Plum Blossom Techniques
梅花基本法
25th., April, 2011
Please take note that this piece is done by my teacher,
I show myself and document the basic techniques
so that I can refer to it later and also
to share with you ...
Holding the pen must be straight
(to get the right amount of ink and water on the brush is really tough) ...
I can't even explain that properly ...
Strokes must be continuous from top to bottom (thin to thick) or
from Bottom to top (thick to thin)
Done in some curvature for each strand
Too much branches not good
You will find some spaces are purposely left between branches
for filling in the plum blossoms ...
Here is the colors ... and RED ...
for Plum Blossom,
How excited I was when the teacher demonstrated this technique ...
The red color of the Plum Blossom should have shades of color like this ...
Dip into water and then red color, test for stroke on paper before apply to final drawing ...
Do circular motion clock-wise for the 5 petals of the Plum Blossom ...
Leaving just a little space in the middle.
This is the TOP view of the flower ...
again getting the right amount of RED and Water
to get the shades of RED is not easy at all ...
and make sure the red is dry before applying the black color for the stems ...
On top is the frontal view and bottom/right is the 45 degree or angle view of the flower ...
The Frontal view only show 3 petals with some black dots as stems ...
The angle view shows 3 small petals on the bottom and 2 larger petals curving from the top ...
The Plum Blossom only at the top end of the branches and not at the bottom branch ...
And there stick close to the branches..
A variety should be drawn but not too much ...
The buds (un-open blossom) are very simple and ends with 3 small leaves holding the blossom ...
Should be draw with different sizes like above ...
Some of the blossom need not follow the exact rule and
should just blend into the composition ...
When drawing branches criss-crossing each other, remember to
leave some space like above ...
Notice the little blossom just curving slightly on the tip
of the branch with a slight touch at the end ...
More examples of little touches of blossoms ...
The final piece drawn by the teacher in less then 5 minutes ...
I am suppose to learn from copying ...
Sometimes, turning to the back shows a different composition possibility ...
Chinese Painting is definitely like film photography,
once wrongly applied, that's it ...
