Conclusion

In this project, I am going to explore and experiment British landscape painting and traditional Chinese painting.

My first concept is about two different culture of art; British landscape painting and traditional Chinese art. In the beginning of my work, I research the history and drawing technique of British landscape artist such as "Turner" and the Chinese artist "Wu Guanzhong" to help for my work. I started focusing on Turner's sunset and sunrise which is the most impressive for me, the colour and the naturalism and also Wu Guanzhong is one of my favourite artist, he used Chinese brush painting but with some modern element in it, that make traditional Chinese painting style have a new fresh image.

Doing different experiment on the landscape painting and using different way of drawing to present my work are benefit for me to explore new style of painting and learning two different history of art. Then I planned to do landscape or cityscape so I did quite a few of them but then it didn't work out good, it is quite confuse for me at the time, after tutorial I read my tutors feedback and started to use my favourite style to draw and combine with the British landscape. 

For my final pieces, after did all the experiment and exploring different way to present my work, I went to visit a Spring flower garden, I use of the most common object in the Chinese painting - flowers, but this time for my final pieces, I used of UK's flower to be the object and drew under the British spring flowers garden environment. I am staying in a different culture place and using my own culture way to present my work and that is how I present my work, to make my work feeling more belong to me.

In this blog, this was created to record my research and the progress of my project, it included the research of artist, history, images, article and video, etc that can help for my project. This blog can help me review back my work and everything that I did for my project and the progress can let me to improve and give me ideas for my final pieces.

Spring flowers

Best gardens for spring flowers.

Final ideas - My favourite Chinese painting is blossom, so I went to different places for looking UK spring flowers and start to work on it. 

Here is the place I research and study at.

Cherry walk leading to the Temperate House, Kew. Photograph: Andrew McRobb 

Kew Gardens, London

The rock garden is one of the places to head for at Kew right now – according to horticulturalist Richard Wilford it will be at its peak in the days ahead. The garden has waterfalls and streams over an acre of land, and the alpine plants, bulbs and Mediterranean shrubs are all at their best, with a carpet of alpine flowers in pink , purple and white. Equally unmissable are the flowering cherry trees – especially on the avenue from the palm house to the temperate house – the woodland garden, packed with dog's tooth violet and trilliums, and the newly emerging bluebells in the conservation area.

Starting to do my final piece

And here is my final pieces.

I used the UK blossom for my final pieces and used the Chinese painting way to present it, I like to use the typical Chinese painting way very clean and tidy to present it but in the colour I used watercolour instead of ink. 

Development

In the beginning of my project, I did struggle and feel confuse of my work. I try to do about Chinese cityscape and experiment on landscape. And I found that its not what I really want to do, after tutorial I work on Chinese and British landscape, try to put two traditional things together to make a fresh style. It seems quite good putting two different culture together to make my work more personalise. 

Then I did research on famous British landscape artist 'William Turner', I study the way, the colour he did on the landscape painting and adding my own style watercolour style in it. I really like his seaside works especially the sunrise and sunset, it can fully show out the beauty and delicate of watercolour. 

Joseph Mallord William Turner: Norham Castle: sunrise" (c.1835-40, London , Tate Gallery)

Joseph Mallord William Turner: "Sunrise with sea monsters". c.1845 - London, Tate Gallery

Joseph Mallord William Turner: Yacht approaching the coast" (c.1845-50, London, Tate Gallery)

Stunning English Landscape Paintings by David Hockney

The renowned British artist David Hockney is most famous for his languid paintings of young men draped around swimming pools in L.A.

But in the last few years he has turned to the iPad as his canvas. In a spectacular new show, opening at London's Royal Academy, he is exhibiting 51 drawings from his iPad, as well as a series of landscapes of his native Yorkshire.

You have to give him credit: At an age when most are technophobes, this 74-year-old embraced the iPhone. He started emailing pictures drawn from his window to his lucky friends on a daily basis. "I draw flowers every day," he said, "and I send them to my friends, so they get fresh blooms every morning. And my flowers last."

The show is called "A Bigger Picture" because he is looking at the landscape through a variety of media: oil, film, charcoal, and iPad.

The subject of his show is the East Yorkshire landscape where he lives. He depicts the seasonal changes over four years. The tree is a key motif; whether it be in full leaf in summer or bare branches in winter. One can see the quality of light and the density of the foliage at each time.

In these works, Hockney keeps going back to the same scenes, and themes and painting them again and again. It is fascinating to see the details and differences between the paintings.

Hockney started out with an iPhone and began to draw on it with his thumb, then graduated to the iPad, using the app Brushes; and things really got going. Then he began to print them out on a larger scale than the iPad screen.

As he says: "The more I got into the iPad, the more I realised what a fantastic medium it is for landscape. There are certain things that you can do very, very quickly using it." The artist can meet "nature's deadline". Obviously the iPad is faster than watercolour or charcoal, since nothing has to dry. When painting outdoors in a changing landscape, with clouds and rain coming quickly, speed is essential.

The 51 iPad drawings have been enlarged. All of them depict the arrival of spring along a local road--Woldgate, near where he lives. They show his vision of the small area in all seasons, with the grasses, buttercups, dandelions of spring depicted in different pictures. On one whole wall there is a massive 32 canvas painting which is very theatrical.

This picture is one of a series depicting a farm track, which he calls the tunnel, in the area. The trees enclose the road to create a sort of covered walkway in spring, and a bare branched vista in winter.

Hockney started drawing a particular tree in Woldgate that interested him. It was dead but stood out amongst the other trees and shrubs. He kept going back but then found that the tree had been cut down, leaving only a stump. He was heartbroken but kept painting it, even in its altered form.

