Technique of blue and green landscape painting

Author: Xu Jun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-08-01
Features: The development of blue and green landscape painting reached its peak during the Tang and Song dynasties but gradually declined afterward. The reasons are multifaceted, most importantly, they can be categorized as follows:
First, from the rise of "literati painting" in the Song Dynasty to its flourishing in the Yuan Dynasty, literati scholars took control of the landscape painting scene, making styles like "ink wash" and "freestyle brushwork" the mainstream and the standard for evaluating art.
Second, creating blue and green landscape painting requires solid foundational skills, a deep understanding of traditional painting, perseverance, and meticulous attention to detail.
Third, the colors required for blue and green landscape painting are complex to produce, whereas ink painting requires much simpler materials.
Fourth, the in-depth exploration of painting theory by literati scholars and the full expression of ink materials led to the perfect unity of content and form in the "elegant and unrestrained" style of ink landscape painting, embodying traditional literati interests and personal ideals.