Red Cliffs Nostalgia, The Grand Finale

At the onset of the painting I laid out my objectives for this painting, and one of them was to be able to highlight each of the 4 landmarks of the Columbia River Gorge by incorporating them into my fictitious staging of a real historical Chinese naval battle, the Battle of Chibi.  The landmarks are of course the Vista House on top of Crown Point, the Multnomah Falls, the Rowena Loops and the Stonehenge replica.  I also wanted these 4 subplots to be able to stand on their own rights as a painting by themselves.

Now that the painting is finished, let us delve into these 4 elements.

The Vista House at Crown Point:

The red cliff face is adorned with loads of vertical hemp chuen brushstrokes to give the surface texture.  These brushstrokes stand out nicely against the staining done from the back of the paper.  The Vista House itself is too big when compared with the real structure.  Visually speaking, the building should be perhaps on the scale of 1/50th the height of the cliff.  So my Vista House is at least 10 folds too big.  I suppose my zeal of wanting to emphasize the structure got the better of me!  To my defense, this is a fictitious painting, so accuracy is not a prerequisite and anything goes. 

The Multnomah Falls:

I like to draw the viewer's attention to the hemp chuen brushstrokes in the light areas of the hills.  The red color reveals beautifully against the light staining from the back of the paper.  Together with washings of different ink tones, a rich texture is achieved without rendering a messy appearance of unbridled brushstrokes.  In other words, a clean look.  

The Rowena Loops:

Realistically speaking the winding roads should be more on a level plane than hanging off the sides of the cliffs.  But this is much more dramatic!  Right?  I really enjoy the dreamy background of distant ranges as depicted by the very loose and relaxed brushstrokes.  

The Stonehenge:

I am particularly fond of the classical rendering of the shrubs and trees.  I also love the very simple coloring scheme.  It exudes an air of a Chinese painting for sure. 

I am going to be mounting my painting on canvas.  I already have my canvas primed with gesso and ready to go.

The painting is laid face up on a flat surface and wetted down to relax the fibers.

During the course of doing this painting, I inadvertently ripped a hole in my paper.

I used to freak out about such mishaps.  Now I don't fret over it anymore, because these tears will be almost imperceptible after mounting.  The glue will mend the tears as long as the flaps are kept intact.

The wetted paper is allowed to dry to a "moist" state such that there is no dripping water and the paper is soft and pliable without getting too fragile due to the additional weight of the moisture content.  Now it can be rolled up and be ready for the next step, which to affix it to my canvas.

Starch is applied to my canvas and the rolled up painting is aligned and unfurled onto the canvas and pressed down for good adhesion.  The whole assembly is allowed to dry.

Painting on canvas after drying:

With frame:

EPILOGUE

My inspiration of the painting came from bantering with my overseas friends about using Chinese literature in songs etc. and I was motivated to put in my two cents with my painting.  As I have stated, my painting borrows from the landmarks of the Columbia River Gorge.

I have done a painting of Columbia River Gorge before, a strictly scenic rendition.  I am putting these two paintings up for comparison. 

I feel that my Red Cliffs Nostalgia piece is infinitely more poetic.  I believe the fact that I have the words of Su Dongpo to teach me makes a huge difference in my interpretation of the otherwise identical  river gorge, albeit with a few landmarks rearranged.  

My new painting wears a understated elegance; as if it was cloaked in a Sarong of silence, allowing the words of Su Dongpo to enunciate:

"大江東去浪淘盡 千古風流人物

江山如畫 一時多少豪傑

故國神遊 多情應笑我

人生如夢 一樽還酹江月"

  "The incessant waves urge the river eastward, taking with them all the accomplished people.  Such picturesque landscapes, how much history have they witnessed.  Perhaps I am being too sentimental, reminiscing the days gone by.  Life is but a dream. allow me to scatter my wine, ode to the river, and to the moon."

 

How Red Are The Red Cliffs

With the blue section done on the painting, it is time to paint the red cliffs

So how red should the cliffs be?  I had not intended for the painting to be a faithful representation of any facts, other than my nostalgic feelings about Su Dongpo's verses.  Do these cliffs resemble the red landscape one finds along the highways of Utah?  I researched online trying find pictures that show what the Red Cliffs look like today but I failed.  It turns out that the exact location of the Battle of Chibi (Red Cliffs) is still a highly debated topic.  There is a city called Chibi in China's Hubei province but the photos online does not give any indication about cliffs that are red, other than the huge carvings of the words Chibi in the rocks.  I suppose this supports the debate that the term Chibi (Red Cliffs) perhaps got its name from the flames illuminating the cliffs in a reddish color during the naval battle.  

I happen to have a photo from the central Oregon desert where the Painted Hills are located and with the help of photoshop I cut and paste my own Red Cliffs composite.  Just to get the feel of it, that is.  

I am assuming the red color comes from the high concentration of hematite in the rocks.  The ferric oxide turns to rust and gives off the red color.  

So my red shall be a rusty red.  Perhaps I could scrape off some rust somewhere and use that as my organic pigment!  A future project perhaps. 

I apply my rust color from the back of the Xuan paper, as I did with the blue hues.

I wait for the color from the back of the paper to dry first before working on the front of the paper, reinforcing the namesake of my painting.

In the end the newly finished painting looks like this

I love the feel of the painting. It has an understated elegance to it.  I am glad I did not paint everything a solid red color as in my composite.  I am absolutely convinced that my current representation is infinitely more poetic, more evocative of "nostalgia".

There is one item that I have a problem.  I do not like the shape of the reddish rock on the right.  There is a landmark within the Columbia River Gorge area that resembles the painting, and it is located within the Rooster Rock State Park.  Unfortunately I find it too much of a monolith in this setting, and seems to have detracted from the description of cliffs; especially when it receives the most "red" in the coloring scheme.

