Writings on the Techniques of Freehand Landscape Painting Stone and Rock: Learning Calligraphy and Painting in Old Age

Author: Sun Changkang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: The subject matter of landscape painting cannot truly be considered as such without depicting peaks, ridges, and rocks. Since the inception of landscape painting, artists have meticulously explored perfect and expressive techniques for rendering mountains and rocks. Over the centuries, landscape painters have created a wealth of techniques for depicting mountains and rocks through long-term practice of learning from nature and inheriting the experiences of predecessors. This is a complete set of rational rules: shaping typical images through deformation techniques, forming various expressive rock textures and peak rendering methods, as well as depicting mountains and rocks under different seasonal and atmospheric conditions. Generally speaking, according to ancient teachings, rocks and mountains are divided into two categories: northern and southern styles. Southern landscapes feature more trees and fewer rocks, while northern landscapes have more rocks and fewer trees. To depict different types of rocks and mountains, artists gradually developed distinctive painting styles based on natural characteristics. Southern rock textures include techniques such as the mottled brushwork, raindrop brushwork, rice grain brushwork, cloud head brushwork, and chaotic brushwork. Northern rock textures often employ techniques like the axe brushwork, broken belt brushwork, horse tooth brushwork, and scraping iron brushwork. These techniques are the accumulation of predecessors' experiences and must be learned and applied flexibly, combining with nature. One must not rigidly adhere to ancient methods. Learning to paint rocks and mountains must begin with painting rocks. Ancient masters taught that rocks have three sides, and attention must be paid to their volume, spatial sense, and (light and shadow) surfaces. Progressively, one should learn the rendering of peaks with different textures, focusing on the patterns, layers, textures, and interweaving of sparse and dense layers. Emphasize the front and back of peaks, their varying sizes, and the rules of their forms. Start with simplicity and gradually move to complexity, learning from the different typical rock textures of predecessors one by one. Observe and feel in nature, and then, in sketching and creative works, one can develop distinctive styles and innovations.