Using side brush in painting lotuses

Dear friends,

Besides the pulling brush and point brush, there are several other important methods of using the Chinese brush, including pian feng or side brush.

Side brush, used in both painting and calligraphy for broader strokes, is a most useful process, but, as we have seen in the earlier discussion of position and moving angles of the brush, its technique is not as simple as merely utilizing the side of the brush.

There must be constant adjustment of the two angles as well as pressure to achieve a desired result. In painting, side brush would be used when doing big leaves, large branches, a broad sweep of wash like sky, plain and field.

The lotus flower is the best subject for illustrating the side-brush technique. It is usually done in the Hsieh Yi style. In China, one finds lotus flowers in every district and acres of this flower crowd ponds in many villages.

The famous scholar of the Sung period in the 11th century, Chou Tuen-Yi, once published an essay on the lotus which praised this blossom as the gentleman of the flower world. Although it grows out of dirty mud, the lotus emerges beautiful and fragrant, like a man of high principles in an ugly society.

The lotus is an important Buddhist design as it is often used with the images. Different Buddhas and deities are often depicted standing or sitting among lotus petals. The lotus is a symbol of purity. In art, the lotus is indeed a superb subject. The stem is a long line, in contrast to its massive leaf, which is clearly done by side brush.

The lotus root grows in the mud under the water. From each joint grow two stems, one bud and one leaf. As it grows bigger, the rolled-up young leaf will start to open, as shown. Sometimes the leaf or the flower may be as high as seven feet above the water. A normal size for the lotus leaf is about 18 inches in diameter, and a flower in full bloom may be nine inches from side to side. The colors vary, from white, pink, yellow, pale green and dark red, but pink is most popular.

The brushwork for painting the flower is quite interesting. Since the general shape of each petal is like a spoon, the brush has to be twisted to produce this particular shape. Through utilizing this technique, the complete lotus flower is drawn (see picture).

The lotus leaf is a mass form. The ink should be used in the Po' Mo, or wash manner. The painting of the leaf (see picture) should begin from point 0 or the center. The stroke starts from point 0; the brush is held at about a 30 degree angle and moved back straight very quickly (otherwise it may deposit too much water on the paper, thus causing bleeding).

If every tip of the succeeding twenty strokes all covered at point 0, there would be chaos from the merging ink. Therefore, the tip of each stroke must be executed very fast and kept distinct. As the brush is moved, it should gradually turn to the left, and take a slanted position.

One increases the slanting angle all the way until the brush reaches the edge of the line, where the brush should be in a crossway position. Thus, the entire stroke is triangular in shape. With this same method the rest of the strokes to paint the first quadrant of the lotus leaf can be done.

The second quadrant of this leaf can be done in the same manner, but the direction of turning is changed, to the right instead of the left. The result will be exactly the same. The other two quadrants are done in a similar manner. In the last quadrant, the brush turns right.

-- David Kwo