Simple flower and bird painting tutorial

Very similar painting techniques were used by Li Anzhong, a court artist who began painting in the late Northern Song court but joined the Southern Song court as well after it relocated in Hangzhou.

Li Anzhong, “Bird on Branch”

SOURCE: Li Anzhong, �Bird on a Branch,� from Qin Xiaoyi, ed., Songdai shuhua ceye mingpin tezhan – Famous Album Leaves of the Sung Dynasty (Taipei: Guoli gugong bowuyuan pianzhuan weiyuanhui, 1995), pl. 57. Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taibei. Album leaf on silk, 25.4 by 26.9 cm.

Anonymous Southern Song artist, Loquats and Mountain Bird

Of the three album leaves depicting birds shown here, which do you find most appealing or affecting?

Anonymous (Song), Duckling

SOURCE: Qin Xiaoyi, ed., Song dai shuhua ceye mingpin tezhan, Famous Album Leaves of the Sung Dynasty (Taipei: Guoli gugong bowuyuan pianji weiyuanhui, 1995), pl. 63, p. 216. Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei. Album leaf, ink and colors on silk, 25.9 x 25 cm

Do you think the painting and calligraphy complement each other here? How would style in calligraphy relate to style in painting?

For more on the links between painting, poetry, and calligraphy, go on to Scholars’ Painting.

Ma Lin, Layers on Layers of Icy Silk

Chinese Painting Flower and Bird Painting Tutorial: Steps of Painting Butterfly of Gongbi Painting Butterfly White Drawing Picture Coloring Step

The beauty of the butterfly is mainly the wings, the color and markings on the wings are the most favorite to draw, so when painting, we must draw the wings clearly, the markings are well outlined, and the head and chest and abdomen should also be carefully depicted. Dyeing is to dress the butterflies in beautiful clothes, and different blending methods are used according to the different types of butterflies painted.

Dark butterfly, with medium ink to outline the form, first use light ink to base the structural form, and then covered with water color and stone color. If you need to have a scaly feeling, you can dry rub the stone color. When dry rubbing stone color (head cyan), use a hard millimeter pen, less dipped in stone color, gently rub on the wing, from the root of the wing to the tip of the wing, there is a feeling of fleece and scales. After the black butterfly is based on light ink, it is then dyed gouache black, taking its dull and black velvet-like feeling.

Light-colored butterflies, such as yellow butterflies, can be used to light ochre ink hook, with light ochre color according to the structural form from the wing root outward dyeing, light white powder from the wing edge to the wing root, and then with light garcinia yellow from the wing root outward dyeing, the area is larger than the ochre color, black markings with ink staining, and then covered with gouache black, and finally with white powder to re-hook the wing veins. White butterflies can be dyed with light flower blue, pale white powder from the wing edge to the wing root all the way, and the black spots are drawn in the same way as yellow butterflies.

The eyes are stained with light ink or light flower blue ink, and white powder increases the light. The thorax is stained with light ink or light ochre ink, medium and deep and shallow, with silky edges. The abdomen is colored with white powder, the upper part is stained with light ink or light ochre ink, and the lower part is stained with light ochre ink or ochre yellow. After the head, chest, abdomen, and wings are dyed, the antennae, mouthparts, and feet are outlined according to the manuscript.

1, phoenix butterfly: large body, beautiful stripes, changeable color, hindwing with tail.

2, butterfly: medium body size, front and back wings are more square, markings are more beautiful.

3, pink butterfly: small in size, rounded wings, white and yellow in color, with black spots.

4, gray butterfly: small body size, the color is mainly gray and purple gray, there are not obvious spots.

Gongbi Drawing Butterfly Example 1

Step 1: Use heavy ink to hook the head, chest, abdomen, feet, medium ink to hook the wings, thick and light ink to hook the background flowers, pay attention to the composition layout.

Step 2: Dye the butterfly structure with dark and light ink. The leaves are stained with shades of light ink on the front, and the flowers are stained with reverse leaves. Paint the flower head flat with vermilion.

Step 3: Dye the butterflies with rouge and ochre and vine, and coat the leaves with grass green and ink.

Step 4: The overall picture is deeply stained, the carmine akewarm is stained with flower heads, and the pale stone green is stained with leaves.

Step 5: In-depth depiction of butterflies. Stone green dot eyes, white powder plus garcinia dots, vermilion sub-dye flower head reverse petal, adjust the picture finished.

Gongbi Drawing Butterfly Example 2

Step 1: Use dark ink to outline the butterfly and peony backgrounds, and pay attention to the composition layout. Thick and light ink tree trunk.

Step 2: Light ink dyeing butterfly structure, flower green dyeing positive leaves, grass green staining reverse leaves, flower head flat coated white powder.

Step 3: Dye butterflies with vermilion, rouge, and ochre, and dye the flower head with akebono and rouge.

Step 4: Deeply stain the butterflies with cinnabar and garcinia garcinia, and the leaves are flattened with grass green.

Step 5: Zhu Zhen plus rouge dot butterfly eyes, flower head white powder, garcinia plus white powder dots, anti-leaf staining stone green, adjust the picture, finishing.