Final workshop

 I’ve been through three workshops and I’m planning the last one! I’m not complaining about the work, but I do spend a lot of time preparing my material.  I try to cover different topics for each workshop, so if someone comes to more than one, they’ll still learn something new. It also helps me stay motivated because I don’t have to repeat the same old stuff. 

I plot my composition using my Sketchbook app again. 

Area of interest:

After the magic of photoshop:

I am substituting the trees with examples from Mustard Seed Garden:

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The tree on the left is interesting because it showcases the spatial relationship of the branches; the way they are placed in front of or behind each other. 

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By placing the pavilion building as the background and including the rather cliche person on the path we have ourselves a painting. 

I am breaking down the human figure methodically to make the painting less daunting. I suggest that the pleats on the clothing are similar to the churn line (wrinkle line) on the rocks.  As for the face,the lower jaw line is at 9 o’clock position, chin/nose is at 1 o’clock and the forehead at 2 o’clock. 

As the adage goes, “the proof is in the pudding.” After all the planning, we have finally created the painting. This is the actual piece that was painted during the two-hour workshop. 

Sigh of relief！

Third workshop at the Garden

For my third workshop, I had a plan to showcase one of the Garden’s Taihu stones as the star attraction. These stones are made from limestones found in Lake Tai in Suzhou, China. They’re known for their unique pores and holes, along with their strange shapes and appearances, making them popular choices for decorating formal gardens or courtyards.

Working with rocks and stones can be tricky, but it’s also rewarding. You need to get the right amount of chuen (wrinkle) and ts’a (rubbing) to create the illusion of texture and unevenness on the surface.

I also wanted to mention that I’ve found the Sketchbook app to be a really helpful tool for my workshops. The layers format allows me to move and resize different landmarks to create my paintings. It’s like having a real-time argument about how the placement of objects affects the overall feel of the painting.  

The Taihu stone that I have chosen resembles a person with a backpack.

I’ve got a fun idea for the workshop. I’m going to lead the participants to the spot where they can get a view of the stone. The avatar of a backpacking person however can only be perceived from a certain angle, and I’m curious to see how many people spot it. It’ll be a real eye-opener!

The backdrop of this painting would be the teahouse in the Garden.

I am going to use one of the examples of trees from Mustard Seed Garden to replace the tree in front of the building.  I want to expose the workshop to the materials from the Mustard Seed Garden.

With the aid of the Sketchbook app, I can turn on and off the different layers to demonstrate the composition of the proposed painting.

The actual photo of the Garden:

Extracted backdrop:

Trees from Mustard Seed Garden superimposed on the photo:

My person with a backpack takes up the lower left corner:

I am doing a proof of concept painting using a semi-sized Xuan paper.  My rationale is that the sizing makes the paper more forgiving, especially for the novices in the workshop.

Unfortunately I am not getting the Chuen and Ts'a effects to show up.  The sizing allows the water and ink to sit on the paper longer, thus minimizing the contrast.  Change of plan.  I'll have to bite the bullet and use the regular unsized Xuan, and hope for the best.

My practice Taihu stones definitely have more pop now.  The brushstrokes are more evident.

Fast forward to the workshop, the following picture shows what was actually painted in class, in a span of 90 minutes.  90 minutes of visual aids, vertical panting on an easel and explaining.  It was worth it.