, mixed with the straight and beveled edges represent the requirement of varied speed, hesitation, center tip and side-tip strokes.

Now with this contraption,  I can stack these cut-outs in any fashion I wanted  to acquire the desired morphology of the land mass.

By placing a piece of paper ( I used a hardy typing paper instead of the flimsy Xuan) against this stack and rubbing it with charcoal or crayon or just a pencil in this case, I transferred the profile of this structure onto the paper.  Each line that is transcribed represents a "contour line" of our make believe rock(hill).

By selectively erasing all or part of these "contour lines" we now have a drawing that is made up of   longer, more complete "contour lines" that describes the profile, and short, broken lines (which are remnants of the original "contour lines") now helping to highlight or accentuate the characteristics of the mass, and these now become our "chuen lines".

I shall now go over these pencil markings with ink and brush and the resulting image is more reminiscent of what we see in traditional Chinese landscape painting.

The preceding is an attempt to dissect the construction of all the lines that make up a rock(hill, mountain) and to entertain the relationship of "contour line" and "chuen line" when applied to the subject matter.  Obviously we do not paint this way, but this is a good tool for forming a mental image of what we are trying to accomplish on paper.  Thus for the novice, the brush strokes have at least a purpose and methodology to it, hence Bi-Fa.  And of course for the viewer, a better comprehension of what is involved.

Multnomah Falls

Multnomah Falls is a hot spot in the scenic Columbia River Gorge.
I have wanted to paint this image for over 3 years now.  A night scene ?  A snow scene?  How about a perspective from the top?  My apprehension is that I don't think I can portray the Falls with my present stage of craftsmanship.  So I procrastinated.

Well 2011 is upon us.  I am not one to make any New Year's resolutions, but here is one.  I am going to paint the Falls, come hell or high water.

As in most of my work, I lay down the basic premise in medium tone ink.

I am trying for a perspective that is looking up to the top of the Fall.
I have contemplated in doing the scattered focal point perspective that is utilized in so many Chinese landscape paintings, but I must confess that I am having difficulty applying it here.  So here comes hell.

After the basic skeleton is constructed, I am working on "chuen" (adding texture) and shading, to give my work a more 3 dimensional feel.

More shading is done, and also an initial layer of vermilion is deposited.  This works to depict the high lighted areas of the rocks, and also blends well with the subsequent burnt sienna, ink and indigo that I'll be piling on the rocks.

The water itself is the blank space, brought to light by the dark contrasting margins.

Ridgetop Explained

Now that I am done with the Portland Open Studio event and my son's wedding, I have a little more time to write my blogs. Having a student or two to teach has actually taught me a few things. The task at hand now is how to convey in a clear and succinct manner so there is an actual transfer of knowledge. We often harbor a notion, a concept that we somehow intrinsically know, but are unable to verbalize. Since so much emphasis in Chinese brush painting is placed upon Bi-Fa (method of the brush), the "don't do what I say, but do what I do" doctrine becomes an exercise in frustration.

Case in point, when painting rock formations, hilltops, mountain ridges, the beginners often copy the shapes without understanding the structure of the lines. It is not unusual for a range to look like a row of staples or horseshoes. I have sat in on classes where the instructor is unable to convey the concept of "contour" lines.

I am sure most of us have seen and understood what elevation lines represent. When we look at a topography map the elevation lines give us a description of the shape of the land. We know where the ridges and gullies are, and the relative steepness or flatness of the land. In painting a mountain range, we are just tilting the map on its side, so the elevation becomes not the height from the horizontal plane, but the distance to where we stand.

To illustrate my point, I've chiseled out a wooden block into the shape of

a mountain range. Now I have painted the " contour lines " on this block, and these lines describe the shape of the mountain ( as elevation lines describe the heights at different points on the map). When we paint these contour lines in succession, we are in effect transcribing the mountain range.

I have sliced through this block of wood into slabs to illustrate this point.  The more slabs I create, the more information I am able to draw ( i.e. more contour lines ), this is akin to having more "pixels", or watching a 1080p HD program vs. the 480 lines old programming.  The "chuen" lines that I have discussed  in the past i.e. hemp "chuen", is merely a sliver of such a slab; thus showing just a partial contour instead of the entire shape.  Therefore one can use a few strategic contour lines to describe the main shape of the range, and the "chuen" or "texture rubbing" lines to describe the minute details of the topography.

As we paint the lines with the Chinese brush, we are naturally in a "center tip" form as we traverse horizontally on paper, and as we turn the corner onto the vertical lines, the natural angle of inclination puts the brush in a "side-tip" mode automatically.  That part of the line describes "thickness" of the slab that we are painting, thus unknowingly giving a 3 dimensional appearance to what we have painted.

top photo is center tip( tip is aligned with direction of  travel

bottom picture is side-tip (tip is pointed at an angle to direction of travel)

Hopefully these little hints will help us attain a better understanding of Chinese landscape paintings.

