2nd  May 2025: Traditional Chinese Brush Painting with Kaili Fu

Kaili Fu offered us a masterclass in the traditions of Chinese painting.

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From the moment she applied her first brush mark, creating a single vivid petal of a carmine tree peony shading off into faint pink, we could appreciate the great skill involved. With just four more strokes she had achieved this stage.

https://cargocollective.com/kailiart

The origins of distinctively Chinese art goes back 5000 years. The 'detailed' [or 'Gongbi'] style requires meticulous outlining on sized paper and then multiple layers of colour.  We were shown the relatively spontaneous 'freehand' ['Xieyi'] style which emphasises the freshness and immediacy of marks and uses a traditional repertoire of plants such as bamboo or peony, augmented by an animated creature such as a bird, butterfly or other insect.

​Some of the elements that make a good freehand painting are 

Artistic expression
Composition
Usage of Ink [valued above the handling of colour]
Calligraphy [the whole delivery of mark-making is essentially calligraphic]
Framing

Mrs Fu showed the importance of mixing the colour on the brush itself before applying to the 'rice' paper - which is actually made from materials such as cotton, linen trimmings or the pith of certain araliaceous trees. ​

The composition was conceived in advance, developing an S-shaped design incorporating a little singing bird. For the leaves, rouge was added to the brush tip and a green made from yellow and indigo further from the tip. Again, it is considered very important to make the correct marks in one go, without reworking.

Once the fragile rice paper was dry, dabs of thicker yellow paint could be delicately added for the peony's stamens.

Finally, Mr Fu stepped in to add the calligraphy which is considered an essential component of a finished freehand work. The characters he added consisted of the title in Chinese characters ["Fragrant Flowers And Singing Bird"], the current Chinese Year [The Snake] and the artist [in this case Kaili Fu].

As a bonus, Kaili Fu was able to paint two delightful versions of a bamboo composition, one using just Chinese Ink [made from pine soot and animal glue] and the other using a mix of yellow and indigo.

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