Hockney has had a long and varied career--from England, to California and back to Yorkshire. This show is yet another piece of a brilliant oeuvre.

Chinese Cultural Studies: Chinese Arts

Compiled from Compton's Living Encyclopedia on America Online (August 1995)

THE VISUAL ARTS
Chinese art, like Chinese literature, goes back many centuries. Early themes were developed from religious and supernatural beliefs or from the natural environment and landscape. One of the oldest and most basic forms of Chinese art is calligraphy, the painting of the Chinese characters with a brush. Calligraphy has developed as a pure art form with its own standards of excellence. Building on the tradition of calligraphy, Chinese painting developed a distinctive style that differs greatly from Western painting. It is more efficient in terms of brushstrokes and appears more abstract. Landscapes have always been a popular theme, and sometimes these appear bizarre to the Western eye. To the Chinese painter, they may represent a figurative view painted with a few swift strokes of the artist's brush.
With their stress on simplicity and economy, Chinese calligraphy, painting, and poetry are closely related. In all of them, the artist seeks to express both inner harmony and harmony with the natural surroundings. Chinese poets and painters often have sought inspiration by withdrawing to isolated, mountainous areas, and these landscapes have become conventional themes of Chinese art. Similarly, Chinese architecture has traditionally aimed to convey harmony with society and nature.
The magnificent life-size terra-cotta statues of men and horses, discovered in the early 1970s in the tomb of an emperor who died in 210 BC, provide some indication of the long history of Chinese sculpture. After the introduction of Buddhism into China, Buddhist subjects became dominant themes of the sculptor's art. Perhaps best known (and most copied) in the West, however, are the works of Chinese decorative artists, such as pottery, bronzes, lacquer ware, and exquisitely detailed jade and ivory carvings.
CHINESE SCULPTURE
Reports of the splendor of Asian art were brought to Europe by Marco Polo. By the 18th century Europeans not only possessed original ceramics, enamels, and furniture from the East but were adapting Asian designs and skills in their own products. Chinese Chippendale furniture and chinaware are examples. The art of Japan was brought into prominence in the mid-19th century in Paris by the Goncourt brothers, and it was Auguste Rodin who first gave public recognition to the sculpture of India. In the latter part of the 19th century, when artists were seeking inspiration for a newer, fresher art, these sources, together with those of Africa and Muslim countries, provided them with rich material.
The Chinese were master craftsmen and produced fine sculpture, especially in bronze. Although bronze casting existed a thousand years earlier, it was in the Chou period (1122-221 BC) that China developed the art to its peak.
This is evident in the great ceremonial vessels used by the nobility for ancestor worship. From tombs of the Han Empire (202 BC-AD 220) have come a rich variety of clay figures of people, animals, and household utensils designed to make life comfortable in the next world. Other objects are wrought in bronze, inlaid with silver and gold, and elaborately ornamented with abstract and fanciful designs. Carvings in jade and bas-reliefs on tomb walls also reached a high degree of excellence.
One of the most magnificent archaeological finds of the century was the tomb of Shi Huangdi at Xi'an, China. In March 1974 an underground chamber was found containing an army of more than 6,000 life-size terra-cotta soldiers of the late 3rd century BC. Other nearby chambers contained more than 1,400 ceramic figures of cavalrymen and chariots, all arranged in battle formation.
The prosperous T'ang Dynasty (618-907) developed Buddhist art to its highest level. Stone was a favorite medium for religious sculpture, and iron replaced bronze in the casting of figures. The glazed terra-cotta figures of this period are especially fine.
With the decline of Buddhism in the Sung period (960-1279), Chinese sculpture lost its vigor. Nevertheless, interesting works continued to be produced, such as the Bodhisattvas. In Japan Buddhism and its art followed the Chinese pattern.
This article was contributed by Jack Bookbinder, former Director of Art Education, Philadelphia Public Schools and by Christopher Lyon, Editor, Department of Public Information, The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
BUDDHIST ART
Visual art has been a useful instrument in bringing Buddhism to many people. Throughout Asia, drawings, paintings, and sculptures of the Buddha have been used for teaching and veneration.
uddhist art is not just decoration. Images of the Buddha show people what it looks like to have achieved Nirvana, total bliss. He is shown as calm and loving, usually with a soft smile and radiant energy. Some scenes show the Buddha at key moments of his life, for example, sitting under the Bo tree. Others illustrate his teachings. There is a story that tells of the Buddha offering his body as food for a hungry mother tiger and her cubs because he felt that all life was sacred. This scene is a popular visual theme in the cave temples of China and Japan.
ther Buddhist paintings illustrate the sacred writings, as stained glass windows were created to illustrate the Bible in many Christian churches. Since Buddhists believe that anyone can be on the path toward Enlightenment, these visual images of the Buddha along his own path are a helpful addition to the writings that people study. They make the texts more personal and inviting.
uddhist imagery has played a significant role in the development of sacred art and temple architecture throughout Asia. It is through the artistic images and temple remains that scholars have been able to trace the growth and spread of Buddhism. Artistic styles, for example, were carried from one culture to another as Buddhism spread throughout Asia. Many of the Buddhist images of China and Japan had their origin in India many centuries before.
uddhist sacred writings influenced the literature of the countries that accepted Buddhism as a religion. The oldest texts of Buddhism are the Pali Canon, the writings that are held most authentic by the older and more conservative school, the Theravada. These texts concentrate on the Theravada goal of the individual becoming a Buddha. The Mahayana school has for many centuries built on this base, but their writings are more keyed to their own philosophy of serving others.
ike the religion itself and the visual imagery, Buddhist sacred literature began in India and was spread in translation through Asia. Each country made the literature its own and was, in turn, influenced in other areas of cultural development by the teachings of the Buddha.
CHINESE POTTERY AND PORCELAIN
In China the potter's workmanship was lifted above the utilitarian level and became a fine art. The great work of the imperial potters at the peak of their excellence has never been equaled in modern times.
Pottery was made in China long before history was set down in writing. A coarse gray earthenware was made before the Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 BC), and a finer white pottery was made during this era. These vessels resemble in size and shape the Chinese bronze vessels of the same period, and it is likely that the bronzes were first copied from pottery.
It is from the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220) that the history of pottery making in China is ordinarily traced. The ancient Chinese had a custom of burying the dead with pottery images of people, animals, and possessions dear to them during life. These images have given modern students a clear insight into the life and customs of these people.
The period of disunity (220-581) is noted for vigorous modeling of figures, particularly of animals. The pottery horses of the T'ang Dynasty (618-907) are among the most celebrated examples of ancient Chinese art. Glaze was probably first used on the earthenware body in the Han Dynasty. By the time of the Sung Dynasty (960-1279), pottery of simple design was decorated with monochrome glazes. Celadon, or sea green, is probably the best known of these glazes.
