The Art of Calligraphy and
Techniques of Chinese Painting

Chinese Art
Teacher's Resource
Lesson Plan: Traditional Chinese Painting
Lessons submitted by: Patti Burkhardt

Gongbi (fine brush)
Grades 6-12
Sunshine State Standards: VAA131, VAA132, VAA133, VAA134, VAA141, VAA142, VAA143, VAA144, VAB131, VAB132, VAB133, VAB134, VAB141, VAB142, VAB143, VAB144, VAC131, VAC132, VAD131, VAD132, VAD133, VAD141, VAD142, VAD143

Goal:
This fine brush activity will ready Grades 6-12 students for their visit to the Naples Art Museum where the Gow Collection will be explored. The following two links are related to this lesson:

Additionally, two on-site lessons in techniques for viewing Chinese art, in fact, any art collection, are included for use by students while touring the collection at the museum. They are titled Thoughts, teaching students how to question the meaning of art, and Perspective, a discussion of the different manner of handling relative distance in Chinese versus Western art.

Objective:
Student will explore the Chinese painting method of gongbi (fine brush) and produce a piece of work utilizing this style.

Materials per student:

  • photos of various fish and birds
  • sketch paper
  • ultra fine tip permanent ink pen
  • extra small watercolor or bamboo brush
  • black permanent ink
  • two medium watercolor or bamboo brushes
  • watercolor set
  • drafting tape
  • white felt squares
  • rice paper (preferably soft, not absorbent rice paper that has been treated with alum)
    or 'Brush Up' Practice paper [(renewable paper surface that can be reused 2,000 times with plain water) ordered through Sax Arts & Crafts] (optional)

Teacher Preparation:
Study Chinese fine brush painting techniques using various books, kits, and/or videos on the subject.

Vocabulary

Activity Description:

The student will

  1. listen to a presentation and observe demonstrations on Chinese painting using fine brush techniques.
  2. demonstrate the correct way to hold the brush.
  3. explore the various compositional components utilized in traditional Chinese painting.
  4. create their own artwork reproducing the fine brush style and technique using traditional subject matter.

Teacher notes (the painting above uses the Chinese perspective technique discussed below):

  • Linear perspective is the perspective most closely associated with traditional Chinese painting. It is a non-vanishing point perspective.
  • The priority of objects needs to be clearly defined within the painting.
  • The major objects are not based on size but rather on the details included and through the use of outstanding colors.
  • Small major items can be grouped to form major objects.

When beginning this lesson, students should choose their subject matter or major objects from the various photos supplied. There are basically three categories of subject matter in Chinese painting: figures, landscapes, and floral/bird paintings, which include mixtures of the following: flowers, rocks, creeks, grass, insects, birds, fish, and other small objects.

Overview
Step One
Before drawing, the students need to decide on the shape in which they will place their major objects. It can be a simple arc or a geometric shape such as a circle or triangle. This shape should then be drawn on the sketch paper in pencil. A rough sketch of the major objects on the path of the arc or within the chosen shape should follow. These should be laid out so as to create movement in the viewer's eye. This is referred to as a shape sketch. The students should then trace over the major objects with the permanent marker. The major objects should contain a lot of details. NOTE: The minor objects such as plants, or rocks should be roughly sketched in but not traced over with marker yet.

Step Two
Tape a 15" x 19" piece of rice paper on top of the sketch. The student will be tracing over the major objects using ink and an extra-small brush. There are several ways to hold the brush in order to achieve the desired effects. The simplest way is to use the alligator or puppet-hand hold. Hold the brush halfway up the shaft and perpendicular to the paper using the thumb pad on one side and the rest of the fingers on the other. The four fingers should all be straight, locked, and touching the shaft. The thumb should be centered over the four fingers. Apply dark ink on the eyes and light ink on other parts.

Step Three
Draw in the rest of the composition on the sketch paper while taking into account the overall composition. The minor objects should direct the eye movement towards and somewhat around the major object(s). Branches, grasses, and lines of rocks should dance around or sweep the major objects as illustrated in the peach blossom painting from the Museum. Notice the graceful arc of the branch as it seems to move diagonally across the painting from bottom left to top right. Of course, this orientation feels perfectly natural, since that is the way that subject material would behave in nature, which is to say, that is the normal growth habit of that plant.

Step Four
Use the extra small brush as directed in Step Two. Outline the minor objects lightly with smooth brush strokes.

Step Five
Students use the two medium brushes for toning. One is to be used for inking and the other for blending. First, use the blending brush to lightly wet the fish. Then, use the inking brush to lightly add tonal qualities to the fish beginning with the head and eyes. White areas should be left alone. Use the blending brush to blend it.

NOTE:
Fish scales and bird feathers should be painted individually with emphasis on dark and light values; blurred and sharp edges; as well as transparent and opaque qualities. This is a part of the yin and yang philosophy where opposites support each other in a balanced relationship.

Step Six
Before attempting to add color, students should study traditional Chinese paintings. Careful choice and use of color is necessary in order to truly duplicate the traditional style. The white felt is used underneath the rice paper to absorb excess water.

Resources:
Chinese Painting Techniques for Exquisite Watercolors, Lian Quan Zhen, North Light Books, 2000.
http://www.newton.mec.edu/Angier/DimSum/Chinese Caligraphy Lesson.html [yes, calligraphy is misspelled in this URL]

Self-Assessment of Work

During the Eastern Tsin Dynasty (A.D. 317-420), Hsieh Ho, an artist and the first art critic in Chinese history, established the Six Laws of Painting.

  1. Does vitality resonate from your painting? Vitality refers to blending the artist's spirit with the rhythmic vitality of nature.
  2. Did you use bone manner in executing your painting? Bone manner refers to brushstrokes that are confident, strong, and elastic.
  3. Does your work capture the forms of nature's objects? Sketch nature with the intent to capture its forms and spirits, sometimes using symbolism.
  4. Did you apply color according to each object's category? When painting a group of trees, there is no need to differentiate each tree's color. Paint all of them using one color.
  5. Did you properly place the objects? A great painting is a well-organized composition.
  6. Did you transfer a master's techniques? Learn from the masters by copying and analyzing their artwork.

All of the rules are important, but the first law is the most significant. A great painting should not only demonstrate outstanding technique, but it should also express the harmony and vitality of nature and life. (Zhen, 2000)

The following two lessons are related to this one: