Zue Chan
陳巧倩
Graduation Project
Different forms of Chinese landscape painting (Shan Shui) in theatre
Brief Description
Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Landscape painting is regarded as the highest form of Chinese painting. I love landscapes known as Shan Shui paintings (山水), meaning ‘mountain, water’, which are created using only the simple materials of brushes and ink, however are regarded as the highest form of Chinese painting. Confucius (孔子) writes, ‘The man of heart is charmed by the mountain; the man of spirit delights in water.”1 Chinese love to explore the correspondence between the virtues of nature and human virtues. For example, orchids, bamboo, pines and plum tress represent the virtues of grace, rigor, youth, and noble beauty, so they represent the noble qualities of superior men. Therefore, to paint mountains and water is to paint the portrait of man, not physical but more that of his mind, spirit, rhythm and emotions.
For me, ink painting is a mystery. It is very hard to learn. Beside learning the unique techniques, you also have to study its spirit, for example the vital breaths (氣), intention (意), and soul (神) behind the painting. My interest in Chinese landscape painting began four years ago. I like it because these Chinese painters do not try to present an exact image of what they have seen in the nature, but rather what they have thought or felt about the nature. They do not care whether the painted colors and shapes look like the real scenery or not. The paintings are relaxing.
I love the Tsun (皴法), a kind of painting method representing the textures and different forms of mountains, using in Chinese landscape painting. ‘Spots’, (點) ‘lines’ (缐) and ‘surface’ (面) are the basic combinations of creating a painting. Chinese painters use these elements to create different textures and shapes, gradually forming a landscape using cracked and wrinkled brushwork. This style is simple and refined. Chinese art adheres to the philosophical thought of ‘Harmony between man and nature’, Tsun has evolved from basic painting techniques into a whole life of the spirit of the language form of art.2 They express their feelings through using Tsun.
1 P.84, Emptiness in Chinese Painting, Empty and Full by Francois Cheng, Shambhala, 1991 2 http://baike.baidu.com/item/皴法#reference-[1]-122971-wrap
3
I have been studying Scenic Art at the HKAPA. I have learnt how to use different materials e.g. joint compounds, Idenden coating, cloth, sand, sawdust, etc. to make various textures that can be presented in theatre. As I said, Chinese painters work on landscape painting, they do not try to present an exact image of what they have seen in the nature, but what they have thought and felt about nature and their life. Therefore, I would like to refer to the spirit of the ancients. I will do Chinese paintings in different ways or forms which can be presented in theatre. I would like to paint Chinese painting based on what I have learnt at school.
Project 1 -Relief
Turning a painting into a relief
In this graduation project, these two art works served as a culmination of all the skills I have learned at the HKAPA. It was an experiment of turning an ancient painting into a relief, which was a good way for me to learn and study the three dimension of mountains. It was a good experience. Everything went smoothly. The textures were built up on the board over four weeks. I used joint compound, Idenden coating, sand, sawdust and other materials. I did the backdrop based on the reference I found in three weeks.
Project 2 - Backdrop
Turning a traditional painting into backdrop
I would like to paint a backdrop for the next artwork based on the Tang Yin’s painting.
As I wanted to have some interesting modern elements, I did not want to paint the cloth with black ink and water only. I would use different color but mostly blue, green and gold, like modernized Bluish-green shan shui.