Although crazed, or crackled, glazes appear to have been used before the Sung Dynasty, they are commonly associated with this period. This shrinking and cracking of the glaze, due to too rapid cooling, was probably first an accident of firing. The resulting effects were so attractive that crackled glazes became a studied effect in finer wares.
Porcelain gradually evolved in China, probably during the T'ang Dynasty. It grew out of earthenware by a process of refining materials and manufacturing techniques. This true porcelain, sometimes called hard-paste porcelain, was a combination of kaolin, or China clay, and petuntse, also known as feldspar or China stone. These ingredients were called by the Chinese the body and the bone of the porcelain.
The principal porcelain factory in China was the imperial plant at Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province. Pottery and porcelain probably were made there long before Jingdezhen became the seat of the imperial potteries under Emperor Chen Tsung about AD 1004. The Jesuit missionary Pere d'Entrecolles later described the city and the art of porcelain making in two letters written in China in 1712 and 1722. These brought to Europe for the first time a detailed account of Chinese porcelain manufacture. He described the great porcelain-making center of Jingdezhen as holding approximately a million people and some 3,000 kilns for ceramics.
The glazes and decorations made at the imperial factory were intended to reproduce natural colors. Some of the best-known glazes are celadon; peach bloom, like the skin of a ripening peach; apple green; sang de boeuf, or oxblood; and clair de lune, a pale gray blue resembling soft moonlight. The decoration called cracked ice is said to have been inspired by the reflection of sunny blue sky in the ice of a stream cracking with the first spring thaw.
The rice-grain decoration was achieved by cutting out the decoration from the porcelain body before glazing. The glaze then filled the cutout portions, which remained transparent after firing. Famille rose (rose or soft pink), famille verte (green), and famille noir (black) are decorations in which these colors are dominant.
The porcelains of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) were noted for boldness in form and decoration, with great variations in design. They include the blue and white wares, huge and heavy vessels for the imperial temples, and thin and delicate white eggshell porcelain. Great beauty in polychrome decoration was attained in the later Ch'ing, or Manchu, Dynasty (1644-1911), particularly in the reign of Emperor K'ang-hsi (1661-1722).
Some fine white porcelain was made at Dehua in the province of Fujian in South China from the 1400s to the 1700s. Some of this ware was brought to Europe by early traders, where it was known as blanc de chine. It provided many models for the early European porcelain makers.
During a rebellion in 1853 the imperial factory was burned. The rebels sacked the town, killing some potters and scattering others. The factory was rebuilt in 1864 but never regained its former excellence. With the end of the Manchu Dynasty in 1911, the long history of Chinese porcelain making drew to a close.
SILK - HISTORY
Sericulture dates back to about 2640 BC in ancient China. The Chinese Empress Hsi Ling Shi (venerated as the Goddess of Silk) gave her royal patronage to the silk industry. She invented the loom and applied it to the production of highly prized silk fabrics.
For some 3,000 years the secrets of silk production were closely guarded by the Chinese. It was not until about AD 300 that a secret mission from Japan succeeded in penetrating China. The members of the mission obtained silkworms and brought four Chinese girls back to Japan to teach the Japanese the art of sericulture and the uses of silk.
According to legend, the silk industry spread to India when a Chinese princess was given in marriage to an Indian prince. When she went to India, the princess carried silkworm eggs and mulberry seeds concealed in her headdress. From India the silk industry spread into Persia and Central Asia, then slowly filtered into the Mediterranean countries.
Beginning early in the 2nd century BC, caravans traveled the Silk Road, a 4,000-mile (6,400-kilometer) trade route linking China with the West. The route began in Sian in China and wound its way to the countries along the eastern Mediterranean shores. From there the silk was transported to Rome. The Silk Road did not begin to decline until the 7th century AD, when the sea trade routes from China became fully developed and were safer to travel than the Silk Road. The Silk Road allowed a highly lucrative trade in silk fabrics to develop.
In AD 552 two Persian monks sent to China by the emperor Justinian I succeeded in bringing back to Constantinople a small supply of silkworm eggs concealed in hollow canes. Constantinople became the center of the silk trade and retained that position until the 11th century.
The Renaissance greatly stimulated the cultivation, manufacture, and use of silk. In Flanders, Italy, and France industrial centers developed for weaving highly decorative and luxurious silk fabrics. In 1522 Hernando Cortez brought silkworm eggs and mulberry trees to Mexico from Spain . From the 17th to the 19th century, the silk industry became established in England and was introduced in most of the other countries of the world, though the industry did not flourish everywhere.
Today, silk has been replaced in many applications by synthetic fibers, which can be produced more cheaply and are generally stronger and easier to maintain. Nevertheless, the production of silk is so small compared with the total world fiber production that the development of synthetic fibers has had little effect on the silk industry overall. Particularly in the luxury apparel market, silk still reigns supreme. (See Clothing; Fibers, Man-Made; Fibers, Natural)
This article was contributed by Ian Holme, Senior Lecturer, Department of Textile Industries, University of Leeds, England.
CHINESE FOLK ART -
China and the Indian subcontinent have civilizations that date back thousands of years. Except for intermittent conquests, these cultures were relatively uninterrupted in their development, and industrialization arrived late. It is likely, therefore, that folk art in these regions has a history dating back to ancient times. Because of the great period of time involved, however, it is not always possible to distinguish true folk art from the tribal, or primitive, arts that may have persisted for several centuries. By contrast, folk art in Japan can be dated back only to the 17th century.
Chinese folk art is as extensive as any in the world. Each section of China had its own styles, and the entire output of art was enormous for both family and community use. The art associated with festivals, weddings, and funerals was extravagant even among the poor, and vestiges of it can still be seen in Chinese holiday celebrations.
Paper was invented in China, and much folk art using paper was devoted to making shop signs and festival objects. The design and execution of wood-block prints has already been noted.
The production of furniture provided some of the finest examples of Chinese folk art. Before the introduction of Buddhism from India in about the 1st century AD, the Chinese used little in the way of furniture, normally sitting on the floor cross-legged or on stools. Buddhism introduced a more formal kind of sitting on chairs with back rests, and with chairs came other types of furniture.
Chinese furniture was mainly of two types: plain hardwood pieces and lacquered wood pieces either inlaid with mother-of-pearl or elaborately carved. Both are products of the finest artisanship and have influenced furniture making in the West. The kinds of furniture produced are chairs, beds, stools, tables, wardrobes, chests, and finely painted screens. As time went on, of course, much of this manufacture moved from the province of pure folk art into the hands of artisans who made it their only occupation.

