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.
