Learning
Chinese Painting Step By Step
Lesson 4 Practice
Line Drawing
In Chinese painting, the brushwork is the vital
vehicle to carry out the represenation of the 'spirit' of the living things.
There are various forms of brushwork in Chinese
painting. Each form displays peculiar quality and dynamics of the
strokes and the interplay of ink and water. It is important to manipulate
appropriate brushwork for the subject. Whatever kind of brushwork
it is, the main point is the vitality of the line. Therefore students must
master the following
basic before they go for the next step.
A small pointed brush is employed in doing
the contour method.
Practice 1 - Line Basic 1
First soak the brush with light ink, and
then dip the tip of the brush into dark ink.
Hold the brush steady and erect, perpendicular
to the paper,
press the brush for a while, drag a straight
line to the end, halt and press, then lift it up.
Practice 2 - Line Basic 2
Hold the brush steady and erect, perpendicular
to the paper,
drop and press then drag a stright line and
lift it up slowly
.
Practice 3 - Line Basic 3
Hold the brush steady and erect, perpendicular
to the paper,
drop and press then turn and drag a line
freely by lifting it up slowly at the end.
Practice 4 - Line Basic 4
Hold the brush steady and erect, perpendicular
to the paper,
drop and press then turn and drag to the
end, halt and press then lift it up slowly.
Practice 5 - Line Basic 5
Hold the brush steady and erect, perpendicular
to the paper,
drag the brush and drop it slowing to the
paper, press a little and lift it up slowly.
The illustrations show in practice 6
and practice 7 below are using lines drawing method from practice
1 to 5
Follow the steps and practice the leaf and
flower and learn to observe the various quality of the contours. Different
ways of using the line call for different qualities of the contour and
give more vitality to the drawing, because the tenacious lines do not only
delineate the contour of things, but also suggest texture, anatomy or structure
of the object.
Practice 6 - Drawing a leaf step by step
Step 1 Hold
the brush steady and erect, perpendicular to the paper,
drop and press then drag a stright line and lift
it up slowly (Basic
1 or 2 ) to draw
the main vein of the leaf.
Step 2 Hold
the brush steady and erect, perpendicular to the paper,
drop and press then turn and drag to the end, halt
and press then lift it up slowly to draw the left portion of the leaf.
(Basic 4 and
3)
Step 3 Hold
the brush steady and erect, perpendicular to the paper,
press then turn and drag to the end, halt and press
then lift it up slowly to draw the right portion of the leaf, then use
Basic 5 to draw
the fold contour of the leaf.
Step 4 Hold
the brush steady and erect, perpendicular to the paper,
press the brush for a while, drag a straight line
to the end, halt and press, then lift it up to draw the stem of the leaf.(Basic
1)
Step 5 Hold
the brush steady and erect, perpendicular to the paper,
drop and press then turn and drag a line freely by
lifting it up slowly at the end to draw the veins of the leaf. (Basic
2 or 3)
Practice 7 - Drawing a lotus step by step
The
petals of the lotus are using all the techniques from basic 1 - 5.
Click for more exercises in line
drawing
Click for Lesson 1
2 3
4 5
6 7
8 9
10 11
12 13
14 15
