Author: Cheong Thye-Ming, Contributing Editor

Preliminary Technical Studies: To do Chinese painting, the student needs to learn some technical terms and some preliminary studies of the technique of using the brush. Holding the brush: You must hold the brush perpendicular to the paper. In doing a large painting, the wrist and the elbow are raised above the paper, as seen in the diagram to the left.

If you are doing a smaller painting, one may rest the wrist lightly on the table as shown in the diagram.

The vertical stroke technique: To employ the vertical stroke, the student must hold the brush steady and erect, with the core always at the middle of the brushstroke. It is generally used for defining outline or executing dots and flips. Hold the brush steady and erect with the core always at the middle of the brushstroke.

The slanted-stroke technique: The slanted-stroke is employed when the handle of the brush slants on one side and the brush-point lies on the brim of the brush-stroke. It is generally used for the technique for wrinkling, daubing and washing. The core and the side of the brush, however, are jointly used in most cases to express the nature and form of various subjects. Hold the brush and let the handle of the brush slants on one side and the brush-point lies on the brim of the brush-stroke (top left). Big slanted-strokes can be applied by holding the handle farther more from the brush (bottom left).

Putting down, closing up, lifting, pressing and breaking: Putting down the brushstroke on the paper requires technique as well as closing up. It may be light or heavy. In drawing a line, the painter may half-lift the brush with only the tip touching the paper to make a swift and thin line. He may, as the nature of the subject requires, press the tip of the brush on the paper to make a thick, heavy line. In some other cases he stops a moment and changes the direction of the line, to make a break in the brush-stroke. A line therefore, may look smooth or rugged or may even leave out some blank spaces in it, deliberately made by not dipping enough ink in the brush-tip. Various brush-strokes suggest different texture of the subjects. Drawing a branch with putting down, dragged, pressed, pushed, lifted and halted brush-strokes.

Directing, Dragging and pushing: The painter directs his brush to draw a line at his discretion from left to right, from top to bottom, or vice versa. He may drag the brush-tip to go ahead like pulling a string (top left) or push it forward like moving a stone (bottom left). Different ways of using the brush call for different qualities of the brushstrokes, e.g. lightness, weight, fullness, tenacity, ruggedness, and gracefulness. Student must learn to observe the various qualities of the brushstroke.

To draw a flower with the contour method.

The contour method: A small pointed brush is employed in doing the contour method. Though thinly drawn, the tenacious lines do not only delineate the contour of things, but also suggest texture, anatomy or structure. The contour method may be applied before or after colour washes.

To draw a flower with only the brush-stroke

The non-outlining method: The non-outlining method is to express forms and structures with soggy brushstrokes without employing contour outlinings. First soak the brush with water, and then dip the tip of the brush into ink. Now paint a brushstroke on the paper and at once there is gradation of shade in it owing to the intermingling of water and ink. The right gradation of shades can be adjusted by soaking the brush with water and ink to the correct proportion, and the length and rhythm of the stroke can be achieved by the dextrous manipulation of the brush.

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