Guohua - Chinese painting with water colors and ink. Chinese artists. Painting Training

Chinese artists have had a huge impact on the world art, and their stunning works, made on rice paper and silk, have been admired for a few centuries with laconic artistic language.

The aesthetic canons of a living heritage numbering a thousand-year history were formed under the influence of the philosophical traditions of Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism. It is believed that nature teaches people to see the beautiful, and it is this truth is the main theme of China's traditional painting. Unique masterpieces created by masters in different epochs are an important contribution to the world of fine arts.

Traditional Painting of China

Guohua - Chinese painting, which differs from the western features of the technique of drawing: for silk or a special thin paper with the help of a brush put an image. Artists use mineral, vegetable water colors, black mascara, and their works often have the form of horizontal or vertical scrolls.

Occupying a central place among the various art trends of the Celestial Empire, the guohua (Chinese painting) arose in the 7th-8th centuries BC, and from the end of the nineteenth century the style gets a second wind.

«Four Treasures»

For writing traditional paintings, the authors use a limited set of tools: black ink (or watercolor), a Chinese brush made from natural wool, paper and a paint trimming device. Many artists still prefer monochrome painting, believing that it "will reveal the essence of nature".

Much attention in the country is paid to the quality of the carcass, and tiles with black varnish luster are used for work. Masters rub them with water, getting the right consistency and creating a variety of shades. As recognized by Chinese artists, because of the poor quality of the European carcass, it is impossible to achieve the desired effects.

For painting, a special paper, suan (rice) with a specific texture is used. Sometimes drawings are made on silk or cotton fabric.

Tushechnitsy are very highly valued, and many are passed on from generation to generation. These devices, sometimes exquisitely decorated, are made of jade or baked clay.

Line drawing

If you consider European paintings painted in watercolor, then you can not notice the line as such. In Chinese painting, all images are created by means of a linear drawing. This is the difference between the traditional style of guohua, which resembles the calligraphy successfully developing in the country, the elements of which artists necessarily make into their works.

It is impossible not to mention the excellent technique of brush ownership, which has been improved for several centuries. With the help of a thin or thick line, artists using the same instruments as calligraphers convey space, volume, movement, without using the usual methods of light and shade. The beauty of Chinese painting lies in mastering the special technique of bi-mo, whose name translates as "brush-ink." Black ink applied to rice paper is instantly absorbed, and one awkward movement, an incorrect line can change the general mood of the picture, distorting the truth of life. Every smear must be precise and precise, because the author can no longer erase or correct the drawing.

Technique of imaging with fingers

It is curious that Chinese paintings in guohua technique are not always written with a brush. Often, the masters use their hands, drawing out lines and shading the paint. Painters apply contour lines with a fingernail, and wide strokes perform a thumb pad.

Poetic inscription

Traditional Chinese painting differs from the European one in that there is a poetic inscription in the picture made in a calligraphic style. So the masters expressed their attitude to the work, and the hieroglyphs complemented its imaginative content. The famous calligrapher, writer and artist Su Shi, who lived in the XI century, struggled to ensure that poetry was present in the painting. Such inscriptions reflect the author's opinion and become his handwriting.

The Scrolls

Guohua - Chinese painting, in which there is an unusual kind of paintings. They roll on a stick in a scroll and are stored in oblong cases. Works are written on special paper not only with ink, but also with paints from mineral and vegetable raw materials. Pictures in rolls, not intended for a mass audience, have been stored for more than a thousand years, without losing the brightness and richness of shades. And nowadays you can admire the masterpieces written several centuries ago by famous masters.

Allegoricity

Painting with water-based paints and ink is laconic, and such a language of symbols is understandable to a true connoisseur of Chinese art. For example, plants and verse lines depict the seasons, and the moon or a burning candle indicates the night.

Unfilled voids in pictures

Another feature that distinguishes Chinese painting from the western one is that in the works the authors leave blank areas that can be masked for images of a bright cloud or whitish fog. Sometimes an empty space is left for the viewer to have freedom for imagination, because Chinese paintings are an amazing kind of art that is impossible without the unity of the author and the viewer.

Mandatory printing

By tradition, the masters necessarily put on the seal a red color, thus certifying their identity.

Considering the peculiarities of traditional art, we can say that the guohua is a Chinese painting, in which poetry, calligraphy and the engraving art that is manifested in the print are harmoniously combined.

Genres of painting

In traditional Chinese painting, several genres are distinguished. The first is shanhai (landscape). A philosophical concept has become widespread in the country, according to which people and nature are one and there are no barriers between them. Landscape work raises the mood of the viewer.

