Painting Essay
- Which specific calligraphy scripts can you recognize from the documentary? Please give examples from the documentary.
At 2:56, I can recognize that it is a shell-and-bone script since it has calligraphy on animal bones. At 4:20 and 5:40, great seal script calligraphy was written. At 6:59, 7:24, 8:35, 14:12, and 18:40, an ancient-style script was written. At 8:43, the official style was written by a teacher. Regular style was shown at 9:02 and 10:59. At 11:04, street calligraphy and at 21:25, a paper showed a running style script. At 13:55, 15:36, and 16:39, the grass script style is shown.
- How did Chinese calligraphy influence Chinese painting? What is the relationship between Chinese calligraphy and Chinese painting? Please give examples from class lectures and from the documentary.
Chinese calligraphy influenced Chinese painting through its philosophy, brushwork, and use of the same materials. They both originated in ancient Chinese scripts and used the same types of brush, ink, and paper or silk. The strokes used in Chinese calligraphy are also used in a similar setting for Chinese painting. “Admonition of the imperial instructress” by Gu Kai-Zhi used strokes that were similar to the Small Seal Style. “Immortal” by Liang Kai uses strokes that are similar to the Running style. According to the documentary at 25:13, Chinese painting and Chinese calligraphy use the same brush, allowing for enough pressure and thickness modification, which allows for artistic expression.
- What is the relationship between painters and calligraphers? Give your own opinions from your own understanding of the class and from the documentary.
The relationship between painters and calligraphers is like that of siblings in the Chinese visual arts, as they originated from the same place and are very similar. Calligraphy shows more of the characters and language, while painting shows more imagery. The lectures have shown that painting uses strokes identical to those in calligraphy’s style scripts. The documentary stated that both of them used the same materials and paintings, and that they mostly used black ink. The difference is that calligraphy would require the same level of thickness and darkness, whereas painting could differ in thickness and lightness to give a better image.
- What is the difference between the Northern School painting and the Southern School painting? How were these two schools divided in history? Which school of painting do you prefer and why?
The Northern School painting was used to describe those who desired to paint outward appearances with bright, realistic colors, and the Southern School painting was used to describe those who wanted to paint in a realistic style with black ink. These two schools were divided by the fact that a Western painting had influenced their ways of seeing. The Northern School had taken an interest in Western painting and was inspired by its realistic art style. The Southern School disapproved of Western painting because it did not reveal the hidden meaning beneath its surface. I prefer the Northern School painting because it uses a variety of colors rather than just one.
- From what you studied in Chapter 9, what are the three genres of Chinese painting? Which genre do you like the most and why?
The three genres of Chinese painting are figure painting, landscape painting, and bird-and-flower painting. I like the genre of bird-and-flower painting the most because I enjoy seeing art of birds and flowers rather than of human beings, animals, or landscapes. It looks more aestheticallpleasing to mees and seems to convey messages I cabetter understand than the other two genres. Landscape painting seems like a huge picture, with a lot of details for me to understand and appreciate. I also don’t seem to understand figure painting, since I can’t tell what's going on in it or what it is trying to say.