FENG SHUI

This is not a painting about Feng Shui, nor do I know anything about Feng Shui. However, one of the concerns about this painting has to do with that....... so bear with me

In Xieyi style painting, it is imperative that your brush strokes flow with expression. Each stroke should lead towards an arena of thoughts and meanings, not merely occupying space. Chinese landscape painting traditionally depict soaring peaks, dreamy streams, bold rocks, wind bent centenarian pines. Visions of immortal beauties. The Xuan paper could look real busy if the artist does not create a focus, a mood, a statement. Hence blank space is vital..... we call that space "breathing". It can be used as a divider, or as a conduit, depending on the need.

In this piece, the blank space presents itself as a foggy mist; rolling down from distant ridges, creating distance, yet guiding your attention to the center of the painting. The water features are flanked by more detailed "cheun" ( applying texture ) of the rocks, as a contrast. "Cheun" in the center, where the butte stands is a lot more definitive.

The foreground is done with bold orchestration of color and branches. I used this scheme to make the painting appear less "busy". Thus, I break it down to basically a Chinese Brush painting with ink, augmented by red wavelengths to make a statement.

A comment from an art teacher was that I should paint a tunnel to accommodate the suspension bridge. He has missed the point totally. The bridge is there to link the butte with other land features, and to hint that there might be a river underneath, downstream from all those water falls. Xieyi is about imagination. It is definitely not about photographic accuracies. I did the trees in a "U" shape to cradle, to receive the "flow" of contents from above.

The stairs leading up to the vista is obscured by fog mid-span. Chinese culture does not prefer a long, straight staircase. Folks buying a 2 story house would prefer not to have a straight staircase at the front door.   Chinese do not want a Jacob's Ladder in their dwelling.  The superstitious labels this as "Feng Shui". The rational would tell you that it is better to have shorter sections of staircases with landings, to break your fall in case you tripped.

Cheers to "Feng Shui"

Serene Lake

This is one of those projects that took me a long time to finish.

In my mind I wanted to paint something serene, peaceful; something to day dream with.

I know I wanted to use a very simple color scheme. I do not want a palette of colors to distract from the feeling of the painting. I want it to be vast, something that can fully occupy one's visual field, such that one can be totally immersed. The only thing I did not know was what to paint!

In a way, that might be a valid way to proceed. The abstract thought of the work superseded the physical entity, and painting is just the process when the artist translates that thought onto a medium.

I finally settled on water. I must confess I am fascinated by water, and yet I am very much afraid of it. When I look at a body of water, I feel its presence, its inertia and its infinity. In this painting, I wanted to capture the feeling of being there, with a sense of peacefulness, with a underlying yearning to explore, to anticipate.

I know that the "void space" will take up the majority of the space. It is however, through this "void space" that I must communicate. I shall therefore summon the help of the shore line as the white lines on a black top. I put the shoreline one-thirds way across the paper, vaguely remembering the rule of thirds from my school days. I faded out the landscape from right to left, directing the observer's attention to the yonder. To add interest on the landscape itself, openings in the trees were made, to admit light from the other side to come through. This little window of illumination helps to play out the dance of the reflections. I thought it added tremendously to the life of the painting, without being so loud that it disrupted the tranquility.

The boats in the water are there to create perspective. The five dots on the left of the horizon represents boats so faraway that you can barely see them, thus helping to create the vast spread of the water. I had originally deployed only 7 vessels but my Chinese roots tell me that even numbers are preferred, thus one more dab of the brush makes a total of 8 vessels. Hm, interesting!

I had wanted to paint in some flocks of birds but decided against it. Too "formulary", and disruptive, I thought.
Alright, I am now on the water, and ready to traverse this lake, and let my mind drift.
After the completion of the painting, I wanted to mount it on canvas and not on tradition Xuan paper. Wow, I had no idea about the difficulties that I would encounter. With the help of my good friend Sandy, we embarked on this mounting project. Several hours into this, it was one disaster after another. Too wet, too dry, paper was not lined up properly (this painting is 4 feet long, not very forgiving about misalignment), too many air pockets, too many wrinkles. Sandy and I literally waited for the mounting to become dry so we can see the final product. We now know what "watching the paint dry" means. After all is said and done, we were very pleased with the result. The 4 foot wide piece of Xuan paper on canvas looked and felt right. Awesome !

But alas, several days after it was hung in my studio, the whole piece started to warp really
badly. The shrinking process in mounting exerted uneven forces on the canvas frame and is pulling a warp that you can't believe. My remedy was to shell out for a custom frame to beef up the canvas frame. Ouch! But now it really looks like a piece of art work.

This painting by the way, got invited by the Visual Arts Showcase sponsored by the Beaverton Arts Commission. It will be on display in the Beaverton Library starting Feb. 6, when there will be a Gala reception that evening.