A painting at an art exhibition spoke to me. I really don't know how to describe the painting because I am not familiar with the various styles of western art. Labels like pop art or art deco are all Greek to me, or is is it French? The painting that spoke to me reminds me of Andy Warhol's silk screen. I guess what caught my fancy is the challenge ( or ability ) to define different areas of the painting with very specific color and the lack of a gradient within that particular space. To me it is like re-defining my concept of a pixel. Here my pixel could be a line, an entire square or whatever shape. Actually I think I am making things more complicated than they really are; what I am really trying to do is to create a mosaic. In my mosaic, all the "tiles" are painted on paper and each "tile" can assume a specific color, and one color only.
If I am going to construct a mosaic painting, my usual Xieyi style brushstrokes would be useless here. I think a Gongbi style approach might work. Generally speaking Xieyi brushstrokes rely on broad brushstrokes to give shape ( as compared to filling in with color to render shape ) Gongbi style painting requires outlining everything in the painting and then filling in with color. It is way more meticulous and rarely spontaneous. There is always careful staging and posing for Gongbi style painting. Hence I believe my mosaic demands Gongbi.
Gongbi painting is always done on sized Xuan paper. Alum is used as the sizing agent. The paper is less absorbent after sizing and allows the color to flow more freely. Xuan paper that is not sized would absorb ink and color instantaneously and whatever mark one makes is indelible. With sized Xuan there is some room for negotiation and the painting techniques are vastly different.
The typical brush used for writing the outlines has a long and slender brush profile. The long hair makes the brush less susceptible to force exerted by the wrist and therefore writing a uniform line with it is easier; in theory that is. An ordinary brush has a much bigger belly and any variations in applied pressure results in brushstrokes of varying width, anywhere from a fine taper to a broad streak. Hence the basis of our brush calligraphy.
An expert Gongbi artist shows the craft by presenting flowing lines of uniform width and intensity with no hiccups or kinks at all. The attached photo is an example of bad Gongbi skills. The lines are not uniform at all and they are rough and not pleasing to look at. The student would get a fail grade.
Thus the first step of creating a Gongbi style painting is to create a workable outline drawing. This is when the artist stages and poses whatever subject matters into the painting. I suppose one can look at that as a stencil, upon which a piece of translucent sized Xuan or silk from art supply stores is placed, and the artist can now trace the stencil with that long slender line brush. Typically Gongbi students always copy the stencils provided by their teachers.
The painting I have in mind to paint is this fashion is the same one I did recently; the colorful one with the ducks in a pond.
Since I have to work out the stencil myself, I would cheat by basing it on a painting that is mine and is already in existence. I just have this obsession about all the different reflections in my pond painting and I think these reflections are interesting mosaic material. As I delve into my thought process and mental preparation I realize that each of these shimmers and wiggly lines could be a piece of the mosaic tile and therefore I would be dealing with formulating hundreds of tiny pieces. A most daunting task.
Since I haven't made any New Year's resolutions yet, I shall resolute to attempt this seemingly tedious project. I think the challenge that this could be laborious motivates me. I am reminded of these paint-by-numbers coloring books that are sold in craft stores. The ones that are for kids 12 years and older can be very complicated, with lots of numbers to sort out and paint in. Often times one does not know what one is painting without first looking at the key and the finished picture to get a sense.
I am taking my time but keep a steady foot on the gas pedal and begin in earnest to plot my stencil of outlines. For my stencil I am using a brush pen. It is much easier to handle, especially for the purpose of making dark lines quickly and succinctly.
It is hypnotizing to figure out all these "tiles" and frankly this is not as bad as I thought it would be. Perhaps it is my OCD, I frankly do not sense the passage of time. Whenever I want to take a break, I keep thinking of the next wiggle, the next "tile". Just one more, I told myself. Obviously having my original painting as a "stencil" to work from helps immensely. I just hope that I can make sense of all these lines, all these little enclosures. I can always refer back to my original painting if I am lost, as I reassure myself. It is also surreptitiously comforting to know, perhaps, that by having this "stencil", I could do an iteration of my ducks in a pond. That hasn't crossed my mind before until now.
