It was a foggy kind of morning and the sun was out. The beams of light from the sun were piercing through the tops of tall fir trees, and wiggling through leaves and needles of cedar; illuminating the morning mist as they descended onto earth, turning the space into an outdoor cathedral. I could place myself in a dim duomo, the swirling smoke from the burning incense being caught by the light coming in through the stained glass windows.
I wanted to paint this. In black and white, with ink and Chinese brush, on Xuan.
Immediately I was faced with a challenge. How would I portray the fern that caught the light?
In traditional Chinese painting light value is seldom an issue. The emphasis is always on brushstrokes, whether they possess rhythm, strength and if the composition is ethereal. Here my emotional connect was with this theater of light beams, and I am using ink to establish my values; to set my stage. Traditions out of the window.
I would normally use the unpainted areas of my Xuan as my reference for white, but that seemed inadequate in this setting. In my mind the untouched areas are "neutral", and I needed a way to depict "brightness" beyond neutral. I needed to find a way to go into the "positive" values. I wanted to be able to show that the fern was in the lime light, its fish-bone like leaves were emanating the reflected solar energy.
I called on my old trusted friend alum, exploiting its sizing quality.
I first painted the lit areas of the fern with a saturated solution of alum and allow that to dry completely. This process helped to protect my fern from future staining by ink, as long as the ink was kept light. In other words, if I could paint in the surrounding spaces judiciously, I could stay away from the brushstrokes laid down with alum. This is sort of similar to using masking fluid in watercolor painting, Masking fluid could not be used in conjunction with Xuan because the paper is so fragile, Imagine using masking fluid on toilet paper! I would not be able to erase or peel off the dried mask.
Because the alum could not shield ink completely, I chose to go over my brushstroke with titanium white or white gouache again. So why did I not just do the gouache in the first place? That would save time and effort.
By adding a real opaque layer on top a semi translucent layer of alum, I was having 2 overlapping white ( or void ) layers, slightly juxtaposed, creating body and thickness.
I had to insert a colored under-pad to see my white brushstrokes, since the white wool pad that I normally used did not help to create a contrast.
I then painted in some of my background firs. Here I diluted my ink with alum solution. The purpose was to laid down tracks that were semi impermeable to subsequent brushstrokes, such that it could be seen as vague and solid at the same time. I was concerned that any future staining, washing of the background could render these stands into oblivion; into an abyss of darkness. I wanted the outlines to be discernible at the very least. I wanted to create an air where one senses the presence of the trees, but is not aware of them as individuals. Also I was hoping for some of the alum would migrate to the edge of the brushstroke before drying, thus forming a thin clear margin, representing the lit edges of the trunks. Hopefully that would happen serendipitously.