(http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/chinarts.html)

How to Start Chinese Brush Painting

1. Choose a style. Traditional Chinese painting has three styles:

2. Decide to combine these two styles, uniting detail and freedom of expression for effect.

Choose a subject. Chinese painting has five categories:

• Shan Shui or landscape painting, water, mountain, sky.
• Ren Wu or figure painting, primarily people.
• Quin Shou or animals, birds and insects.
• Hua Hui or flowers and blossoms.
• Hua Niao or a combination of flowers and birds.

3. Gather the essential materials.

• Brush
• Ink cake
• Water
• Inkstone
• Paper or silk. For your first time, it will be better to practice on paper until you get the hang of brush painting.

4, To make the ink, grind some of the ink cake in to the ink stone with a little bit of water. The 1 amount of water varies depending on the consistency of the ink that you want. Thick ink will appear glossy and deep on your paper. Thin ink (made with more water) will be more lively.

5. Keep in mind that brush painting is symbolic rather than just recording an image.

6. Start painting! Remember to make bold strokes - if you go to slow, the ink will bleed, but going too fast may result in mistakes. Find a speed with which to paint that is somewhere in the middle.

7. Change up the width of the stroke by slanting the brush to the side, or holding it completely horizontally to the paper.

8. Finished.

How to draw Orchid in Chinese brush painting

THE ROLE OF CALLIGRAPHY IN CHINESE ART

Since the 3rd century ce, calligraphy, or writing as a fine art, has been considered supreme among the visual arts in China. Not only does it require immense skill and fine judgment, but it is regarded as uniquely revealing of the character and breadth of cultivation of the writer. Since the time when inscribed oracle bones and tortoise shells (China’s oldest extant writing) were used for divination in theShang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 bce), calligraphy has been associated with spiritual communication and has been viewed in terms of the writer’s own spiritual attunement. It is believed that the appreciation and production of calligraphy requires lofty personal qualities and unusual aesthetic sensitivity. The comprehension of its finer points is thought to require experience and sensibility of a high order.

The Chinese painter uses essentially the same materials as the calligrapher—brush, ink, and silk or paper—and the Chinese judge his work by the same criteria they use for the calligrapher, basically the vitality and expressiveness of the brushstroke itself and the harmonious rhythm of the whole composition. Painting in China is, therefore, essentially a linear art. The painters of most periods were not concerned with striving for originality or conveying a sense of reality and three-dimensional mass through aids such as shading and perspective; rather, they focused on using silk or paper to transmit, through the rhythmic movement of the brushstroke, an awareness of the inner life of things.

The aesthetics of line in calligraphy and painting have had a significant influence on the other arts in China. In the motifs that adorn the ritual bronzes, in the flow of the drapery over the surface of Buddhist sculpture, and in the decoration of lacquerware, pottery, andcloisonné enamel (wares decorated with enamel of different colours separated by strips of metal), it is the rhythmic movement of the line, following the natural movement of the artist’s or craftsman’s hand, that to a large extent determines the form and gives to Chinese art as a whole its remarkable harmony and unity of style.

Characteristic themes and symbols

In early times Chinese art often served as a means to submit to the will of heaven through ritual and sacrifice. Archaic bronze vessels were made for sacrifices to heaven and to the spirits of clan ancestors, who were believed to influence the living for good if the rites were properly and regularly performed.

