The
literal and archaeological sources depict that the painting was experienced
in China from ancient times. Chinese Paintings have been perceived as one of
the supreme cultural achievements in China's history, they provides precious
insight into artistic values and zest of China that had enduring impression
on later painters and aesthete.
In the early period of China’s history the art of ‘Wall Paintings’
was quite flourishing and the paintings were produced in great number, but
due to the massive damages occur to the ancient Chinese architecture, there
are only few of these large paintings survived over the centuries. There is
a massive collection of Chinese paintings from the regime of Song Dynasty,
such as the hanging scroll and the hand scroll, collected and passed on to
later generations in significant quantities.
Chinese Paintings provided ample knowledge about the social customs and day
to day life of the region. The paintings were also of great interest to
scholars and historians as they assisted them to understand about the life
of China in its earlier periods.
Flourishing Chinese Art
Painting as a cultural art, reached to its supreme during the Song and Yuan
Dynasties. This era was considered as a high point in the development of the
fine arts in China. Landscape themes began to dominate painting during this
period.
Figures and inscriptions, were one of the more outstanding facial traits of
Chinese paintings, poems, inscriptions and painted images were designed to
share the same image space during the 11th century.
Importance
of Seals
One can notice a small red imprint on most of the Chinese paintings, in an
embellished script, placed either concealed at the painting's outer
boundaries, or spread out thoroughly, through the image surface itself.
These seals (or "chops") indicated that who accomplished the
painting or who owned it. That certified the artisans with a supreme
quality-- often unique in its character. Most seals were square; some were
even round or scoop shaped.
Perquisites of Chinese Paintings
Chinese painting were basically dominated by water-based inks and coloring
matters, applied on either paper or silk surface. Black ink which was
largely used, came from ‘lampblack’-- a matter made by burning
pine tar or some kind of oil.
Colored pigments were derived from vegetable and mineral. Both were
manufactured by mixing the pigment source with a glue base, which was
compressed into cake or stick form with a help of a special stone. It was
essential to add color into the water solution immediately before painting.
Brushes also hold special significance in the Chinese Paintings. There were
greater variety of brushes used in painting, with different shapes, sizes
and thickness.
Methodology of creating the Painting Surface
Silk and Paper were the two main type of painting surfaces used for
painting skills. It was required to make correct dimensions of the painting
surface, then applying the adhesive substances on their uppermost part, to
prevent ink and pigment from soaking into and being completely absorbed by
the base. Silk was less porous than paper and also more water-resistant,
especially after sizing. As a result, utilization of paints on a silk
surface behooved more strenuous technique, like making-up of ink and colors
cautiously and sequentially in layers. Paper, in contrast, was more
absorbent and was accepted for more spontaneous effects.
