Research paper on Chinese paintings (lol jk project 2 final post)

DN1234- Introduction to Chinese paintings

Research paper

Andrew Wong Su Jun

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Tutorial group: G-ken-nuggets

Question 6: How can Chinese paintings be interpreted in 6 different ways?

Chinese paintings are paintings done by Chinese people in the land of China, done using Chinese ink and Chinese paper, and usually depicts Chinese landscapes or animals in China or various important Chinese figures. They are usually accompanied by Chinese words or more commonly known as Chinese calligraphy. Chinese paintings also also sold in China. In this essay, written by a Chinese boy, I will attempt to show that Chinese paintings can be interpreted in 6 different ways.

So hello everyone I chose Chinese paintings not to coincide with the art history essay (which I did on ceramics) but because I saw a book on it when brainstorming for initial ideas in the library, and also because I wanted to try something other than plain ol’ graphic design.

I also think that there is a certain inherent bias against Chinese paintings (more so if you’re Westernised like me) and people usually consider them to be ‘cheena’, ‘obiang’, old-fashioned or simply not held in such a high esteem as Western art. And that presents a perfect opportunity for me to change its meaning.

So when researching I found that there are 6 principles/characteristics of CP that was formulated by this ancient Chinese homeboy Xie He (who probably has eyes as small as mine) which you can read about here:

http://www.ink-treasures.com/artworks/ink-painting-paper/spiritual-artwork/125-philosophy-methods-chinese-painting/

BUT I know most of you probably are too lazy to read it so Imma distill it here for you

RULE NUMBA 1: Spirit resonance, which basically means one needs to paint with ‘Chi’/’energy’ of which is innate, and results in your painting looking vivid and powerful

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I really don’t feel like visiting Chicago anymore so I’m just going to dump the link here http://www.paintwalk.com/2015/06/chinese-painting-principles-applied-to.html 

RULE NUMBA 2: Bone method, or essentially how good one is at mastery of the brush and it’s various strokes/pressures

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RULE NUMBA 3: Correspondence to object, or how well one depicts the correct form of the object/scene

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RULE NUMBA 4: Suitability to type, or correct use of colour

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RULE NUMBA 5: Division and planning, or how you compose your painting/place elements to create visual hierarchy for ease of viewing

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RULE NUMBA 6: Transmission by copying, or learning from copying old master’s examples and preserving long-established principles

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So what I did for this project is to interpret CP in 6 different ways, from the perspective of 6 different people who directly oppose the 6 rules above.

For example the first one, a kid’s drawing, is more of a kid’s interpretation of CP which everyone knows lacks any ‘spirit’/’Chi’ of sorts, thus directly going against the first rule of CP.

Maybe I’m thinking too much.

Okay so without further ado, here is my manual called The 6 Canons of Chinese Painting, where is it a colouring book of sorts to let people practice the 6 rules. A consistent template is used for all 6 pages, which is that of a cherry blossom tree.

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Chinese painting in the POV of a kid 

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  • use of crayons and style of drawing etc makes it the furthest thing from what one would imagine to be a painting with ‘Chi’
  • comical style totally contrasts with that of esteemed Chinese paintings

Chinese painting in the POV of a graphic designer

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  • graphic designer’s interpretation totally lacks any use of brush/mastery of stroke, and is done entirely with vectors and flawless digital gradients (eat that watercolour!)
  • this design was pasted on the book rather than printed out on the page itself because to be consistent with the narrative of this being a colouring book, thus being was the only way the graphic designer would have to show his work (as he uses computers instead of brushes)

 Chinese painting in the POV of an abstract artist

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  • an abstract artist’s interpretation of CP totally lacks any visible form of a tree or cherries

Chinese painting in the POV of a fauvist

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  • Fauvism is an art style that was popular around the 1900s, where Fauvists would paint with non-naturalistic and wild colours
  • Fauvism paintings are also simplified, lacking depth, and the above mentioned qualities are expressed in this composition to contrast with this fourth rule
  • In hindsight the background could have been executed better where the pink/green line doesn’t follow the shape of the tree

Chinese painting in the POV of a De Stijl artist

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  • De Stijl is an art movement that advocated abstraction and depiction using shapes and colour (more specifically the 3 primary colours red, blue and yellow)
  • De Stijl pieces were very still (lacking movement) and had no visual hierarchy or place where a viewer’s eyes could fall on, thus contrasting with the rule by having ‘bad’ composition/layout

Chinese painting in the POV of a Dada artist

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  • I’m sure most of you should have a rough idea of what Dada stands for but it essentially seeks to break away from rules/established principles and refuses to be defined
  • So this composition contrasts the last rule of CP by portraying something that doesn’t resemble anything like CP, using the famous Dada collage style (but not too dark/disturbing don’t worry)
  • The cut-outs were entirely from a discarded magazine found outside one of the prof’s room (Jesse Thompson I think)

And there you have it! Not much explaining to do cos I think it’s pretty straightforward. Now on to my visual journal (which is the culmination of artist reference, initial sketches and idea generation)20160318_013501 20160318_013508 20160318_013512 20160318_013520 20160318_013524 20160318_013530 20160318_013533 20160318_013540 20160318_013543 20160318_013550 20160318_013553 20160318_013559 20160318_013602 20160318_013606 20160318_013610 20160318_013622 20160318_013731 20160318_013737 20160318_013749 20160318_013805 20160318_013830 20160318_013843

I was also very inspired by this series of inappropriate drawings on kid’s colouring books

funny-children-coloring-book-corruptions-6 funny-children-coloring-book-corruptions-30 4aedb5aa-2bbc-4ce8-895b-613caaafb08d coloring-book-corruptions-1

Last but not least thank you to everyone who gave me comments, I was a little too preoccupied with making sure the stopwatch alarm didn’t ring for too long so I didn’t write a lot of notes but I’ll definitely look through everyone’s posts here and comment!

Really looking forward to making fun of more art styles for the next project!

Toodles noodles!

Or rice.