By extending the red rock formation to the right to render it as a continuation of the red landscape that was carved away by glaciers eons ago, the painting seems more fluent and with less hiccups now. 

Painting the blues

Now that I have the entire painting sketched in, and my basic chuen brushstrokes and light values established, I can concentrate on the task of coloring.  

The painting pays homage to Red Cliffs, so I am dedicating the right side of the painting to the red cliffs; since that portion of the landscape is facing the audience, so making those cliffs red would be more fitting for the title.

I am going to start with the left side of the painting.  This is the shore across from the red cliffs alongside the river.  My choice of color be something along the bluish line.  In painting I am always reminded of the relationship among the different parts of the painting; how they contrast or support each other.  I am not sure if there's the concept of color wheel in classical Chinese painting and I might be out of place by saying that the application of color wheel is a strictly a western practice but I think it serves my purpose in this case.  I've not attended art school or anything, all I know is that colors on opposite sides of the color wheel are complementary color combinations and they tend to be more dramatic.  Drama is what I want in this painting!  Since I am not using a pure red I suppose I can fudge a little by not using a pure green.  I decide to use blue and green as my complimentary color to "reddish" for this part of the painting. 

I am also continuing to explore the coloring from the back of the Xuan paper method.  The paper I am using is sufficiently thin and translucent for the color to come through from the backside of the paper.  The advantage of coloring from the back is the presentation is more subdued, and it allows for more transparency for subsequent application of color on the top side.  In a way it resembles working with layers or masks in photoshop and not so much with mixing colors in a dish.

The darker areas of the red cliffs also receive a layer of blue color applied from the back of the paper.

This is how everything appears from the top side of the Xuan paper,

Red Cliffs Nostalgia IV Rowena Loop and Beyond

The remaining point of interest that I set out to include in my Red Cliffs painting is the Rowena Loop.  It is located at a circular lookout atop a ridge somewhere between the towns of Mosier and The Dalles, about an hour's drive east from the city of Portland.  The lookout is a perfect vista for the Gorge on one side, especially in the Spring time when flanked by a carpet of wild flowers; and a stretch of a couple of needle loops on the back side.  It is fun to watch cyclists laboring up in their low gears, and sports cars downshifting at the bends, looking to carve a perfect line up the hill; only to be foiled by the procession of cyclists.  Everybody who comes up this route eventually has to show their face at the Loop lookout, and people who have been watching the drama on top gets to place a face to the unsuspecting  motorists/cyclists.  

Just like the Vista House portion of the painting, I am painting the serpentine road and the circular vista much bigger than they really are.  Here however, drama is aided by the steroid-fed scale of the landmarks.

Brush wash is used to create the faint suggestion of mountain range of beyond, to help frame the enclosure of the river gorge.  The ample void spaces help to create separation, thus depth and also helps to eschew too much details about the distant landscape.  It gives the painting breathing room, as we might say.

A few nonchalant dots with the brush wash on the top side of the brushstrokes give the impression of vegetation growing; without having to give details.

With my 4 main areas of interest all painted in, here is a first look at the flesh and sinew of my Nostalgia piece, being built on the skeleton of the Columbia River Gorge:

Red Cliffs Nostalgia III Multnomah Falls

 

The Multnomah Falls in a little ways east of the Vista House, situated in the Falls area of the Gorge.

If one takes the route of Old Columbia River Highway one would encounter 5 or 6 waterfalls within walking distance to the roadside.  Multnomah Falls is the most famous and has its own dedicated huge parking lot to accommodate the flow of tourists.  I am placing this Fall right next to the shoreline to add drama to the composition and I am retaining the pedestrian bridge which spans across the Falls as a badge of authenticity of my misplaced landmark.  

Darker values are placed on the bordering rock faces of the falls to make the water stand out.  The water shall be represented by the void space.

The shoreline is addressed with a wash of different intensities using side-tip brushstrokes.  Additions of trees helps with the realization that this might be sandspits situated at the base of the hills. 

In Memoriam

 

Red Cliffs Nostalgia II Vista House

After the Stonehenge on the left side of the painting is situated, it is time to build on the rest of the points of interest on my reinvented Columbia River Gorge.

Vista House sits on top of Crown Point in the Gorge and is a popular scenic vantage point to visit.  From there one can see the Gorge and the river some 700 feet below.  If one tries hard enough, one can see the towns of Washougal and Camas to the west on the Washington State side of the river.  The architect of Vista House described it as "a temple to the natural beauty of the Gorge,"  I am borrowing it with certain amount of faithful realism to fit my Red Cliffs invention.

Working with the outline I laid down with light ink, I am building up the landscape.  I am using "dot" chuen to account for vegetation growing on top of the precipitous cliffs, along their crevices and at the bottom of the rock formations.  An occasional writing of lines on top of the dots give an impression of branches.  The rocky shore is done with the "folding ribbon" chuen brushstroke. 

Supplying small doses of light values to give a three-dimensional feel to the landscape:

I realize that I am making the Vista House bigger than it should be, scale wise that is.  I trust this is a subconscious behavior, since I am preoccupied with that structure as the focal point for this segment of the painting.  In actuality I need to make the cliff as the main character.  I suppose the discrepancy is only for me to know since not everybody is familiar with this part of the country.  At the end of the day, this is my construction of the Nostalgia, and the Vista House is a prop in the scenery, albeit an important one, since it helps to show people this is actually the Columbia River Gorge that they're looking at.  I suppose a smaller Vista House will make the cliff more imposing.  Oh well!