The second genre is huangyao (an image of flora and fauna). Chinese masters peer into perfect forms of animals, stones, plants and convey their true essence, which can not be expressed in words.

The third genre is Ren (portrait). Even in ancient times, artists who worked with people knew one indisputable rule: on a par with external similarity, the creator should convey the state of mind and character of a person, emphasizing the beauty of his inner world. All painters clearly followed this principle, and even at an early stage in the development of Chinese art, the mastery of the portrait genre reached an incredibly high level.

Guohua styles

Two traditional styles are known: gongbi, which predominates in the early stages, and is widely spread in the late 19th century. Let us examine the features of these directions.

Chinese style of guni is a certain manner of writing, in which paint is carefully applied (including color) and the smallest details are prescribed. The main goal of the artist is to accurately depict reality, and such an idea of naturalism is closely related to the influence of Taoism. Gunby is considered an official academic painting. In the style of clear lines, craftsmen worked to decorate the interiors of the imperial palace.

However, after the spread of Buddhism on the territory of the country, the artists rethought this idea, and a new Chinese style appeared, characterized by a free style of writing. Creators do not represent the external similarity of an object or object, but care about the transmission of mood. They tend to show sincere emotions, using images. It is believed that this is the painting of philosophers and poets, and in this style the creators are working under the influence of a momentary mood.

A variation of this is shuimo (only black ink is used for writing pictures).

Many Chinese artists successfully combine in their works receptions of one and the other style, using mixed techniques. Li Kezhan, Qi Baishi, Fu Baoshi, Yang Yifeng, Huang Binhong, Pan Tien Shou and other masters were able to achieve expressive effects in their works, transferring images of nature and fixing even the most insignificant details.

"Reading" pictures

The national painting with water colors is characterized by an elegant figurative language, and artists put in their works a certain subtext. If Europeans look at canvases, the Chinese read them. The paintings are filled with a positive attitude and give their master a good mood.

Chinese works are full of symbolism and allegories. For example, the mountains represent the masculine bright beginning, and the water is a dark female. The painter conveys lyrical moods, experiences that arise after communicating with nature, and does not seek naturalism and external similarity.

Against the backdrop of majestic landscapes, miniature figures of people symbolize that man is an insignificant link in the universe, which is completely subordinated to its power. But in European art, people have always been portrayed as a mighty force capable of controlling elements, and such representations of a person are fundamentally different from Western Chinese painting.

Flowers are a separate topic for conversation. There is a painting, which is called "four noble":

• Orchid, symbolizing purity;
• Chrysanthemum, embodying modesty and chastity;
• Wild meihua plum - stamina and inflexibility;
• Bamboo is a symbol of human nature.

Often, artists depict a willow, which embodies beauty and exquisite refinement. It embodies spring and feminine grace. But pine is an idea of eternal youth and Confucian restraint.

This language of symbols is very clear to the Chinese, and those who can not solve the allegory, to understand the national painting is incredibly difficult.

Masters of Guohua

Xu Bei-hun perfectly mastered the basic skills of European art and in his work combined them with Chinese traditions. His magnificent portraits, in which the artist skillfully revealed the psychological traits of people, are considered masterpieces of Chinese art.

Yang Yifeng, who is a laureate of many national prizes, deservingly continues the traditions developed by centuries.

Gu Yinzhi, who received the title of "queen of cats", works in the style of se-i. She artistically depicts domestic animals, and her Chinese ambassadors give presents to foreign guests.

Qi Bai-shek - one of the most prominent representatives of the style. Observational creator, able to catch the main features, writes original pictures, combining high skill with the art of calligraphy and the expressiveness of lines.

Painting Training

Many people want to learn the secrets of guohua, but learning how to create in this technique is not so simple. Artists spend a lot of time training before starting work, which is conducted in one breath to avoid mistakes.

The Chinese appreciate not only the external beauty of paintings, but also the inner, their strength and energy. In many shops of the country special albums for coloring are sold, which shows the sequence of drawing. Such teaching of painting gives its fruits, and almost any person will be able to draw pictures in the traditional style. So a good taste is instilled and a love for art is brought up.

Poetry, which took shape

I must say that now the guohua follows the times. It has long since emerged from the narrow framework of Chinese national traditions. In the visual arts there are plots on modern themes, and such pictures are filled with new content. Let's agree with the classic who noticed that "painting is poetry, which has taken shape."