As I start to write this entry, for some reason, the sound of “We are the Champions” by Queen is running around in my head…why? I have no idea.
Unless it means that all RedBubblers are champions?
So “my friends” I write on regardless of the “earworms”
To paint in the Chinese way, you will need the “Four Treasures” paper [zhi], brushes [bi], inksticks [mo] and ink stones [yan]....I am not Chinese, so I hope I got the spelling right.
You can also use bottled permanent ink, but I have a real fondness for the traditional ink stick, [more about ink later] plus it is much blacker, and has the authentic look of an Oriental painting.
I must stress at this point, that the materials are extremely inexpensive, [read cheap] and thank goodness, as no other brushes will work….put away the watercolour brushes and buy only Chinese brushes…Japanese brushes will not work either.
The brushes, paper and ink will cost just a few dollars, especially if you go to a Chinese art supply shop….failing that, your regular art supply shop should stock them as well.
A word or two about paper, which though it’s commonly called “rice paper”, is mostly made from bamboo pulp…you can get it with some sizing, which helps to control the ink, but why not throw caution to the winds and buy it unsized, which is what I used in all my paintings.
It may be a little frustrating to use at first, but you might discover as I did, that loss of control of paint can be a good thing, leading to hitherto unimagined heights of creativity.
The brush is of paramount importance…everything depends on it….some of those available today were the same ones used in the Ming Dynasty [1368-1664]
Get three….purists will say you need only one….just don’t tell them what I said….. a soft goat or sheep hair, usually white, for broad washes, a harder brush, dark brown, for you got it, those all important calligraphy lines, and maybe a third with a blend of both kind of hairs.
I personally went mad and bought a whole bunch as I was intoxicated with the prices and thought somebody had made a dreadful mistake, and put the wrong numbers on.
I am so used to spending several hundred dollars on only one watercolour brush, that a brush for just a few dollars seemed unbelievable…
Now I can hear you saying “goat”? Just the hair folks..just the hair….nobody died.
Remember this is traditional Chinese brush painting, and a synthetic brush cannot produce the same results….only natural fibers can provide the resilience and hold liquids long enough for the long and varied strokes that are so essential to the genre….. also the firm brushes will spring back easily and make the thinnest of lines, and at those prices you can afford to get the very best the shop has to offer.
Look after your brushes…they will come with glue on the bristles, and after you’ve washed that off, do not recap…always wash them after use and do not let them stand in water….
Clicking on the painting below will lead you to my website and pictures of the tools you will require to try this fascinating art.
The Tide Pool by Janis Zroback
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Alison Johnston, 15 days ago
Hi Janis,
Ctrl + Click on the Mac will bring up the contextual menu for you …. won’t it ?
Janis Zroback in reply to Alison Johnston’s comment, 15 days ago
Thanks for the suggestion Alison…
I will try that again….though it’s a foreign language to me.
Janis Zroback in reply to Alison Johnston’s comment, 14 days ago
Alison…it was really simple. The right click on a Mac shows “copy image address”....so easy…I should have known. Thanks again.
Alison Johnston, 14 days ago
Glad it worked for you Janis. I’m not a Mac user, but I remember reading about Ctrl + click.
Janis Zroback in reply to Alison Johnston’s comment, 14 days ago
Mac is so user friendly, you tend to forget, and overlook the obvious…thanks again.
Seth Weaver, 8 days ago
After reading this one Janis. I believe my whole life has been in vain. I ‘ve used Japanese (bamboo handle brushes) brushes made from a dk. brown hair. Last year I had to TRASH them all because the hair was coming out in my work. I’d had these brushes for over 10 years. I’m now using nylon Synthetic Bamboo brushes, they’re ok but not as good as the originals. Thanks for the info.
Janis Zroback in reply to Seth Weaver’s comment, 8 days ago
Oh Seth…I don’t think you’ve wasted time as there is so much time left….get some wolf hair brushes, but recognize that as soon as they start to lose the point, it’s time to get new ones, especially if you’ve been using them over a rough surface….
For watercolour I use only Winsor Newton Series 7, and I use only two, a size 6 and 10, both rounds, plus a rigger for fine lines.
In Chinese Brush Painting, I buy several of each kind as they don’t last as long…they are really well priced, so it’s not so heart breaking to throw them out…even so I keep them for use in texture work…for this, the more splayed out they are the better.