I went to a workshop on Chinese painting in the ‘meticulous style’ today – not the loose strokes of how to do bamboo etc that is maybe better known.

Everything is first outlined very neatly (errmmm I don’t really do neat!) and we learnt how to hold the brush upright and how to grip it, move our wrist etc so the exercise below was working from a book, the image our choice. It’s on tracing paper as the idea was to learn how to do a consistent line and a varied line. I ended up not tracing but working from the image of the bird. It suited me better.

When dry, colour is added, again with a certain way of working – one brush with colour, one with water to spread and thin it. The rice paper used for this isn’t very absorbent, it is mineral coated, so there is time to move it about.

And then I worked from a photo I’d quickly taken of my orchids yesterday. So at this point just line.

Then after lunch we could continue with the same image or use our own. I’d taken some stuff to work from of my own. I’d really rather it was ‘mine’ and learn how to apply the techniques to an workof my own.

a loose watercolour I’d done from life, which Si Yuan said would work well –

and then did it in the ‘meticulous style’ – drawn freehand and interpreted a little to try to make it work with line. It’s really not quite finished and needs a few more layers of colour glazed to achieve the colours I want. I don’t have the proper pigments at home though so will call it finished ….. maybe ….. unless I glaze with acrylics.

Done with a very limited range of colours as colour mixing is done by layering. Just one yellow, red and blue.

I can see the way of using the brush being useful, though I wouldn’t aim to copy a style completely. The colour is a bit looser and freer than it should be traditionally but we didn’t have long to work and I wanted to move it along

The whole set up is important and to work you need to be calm and meditative – things around need to be nice, incense, music, pretty pots for water and ink and palette etc …. no plastic but china. It was very calming.

The pigments are water soluble but dry waterproof

and now I’m worn out!

A nice day

MY WEBSITE:http://vivienblackburn.com MY BLOG:http://vivienb.blogspot.com/ ETSY for original paintings http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6150568