Traditional Chinese painting is a highly professional subject. It not only requires the necessary theoretical knowledge to understand the essence of the artistic conception of Chinese painting, but more importantly, the copying and practicing of Chinese painting techniques. "Transfer and copy" is an essential learning process.
If a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his tools.
So what do we need to prepare before learning Chinese painting?
Calligraphy brush
Calligraphy brushes are pens made of animal hair. There are many types of calligraphy brushes. , to put it simply, they are divided into sheep hair brushes, wolf hair brushes, rat hair brushes (mouse beards), chicken hair brushes (chicken breast hair), purple hair brushes (rabbit hair), double hair brushes, etc. The most common classification is based on the elasticity of the bristles, which can be divided into three categories: soft bristles, hard bristles and both bristles.
Ruanhao
Ruanhao is Yanghao. The Yanghao pen is made of the whiskers of white goats. The tip of the pen is white and can be used for painting or writing. The hair is soft, and because the tip of the pen is thick and moist, it can hold water. Therefore, the hair is an indispensable role in the rendering and ink base of fine brushwork. Because it contains more water and is soft and boneless, it is easier to apply ink or color from dark to light without leaving any traces. Especially for large-area renderings, a brush is needed to apply the base color.
Compared with calligraphy, there is a saying in the industry that when practicing calligraphy, beginners can practice with soft brushes first, and then use hard brushes after laying the foundation to show their skills. However, I am more inclined to Mr. Zhou Ruchang's point of view, which is to use hard pen as the best quality. Calligraphy is born from the elasticity of the pen. The elastic brushwork makes the written characters handsome and full of energy. Therefore, it is not particularly recommended that you use a brush to practice calligraphy. Of course, if you like a round, plump and soft brushwork, then sheep hair is the most suitable.
Hard hair
Hard hair refers to purple hair, wolf hair, rat hair, etc. Here I would like to introduce you to the langhao pen. The langhao pen is made of weasel tail hair. The tip of the pen is brown in color and can be used for both painting and writing. The Langhao pen is flexible and has a sharp and strong tip. It is used on impermeable cooked rice paper or silk. The effect is smooth and straight, full of tension and the stipple drawing is thin and vigorous. It should be noted that the water content of wolf hair is much lower than that of sheep hair, so the water should be full when dipping it in ink. If sand brush appears later, the speed needs to be slowed down. When outlining figures, flowers and birds in fine brushwork, a must-have is the wolf-hair outlining brush, whose lines are smooth and straight, with yin and yang. Here are three types of outline pens to introduce to you: Huazhiqiao, Yejin pen, and Yiwen pen.
1. Pretty flowers and branches, used to draw small freehand flowers and birds and branches of flowers and plants. Hookwork and dotted leaves are the best.
2. Leaf tendon pen is used to outline leaf tendons and draw very thin lines. It can also be used to outline the branches and leaves of flowers and plants.
3. Clothes pattern pen is used to draw lines on people's clothing. Because clothing patterns are long lines, the outline of this pen is slender and extremely elastic.
Jianhao
Jianhao means both. For both hair and hair, take one strong hair and one soft hair, with the strong hair hair (hard hair) as the main one, located on the inside, called "pillar"; the soft hair hair (soft hair) on the outside, as the auxiliary, called "quilt". Here I will focus on introducing the large, medium and small white clouds. Its outer layer is made of sheep hair, and the middle part is hard and stiff wolf hair. Therefore, it has moderate elasticity, a balance of hardness and softness, and can contain moisture and elasticity. It can be better used for outlining, brushing, rendering, etc. Easy for beginners to master and use.
Choice of brushes
When choosing a brush, the brand of the brush can be a factor to consider, as well as the method of identifying the brushes. If you have the conditions, try it yourself with a brush. It will become clear whether the brush is good for writing and whether it is smooth or not. The identification method is as follows: "pointed", "even", "round" and "healthy", which are the four virtues of a pen. The "Zhangwu Zhi" written by Wen Zhenheng (1585-1645, courtesy name Qimei) of the Ming Dynasty is used as the benchmark.
Tip: When the pen tip is gathered together, the tip of the pen tip should be able to be pointed.
Evenness: Moisten the pen tip with water and then pinch it flat. The hairs on the end of the pen should be even and there is no unevenness.