Chinese society, basically agricultural, has always laid great stress on understanding the pattern of nature and living in accordance with it. The world of nature was seen as the visible manifestation of the workings of a higher power through the generative interaction of the yin-yang (female-male) dualism. As it developed, the purpose of Chinese art turned from propitiation and sacrifice to the expression of human understanding of these forces, in the form of painting of landscapes, bamboo, birds, and flowers. This might be called the metaphysical, Daoist aspect of Chinese painting.

Particularly in early times, art also had social and moral functions. The earliest wall paintings referred to in ancient texts depicted benevolent emperors, sages, virtuous ministers, loyal generals, and their evil opposites as examples and warnings to the living. Portrait painting also had this moral function, depicting not the features of the subject so much as his or her character and role in society. Court painters were called upon to depict auspicious and memorable events. This was the ethical, Confucian function of painting. High religious art as such is foreign to China. Popular folk religion was seldom an inspiration to great works of art, and Buddhism, which indeed produced many masterpieces of a special kind, was a foreign import.

Human relationships have always been of supreme importance in China, and a common theme of figure painting is that of gentlemen enjoying scholarly pursuits together or of the poignant partings and infrequent reunions that were the lot of officials whose appointments took them across the country.

Among the typical themes of traditional Chinese art there is no place for war, violence, the nude, death, or martyrdom. Nor is inanimate matter ever painted for art’s sake: the very rocks and streams are felt to be alive, visible manifestations of the invisible forces of the universe. No theme would be accepted in traditional Chinese art that was not inspiring, noble, refreshing to the spirit, or at least charming. Nor is there any place in most of the Chinese artistic tradition for an art of pure form divorced from content: it is not enough for the form to be beautiful if the subject matter is unedifying. In the broadest sense, therefore, all traditional Chinese art is symbolic, for everything that is painted reflects some aspect of a totality of which the painter is intuitively aware. At the same time, Chinese art is full of symbols of a more specific kind, some with various possible meanings. Bamboo suggests the spirit of the scholar, which can be bent by circumstance but never broken, and jade symbolizes purity and indestructibility. The dragon, in remote antiquity perhaps an alligator or rain deity, is the wholly benevolent symbol of the emperor; the crane symbolizes long life; and paired mandarin ducks symbolize wedded fidelity. Popular among the many symbols drawn from the plant world are the orchid, a Confucian symbol of purity and loyalty; the winter plum, which blossoms even in the snow and stands for irrepressible purity, in either a revolutionary political or a spiritual sense; and the gnarled pine tree, which may represent either survival in a harsh political environment or the unconquerable spirit of old age.

Beginning of my project

For my project, I am trying to mix two culture together. At the beginning i try to work out some landscape drawing, using watercolour with Chinese style. Mostly focus on sunset and seaside landscape; one of the artist I study on is 'William Turner'. I did experiment on different way to joining two different style painting together, using famous landscape painting for the background and

English Landscape Painters

With its verdant rolling hillsides, quirky seaside villages and red telephone boxes sporadically positioned down country lanes, England possesses truly unique and inimitable landscapes. By boasting such a distinct and beautiful landscape, England has naturally spawned many great landscape painters, whose creations expertly encapsulate the beauty of England on canvas.

The flowering of English landscape painters emerged in the first half of the 1800s, fundamentally generated by one master of English landscape artist, John Constable.

John Constable

Born in Suffolk in 1776, John Constable became one of the major European landscape artists of the nineteenth century. This English Romantic painter’s art was admired by the likes of Gericaultand Delacroix and is even believed to have made a mark on the Impressionists.

Although Constable was deeply influenced by watercolours of Thomas Girtin and the work of Claude Lorrain, in the second decade of the twentieth century the artist considerably altered his method from the realistic agrarian landscapes he was known for, such as the Ploughing Scene in Suffolk (A Summerland) (1814).

In fact, so inspired was John Constable by his surroundings of prolific natural beauty in Suffolk that the area he regularly painted, particularly his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, is now known as “Constable Country.”

John Piper

John Piper is widely cited as being one of the most prominent English landscape painters of the 20^th century. Spending much of his life living at Fawley Bottom in Buckinghamshire,John Piper produced paintings of architecture, landscape and abstract compositions, many of which was inspired by the beauty of Buckinghamshire.
This highly acclaimed British landscapist was particularly known for his romantic landscapes and views of old, ruined churches, castles and stately homes. A good example is Piper’s Covehithe Church (1983), with its playful brushstrokes and almost eerie use of blues, blacks, greens and whites, proficiently depicts how ruined English churches look in the moonlight. In fact so highly regarded have John Piper’s paintings become that Piper is broadly considered to be one of the most significant British artists of the 20^th century.

David Hockney

Since the beginning of the eighteenth century when landscapes became an English speciality, with a buoyant number of professional English landscape painters making an eternal impression on how art subsequently evolved, landscape painting in England still retains its unique allurement today as it did in the 1900s.
One contemporary English landscape artist that is managing to maintain England’s unique natural beauty within an artistic sphere is David Hockney, a contemporary English painter, photographer and stage designer, based in both Bridlington, Yorkshire and in Kensington, London.
Similarly, how John Constable painted the beauty and charm of the Suffolk countryside, Hockney recreates the scenic pleasure out of his window but with an ultra-modern twist – by using an iPad as his canvas.
Whilst many of this era are self-admitted techophobes, Hockney draws the flowers of his English garden on his iPad every morning and endeavours to look at the landscape through a variety of media: oil, charcoal, film and the iPad.

