lovely readers, after at least four months of
working on this particular chinese beauty (and
throwing away countless others) i’m finally *finally*
done with my very first pretty lady painting! =D
this painting was such a challenge because of all
the different components: lady, dress, bamboo, tree,
blossoms, fan, rock… all of these i stressed over and
it was anyone’s guess if i wouldn’t simply ruin it with
a single mistake.
as i’ve said before, chinese brush painting is a very
unforgiving medium. you screw up, unless you can put
a bug over it or something, that’s basically the end of it. ha!
looking at this final piece, i can see where i could have
done better, but i’m very very proud that i actually finished
one entire painting and *didn’t* screw up in any major fashion.
the rice paper hasn’t been mounted yet and i didn’t alter
the background in photoshop, but it is on white rice paper,
therefore some rippling in the painting.
now, i’m looking forward to painting lotus this month! =D
currently reading:
Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel
18 Comments
She’s gorgeous! I especially think the landscape elements turned out great.
Oh Cindy, This is really beautiful! I love seeing your chinese brush work and seeing your progress. Thank you for sharing with us.
She’s beautiful! You’ve come a long way, Cindy!
You do your family proud, cindy!
Wow. I’m impressed!
thank you so much, sarah! the added elements were so important in complementing my lady. i’m glad you think they work well, i agree!
sonnie, you’ve known me since i started. thank you!
david, but do i do a PIC proud? =D
jan, thank you!
Just lovely!
Gorgeous work, Cindy! When you talk about screwing up, what exactly happens? I’m obviously very unfamiliar with Chinese brush painting, but I love seeing your work!
Beautiful! Some day soon you’ll do your one woman show!
Lovely work Cindy! I so enjoy Chinese art. Congratulations!
lisa, oh i can’t imagine it. but thank you!
thanks, lou for visiting and commenting!
elissa, great question. it could be *anything*. something as minor as goofing the line of her lips or eyes, getting the slope of her shoulder wrong, blotching the painting with too much ink. i actually spent two class lessons (that’s about 4 hours time) trying to get the shading of her skin just right. it *really* made me nervous. she needed color but she couldn’t be too dark either, being a woman of leisure from the inner quarters. there are infinite ways to botch a painting, alas.
She’s gorgeous, Cindy!
it’s beautiful! love the detail around the collar.
This is gorgeous! Congrats on finishing a really challenging project with a beautiful result!
aimee, i missed you first go.
thank you! so happy you enjoyed the
perk at process. i still want to visit
your teahouse in paris! when bubs are a
few years older…
tracy, thanks! that was fun! the draping was
challenging.
aww thanks m lo! i’ve been working on
pretty ladehs all year, it seems. ha!
Cindy, that is a beautiful piece! You make something so challenging look effortless. Kudos!
She’s beautiful. Is she going on the wall, or will she find her way into a book?