- There are many different styles of Chinese painting, but they can be broadly divided into two types. One is “gongbi”, a realist Chinese painting technique involving highly detailed brushstrokes that originated around 2000 years ago during the Han Dynasty. Usually painted with ink and color on silk, with very thin lines and many details. “Compared to Western art, Chinese painting is traditionally more stylized, more abstract and less realistic than Western types. It also emphasizes the importance of white space. In simple terms, there are two types of “guo hua”: the first, known as “Gong-bi” or meticulous-style, is also described as court-style painting; the second, known as “Shui-mo” or “xie yi” or freehand-style, is also called ink and brush painting, or “literati painting”, and was practiced by amateur scholar artists.” (“Chinese Painting: Characteristics, Types, History”)
Orchids, Ma Lin, Date: second quarter of the 13th century, Medium: Album leaf; ink and color on silk
Tang dancing girl in blue dress,
Pang Xunqin, 1944
Four posters of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”
Zhang Chun, 2016
I placed the picture of the model with the flower in the center of the poster, leaving a lot of white space around it. I used a background with texture to express the feeling of silk. In the negative space, I put gongbi-style Chinese elements, such as cranes, and used Chinese calligraphy fonts.
- The other is “xieyi”, where Xie means to write and Yi the meaning. A famous master of Chinese painting, Zhang Daqian, said that Xieyi indicated the fact of drawing the spirit of the beings. Full of hazy and romantic. (“Chinese Painting Xieyi”)
SANS TITRE Untitled, Zhao wuji, 1990
Autumn Mountains in Twilight
1967
Zhang Daqian
The background of this poster is the shadow of the flower installation. Due to the special material of organza, the installation will produce a colored shadow under the light. Since I used soft light and the installation had some distance from the background set when I shot it, the shadow is hazy. There is no clear outline. This blurring is like Xieyi, there is not much detail but conveys the feeling.
Reference：
“Chinese Painting: Characteristics, Types, History.” Visual-Arts-Cork.com, 2022, www.visual-arts-cork.com/east-asian-art/chinese-painting.htm.
“Chinese Painting Xieyi.” Chine-Culture.com, 2022, www.chine-culture.com/en/chinese-painting/chinese-painting-xieyi.php.
“Artsy — Discover, Buy, and Sell Fine Art.” Artsy, 2017, www.artsy.net/.