Artist studies : William Turner

William Turner (12 November 1789 – 7 August 1862) was an English painter who specialised in watercolourlandscapes. He was a contemporary of the more famous artist J. M. W. Turner and his style was not dissimilar. He is often known as William Turner of Oxford or justTurner of Oxford to distinguish him from his better known namesake. Many of Turner's paintings depicted the countryside around Oxford. One of his best known pictures is a view of the city of Oxford from Hinksey Hill.

In 1895 the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford held a retrospective exhibition of his work. Some of his paintings are still on permanent display at the museum. In 1984 the Oxfordshire County Council presented his work in an exhibition at the Oxfordshire County Museumin Woodstock. His paintings are also held in national and international collections, for example at the Tate Gallery(London, UK), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City, U.S.) and the Dunedin Public Art Gallery (New Zealand).

This History

By the late Tang dynasty, landscape painting had evolved into an independent genre that embodied the universal longing of cultivated men to escape their quotidian world to commune with nature. Such images might also convey specific social, philosophical, or political convictions. As the Tang dynasty disintegrated, the concept of withdrawal into the natural world became a major thematic focus of poets and painters. Faced with the failure of the human order, learned men sought permanence within the natural world, retreating into the mountains to find a sanctuary from the chaos of dynastic collapse.

During the early Song dynasty, visions of the natural hierarchy became metaphors for the well-regulated state. At the same time, images of the private retreat proliferated among a new class of scholar-officials. These men extolled the virtues of self-cultivation—often in response to political setbacks or career disappointments—and asserted their identity as literati through poetry, calligraphy, and a new style of painting that employed calligraphic brushwork for self-expressive ends. The monochrome images of old trees, bamboo, rocks, and retirement retreats created by these scholar-artists became emblems of their character and spirit.

Under the Mongol Yuan dynasty, when many educated Chinese were barred from government service, the model of the Song literati retreat evolved into a full-blown alternative culture as this disenfranchised elite transformed their estates into sites for literary gatherings and other cultural pursuits. These gatherings were frequently commemorated in paintings that, rather than presenting a realistic depiction of an actual place, conveyed the shared cultural ideals of a reclusive world through a symbolic shorthand in which a villa might be represented by a humble thatched hut. Because a man's studio or garden could be viewed as an extension of himself, paintings of such places often served to express the values of their owner.

The Yuan dynasty also witnessed the burgeoning of a second kind of cultivated landscape, the "mind landscape," which embodied both learned references to the styles of earlier masters and, through calligraphic brushwork, the inner spirit of the artist. Going beyond representation, scholar-artists imbued their paintings with personal feelings. By evoking select antique styles, they could also identify themselves with the values associated with the old masters. Painting was no longer about the description of the visible world; it became a means of conveying the inner landscape of the artist's heart and mind.

During the Ming dynasty, when native Chinese rule was restored, court artists produced conservative images that revived the Song metaphor for the state as a well-ordered imperial garden, while literati painters pursued self-expressive goals through the stylistic language of Yuan scholar-artists. Shen Zhou (1427–1509), the patriarch of the Wu school of painting centered in the cosmopolitan city of Suzhou, and his preeminent follower Wen Zhengming (1470–1559) exemplified Ming literati ideals. Both men chose to reside at home rather than follow official careers, devoting themselves to self-cultivation through a lifetime spent reinterpreting the styles of Yuan scholar-painters.

Morally charged images of reclusion remained a potent political symbol during the early years of the Manchu Qing dynasty, a period in which many Ming loyalists lived in self-enforced retirement. Often lacking access to important collections of old masters, loyalist artists drew inspiration from the natural beauty of the local scenery.

Images of nature have remained a potent source of inspiration for artists down to the present day. While the Chinese landscape has been transformed by millennia of human occupation, Chinese artistic expression has also been deeply imprinted with images of the natural world. Viewing Chinese landscape paintings, it is clear that Chinese depictions of nature are seldom mere representations of the external world. Rather, they are expressions of the mind and heart of the individual artists—cultivated landscapes that embody the culture and cultivation of their masters.

(http://www.galleryofchina.net/index.php?target=pages&page_id=tcp_landscape)

Learning drawing skills

A Modern Master's Views on Traditional Chinese Painting

Mei Mosheng

Along with many other modern Chinese artists who were influenced by the May 4th Youth Movement [the Chinese student-led nationalist movement ignited by demonstrations in 1919 in Beijing], Li Keran [1907-1989] played an important role in pioneering new approaches to traditional Chinese painting in the 20th century. A great modern master of landscape painting, Li devoted his life to the learning and practice of the art, and he developed a unique style of his own highly appreciated in Chinese art circles. Although he was in failing health in his 80th year, Li Keran was still energetic about his career and his art.

"Everyone has to face the death, it’s not that terrible. But my concern is that I still have many things to do. Once I have done what I want to do, then I will face death with no regrets at all."

The overwhelming task Li Keran set for himself in the two years before he died in 1989 was to address what he saw as the comparatively low regard for traditional Chinese painting not only abroad, but also at home. It made him very sad, he said, that some Chinese people so seriously underestimated their own arts.

"They don’t have basic confidence," he said.

Li Keran himself had no such doubts, asserting that the art form itself would never pass away and pointing to such prime expressions of artistic richness and creativity in traditional Chinese painting as the Dunhuang frescos, the scroll painting entitled, "The Festival of Pure Brightness on the River," and others. The high artistic level featured in such traditional Chinese paintings was amazing even to many western avant-garde artists, Li Keran said. He noted that landscape painting by the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) already had reached a very high level and that the beauty of expression and depth of meaning unique to traditional Chinese painting enables it to holds its own in even the most brilliant realms of world art.