Round: Around the belly of the pen, the edges of the pen are full and round, like the shape of a date stone, neither flat nor thin.
Healthy: The waist of the pen is elastic, the bristles are easy to gather back to their original shape after being spread out, and the writing power is strong and straight.
Ink
According to the raw material composition, ink can be roughly divided into oil smoke ink, pine smoke ink, and green ink (pine smoke ink is mixed with a small amount of cyanine and other pigments, and its ink color is not black and Matte, slightly cyan), cinnabar ink (made from cinnabar as the main raw material, used for painting and marking approval), etc. Here we focus on two practical inks: oil smoke ink and pine smoke ink.
1. Oil smoke ink
Oil smoke ink is the smoke produced after burning fuels such as animal oil (lard) and vegetable oils such as tung oil and rapeseed oil (kerosene is also used now) ( carbon black). Appropriately add musk, Polygonum multiflorum and other traditional Chinese medicines for antisepsis. Oil smoke ink has the characteristics of fresh and moist color, no smearing when entering the paper, black and glossy color, and rich shades and shades. Therefore, oil smoke ink is generally used in Chinese paintings. It is more suitable for calligraphy and painting creation, especially writing running script and regular script, and painting landscapes, flowers and birds, etc. It is full of charm.
2. Pine smoke ink
Pine smoke ink mainly uses pine wood from Huangshan Mountain as fuel (now because pine trees cannot be cut down in Huangshan Mountain, only pine branches can be burned), and the soot is added with Animal bone glue, pounded. It is also necessary to appropriately add musk, borneol, polygonum multiflorum and other traditional Chinese medicines for antiseptic and degumming. Pine smoke ink has the characteristics of jet black but matte, easy to dissolve in water, and the ink color is cold. Therefore, it is advisable to write calligraphy and traditional Chinese painting of landscapes, vast distant mountains, and characters’ eyebrows, feathers, etc. It should be noted that pine smoke ink is easy to "run off", so it needs to be left for some time after the painting is finished.
Fang Ruisheng's "Ink Sea" says that high-quality ink has characteristics such as the fragrance of Jieting's body and the luster of Xuan's wife's hair. This tells us that choosing high-quality ink requires dark and bright color. , moderate gelatin, firm texture and other characteristics. As a beginner, just choose some high-quality brands of ink, pine smoke or oil smoke, you can choose according to your needs.
Tips for protecting ink
"Do not add water to the ink bottle, and do not put the remaining ink back into the bottle." What is the reason for this? Because liquid ink contains chemicals, if the above two situations occur, the ink will react chemically and become smelly, which will damage both the brush and the rice paper.
Rice paper
The main raw materials of rice paper are sandalwood leather and firewood, which are made by traditional handicrafts (many machines are now made, and the quality is far inferior to handmade). Rice paper has been known as the "king of paper, thousand-year-old paper" since ancient times because it has the characteristics of being incorruptible, soft and tough, and ever-changing ink charm.
Rice paper can be divided into cooked Xuan, raw Xuan and half-cooked Xuan.
Shengxuan is used in freehand Chinese painting. Shengxuan can well show the changes in ink rhyme and is suitable for freehand flower-and-bird landscape paintings. Traditional Chinese painting fine brushwork uses cooked xuan. Ripe xuan is made on the basis of raw xuan using techniques such as glue and vitriol. It is also called "processed xuan". Therefore, it loses the water absorption and other characteristics of raw xuan, and the ink and color will not spread. It is suitable for painting meticulous figures, flowers and birds, etc. You can also choose Shujuan for painting. When painting on cooked rice paper, if there is leakage of alum, you can adjust and add alum yourself. Semi-cooked xuan is also processed from raw xuan, and its water absorption is between the former two. When you get up early to practice, you can choose half-cooked Xuanxuan and rough-edged paper to practice copying.
Warm tips for purchasing rice paper:
When buying rice paper, try to choose rice paper produced in Jing County, Anhui and some industry brands. It is not recommended to buy lower-priced rice paper, as the painting effect will be poor.
In addition, you also need: felt, pen holder (for placing brushes), ink saucer, wash (for washing brushes), ruler, Chinese painting pigments, etc.
Today, I will introduce the tools you need to prepare for learning Chinese painting. If you have any questions, you can leave a private message. You are welcome to communicate and discuss together.