08.2: Abstract-Ifying Chinese Landscape Art

Hello there. Let’s get right to it.

First Piece

Oof! That’s a lot of black. 

Right now, I am attempting to make an abstract artwork with Chinese aesthetics. Currently the pieces you will see are more on the Chinese side than the Abstract Expressionism side. The mountain scenery has become more simplified, losing its trees, buildings, and rocks. There is much more emphasis on technique–to create fog, space, and hard strokes. 

I tried to add diluted acrylic paint to this piece to bring in some Western elements. Ultimately, there is too much black everywhere. It’s all dark and does not convey a sense of peace at all. The right side is a mess, and the only part I like is the upper left structure. The mistake was my lack of control over the ink and brush, resulting in the mess you see on the right. Additionally, I had no idea how to properly apply the acrylic paint because it did not move like the ink. This was a learning experience, and in my next piece I try to practice varying my brush ink to get a misty effect and to use less solid black.

Second Piece

This painting came out a lot better. I decided that before adding paint to my abstract Chinese compositions, I should learn how to properly use diluted ink. The technique I tried to use was wetting parts of the paper before adding ink. I also tried to wet the borders of the darker ink to smoothen the transition to lighter colors. I mixed in some rough strokes, which you can see on the top-right side, for some contrast to the soft textures on the bottom. It’s also meant to be the part of the mountain above the mist. 

While I see all the mistakes I’ve made and original intentions, I still like how it turned out.

Closure

The next painting I make I hope will be on a much longer piece of xuan paper, kind of like a scroll. This time, I want to implement color in it, and we’ll see what happens! 

In the last few weeks, I have not met with Fong Chung-Ray, but I will be able to meet with him this Sunday! I have several questions for him and I am excited to hear what he has to say. 

See you next week!