"The strength of Chinese painting does not lie in its use of color, rather in its use of pen and ink to produce an unique beauty that cannot be compared to any other painting style. The kind of charm the Chinese painting expresses is vivid and poetic, containing all kinds of philosophical meaning within it," Li Keran said. He saw as part of that charm a deep association with the development of human civilization that assures that traditional Chinese paintings as an art form will never come to an end.

Li Keran argued that the works of the great ancient Chinese painters such as Fan Kuan, Xing Hao, Guo Xi, Li Tang, Bada Shanren, Shi Tao, Gong Xian and Shi Xi are of equal merit to those of the great western painters, and he deplored that works by these Chinese artists did not command the same market price as those by western artists such as Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet or Matisse.

That the price of traditional Chinese paintings is always much lower than the value they truly bear can be attributed in part to China’s attaching little importance to publicizing its own arts, Li Keran said.

"So naturally westerners would know little about our arts," he added.

Li Keran blamed a number of economic, social and historical reasons for the lack of proper esteem for traditional Chinese painting. Emphasizing that the state of a nation’s economics and politics also has an impact on it arts, he said that if a nation is poor or fragile, its national arts will not be highly respected by others. In the last years of the Qing Dynasty [early 20th century], Li Keran said that the arts suffered when serious government corruption and state decay caused the country to lack confidence politically and economically. The arts fell into a mire of conservatism, pessimism – devoid of life and without creative imagination or aesthetic feeling. Such failure in the arts during that period continued to have a negative affect on traditional Chinese painting.

Commodity economy also plays a part, Li Keran said. The huge prices that certain works of art demand enticed many painters to focus on producing commercial works of no artistic value, turning away from working to improve the quality of art itself to instead cater to the tastes of consumers.

If traditional Chinese painting is to achieve the respect it deserves, Li Keran said Chinese painters must not cater to the interests of others, and especially they should not to be influenced by any western masterpieces. Rather Chinese artists should nurture national confidence and improve the quality of their own art in every aspect. He emphasized that this can not be the work of one person or several person’s but rather a commitment by all sincere artists.

"If our Chinese artists pay little attention to the spirit of nationalism and to the national characteristics, we can expect that even Chinese will disregard our own arts, let alone others. Of course, we need to learn the strong points of other art forms, but it doesn’t mean that we should underestimate our own arts," Li Keran said.

Li Keran observed that only those who have moral integrity, ambition, and only those who are willing to work hard with persistence can achieve the goals that he had in mind. At the same time, he expressed deep concern that many Chinese artists seemed to lack a sense of responsibility necessary to broaden either national feeling or the national arts.

Though beset by illness and other sufferings, Li Keran pursued his art in his later years, making down-to-earth efforts to live up to his expressed views about what it meant to be a righteous person as well as one devoted to Chinese painting. He left the impression of a man of integrity and unquestionable uprightness, persevering in his strong love of the arts.

Li Keran’s deep understanding of art and aesthetics are worth careful study, especially in regard to the national feeling that runs as a thread throughout a lifetime of devotion to Chinese arts. Though many artists have expressed their respect for the country’s artistic heritage by incorporating the national characteristics, national tastes and national spirit into their art works, no one approached Li Keran in his persistent application of his beliefs in his art practice throughout his whole life. His legacy to us in work and thought should help inspire us to develop our own arts in a way that will both contribute to society and give the world a better appreciation of Chinese traditional painting.

([Guangming Daily], November 15, 2001, an excerpt from Critical Analysis of Contemporary Artists and Painters by Mei Mosheng, published in 1999 by Beijing Library Press)

Top 10 most famous Chinese paintings

Chinese paintings feature some of the world's longest held artistic disciplines and traditions. These paintings with an array of distinctive oriental styles record China's long history and reflect its beautiful landscapes. The following are the 10 most famous paintings of China, in no particular order.

10. One Hundred Horses 

"One Hundred Horses" was drawn by Lang Shining in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Lang was a missionary from Italy with birth name Giuseppe Castiglione. Working as a court painter in China for over 50 years, his talent in painting was regarded highly by Chinese emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong. He helped to create a hybrid style that combined the Western realism with traditional Chinese composition and brushwork.

Lang was skilled at painting horses, and "One Hundred Horses" is one of his representative works. This paper painting, 813 cm long and 102 cm wide, captures 100 horses in various postures. They are kneeling, standing, eating and running on the grassland – staying alone and among groups. The artwork is now preserved in the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

9.  Spring Morning in the Han Palace

"Spring Morning in the Han Palace" was drawn by Qiu Ying, who specialized in the gongbi brush technique. He was regarded as one of the Four Great Masters of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Qiu's use of the brush was meticulous and refined, and his depictions of landscapes and figures were orderly and well-proportioned. In addition to his paintings being elegant and refined, they are also quite decorative.

This particular painting is 574.1 cm long and 30.6 cm wide. This hand scroll work is a representation of various daily activities in the palace in the early spring, such as enjoying the zither, watering and arranging flowers, and playing chess. There are 115 characters in the painting, most of them concubines. There are also imperial children, eunuchs and painters. The painting is rendered with crisp brushwork and vivid colors. Trees and rocks decorate and punctuate the garden scenery of the lavish palace architecture.

8.

Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains

"Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains" is the magnum opus and one of the few surviving works by the painter Huang Gongwang in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). Many consider him a member of the "four great masters of the Yuan." He spent his last years in the Fuchun Mountains near Hangzhou and completed this painting in 1350.

