Chinese Pen and Ink

One of the more important parts of Chinese culture was the Chinese pen and ink, traditionally used for painting on Xuan paper or silk. Rather easily distinguished from Western pigments art because of the medium used (the paper and the brush), it was even said that a Chinese gentleman wouldn't be a scholar without his brush and ink; one of the so-called 5 Treasures. It is pretty obvious that the Chinese placed much importance on scholarly achievements: after all, they are one of the ancient world's more reknown inventors. So it isn't suprising that they, somehow, transfered that importance to their medium of expression too: the brush.

The ink of the brush was made mostly from mineral and vegetable dyes, grounded by the scholar's squire while the gentleman in question did the writing. To attain proficiency in this branch of art calls for assiduous exercise, a good control of the brush, and a feel and knowledge of the qualities of the paper and Chinese ink. After all, this wasn't ordinary paper and hard-nibbed pen you were talking about here, but rather something that was dynamic and flowed with your hand movements. It was a particuarly graceful thing to watch, a Chinese painter at work, his long sleeve held up with one hand while the other hurried across the page with the many swirls and curls reserved for Chinese caligraphy.

Chinese Brush

It is also interesting to note that the painter is also often a caligrapher, poet and seal-cutter at once, because it is the norm for the painter to add a suitable poem to his work after it is completed. Rather than pen his name, he would stamp his personal seal in the corner of the painting too, a seal which he most likely carved out himself too.

One of the more important parts of Chinese culture was the Chinese pen and ink, traditionally used for painting on Xuan paper or silk. Rather easily distinguished from Western pigments art because of the medium used (the paper and the brush), it was even said that a Chinese gentleman wouldn't be a scholar without his brush and ink; one of the so-called 5 Treasures. It is pretty obvious that the Chinese placed much importance on scholarly achievements: after all, they are one of the ancient world's more reknown inventors. So it isn't suprising that they, somehow, transfered that importance to their medium of expression too: the brush.
The ink of the brush was made mostly from mineral and vegetable dyes, grounded by the scholar's squire while the gentleman in question did the writing. To attain proficiency in this branch of art calls for assiduous exercise, a good control of the brush, and a feel and knowledge of the qualities of the paper and Chinese ink. After all, this wasn't ordinary paper and hard-nibbed pen you were talking about here, but rather something that was dynamic and flowed with your hand movements. It was a particuarly graceful thing to watch, a Chinese painter at work, his long sleeve held up with one hand while the other hurried across the page with the many swirls and curls reserved for Chinese caligraphy.	Chinese Brush
It is also interesting to note that the painter is also often a caligrapher, poet and seal-cutter at once, because it is the norm for the painter to add a suitable poem to his work after it is completed. Rather than pen his name, he would stamp his personal seal in the corner of the painting too, a seal which he most likely carved out himself too.