The painting was drawn in black ink on paper. It vividly portrays the beautiful landscape on the banks of Fuchun River, rendering the mountains, trees, clouds and villages and capturing the essence of the natural scenes in Southern China. It is regarded as the best landscape ink painting in China's art history.

Unfortunately, the masterpiece was damaged by fire and split into two pieces in 1650. Today, the first piece, 51.4 cm long and 31.8 cm wide, is kept in the Zhejiang Provincial Museum in Hangzhou, while the second piece, 636.9 cm long and 33 cm wide, is kept in the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

7. 

A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains

"A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains" by Wang Ximeng, Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), is a landscape painting masterpiece of ancient China. It is now part of the collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing.

Wang was one of the most renowned palace painters of the time. He became a student of the Imperial Painting Academy, and was taught personally by Emperor Huizong of Song. He finished this painting when he was only 18. Unfortunately, as a genius painter, he died very young in his 20s.

The hand scroll is 1,191.5 cm long and 51.5 cm wide. Heavy ink strokes of black and other colors vividly depict mountains, lakes, villages, houses, bridges, ships pavilions and people. It is one of the largest paintings in Chinese history and has been described as one of the greatest works.

6. Han Xizai Gives A Night Banquet

"Han Xizai Gives A Night Banquet" is a scroll drawn by Gu Hongzhong, a painter in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907-960). It is now housed in the Palace Museum in Beijing.

The main character Han Xizai in the painting was a high official in Southern Tang, but later attracted suspicion from the Emperor Li Yu. To protect himself, Han pretended to withdraw from politics and become addicted to a befuddled life full of entertainment. Li sent Gu from the Imperial Academy to record Han's private life, leading Gu to produce this famous artwork.

This painting, depicting scenes of Han's banquet, narrates through five distinct sections: Han Xizai listens to the pipa (a Chinese instrument) with his guests; Han beats a drum for the dancers; Han takes a rest during the break; Han listens to the wind music; and the guests talk with the singers. There are more than 40 characters in the paintings, all of the lifelike figures with different expressions and postures. The painting was Gu's most well-known work, as well as one of the most outstanding artwork from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

5. 

Five Oxen

"Five Oxen" is a painting by Han Huang, a prime minister in the Tang Dynasty (618–907). The painting was lost during the occupation of Beijing by the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900 and later recovered from a collector in Hong Kong during the early 1950s. Now it is stored in the Palace Museum in Beijing.

The painting is 139.8 cm long and 20.8 cm wide. The five oxen in varied postures and colors in the painting are drawn with thick, heavy and earthy brushstrokes. They are endowed with subtle human characteristics, delivering the spirit of the willingness to bear the burden of hard labor without complaints.

Most of the paintings recovered from ancient China are of flowers, birds and human figures. This painting is the only one with oxen as its subject that are represented so vividly, making the painting one of the best animal paintings in China's art history.

4. Noble Ladies in Tang Dynasty

"Noble Ladies in Tang Dynasty" are a serial of paintings drawn by Zhang Xuan and Zhou Fang, two of the most influential figure painters during the Tang dynasty (618–907), when the paintings of noble ladies became very popular.

The paintings depict the leisurely, lonely and peaceful life of the ladies at court, who are shown to be beautiful, dignified and graceful. Zhang Xuan was famous for integrating lifelikeness and casting a mood when painting life scenes of noble families. Zhou Fang was known for drawing the full-figure court ladies with soft and bright colors.

The paintings are spread around in the collections of museums nationwide.

3. Emperor Taizong Receiving the Tibetan Envoy

"Emperor Taizong Receiving the Tibetan Envoy" painter Yan Liben was one of the most revered Chinese figure painters in the early years of the Tang dynasty (618–907). The painting is a work of both historical and artistic value, collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing.

The painting is 129.6 cm long and 38.5 cm wide, drawn on the tough silk, depicting the friendly encounter between the Tang dynasty and Tubo in 641.

In the painting, the emperor sits on a sedan surrounded by maids holding fans and canopy. He looks composed and peaceful. On the left, one person in red is the official in the royal court. The envoy stands aside formally and holds the emperor in awe. The last person is an interpreter.

2. Nymph of the Luo River

"Nymph of the Luo River" by Gu Kaizhi of Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420) illustrates a romantic poem by Cao Zhi from the state of Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. The copy collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing is a facsimile of the original made during the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

The narrative silk scroll depicts the meeting and the eventual separation of Cao Zhi and the Nymph of the Luo River; the art captures the tension through the composition of the figures, stones, trees and mountains. The painting is one of the most important Chinese artworks, representing the beginning of the development of Chinese landscape paintings.

1.

 Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival

"Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" is a panoramic painting by Zhang Zeduan, an artist in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). It is the only existing masterpiece from Zhang, and has been collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing as a national treasure.

The hand scroll painting is 528.7 cm long and 24.8 cm wide. It provides a window to the period's economic activities in urban and rural areas, and captures the daily life of people of all ranks in the capital city of Bianjing (today's Kaifeng, Henan Province) during Qingming Festival in the Northern Song Dynasty. It is an important historical reference material for the study of the city then as well as the life its residents rich and poor.

The painting is composed of three parts: spring in the rural area, busy Bianhe River ports, and prosperous city streets. The painting is also known for its geometrically accurate images of variety natural elements and architectures, boats and bridges, market place and stores, people and scenery. Over 550 people in different clothes, expressions and postures are shown in the painting. It is often considered to be the most renowned work among all the Chinese paintings, and it has been called "China's Mona Lisa."