Painting Crane Techniques

Author: Wei Kaqi, Zhu Qidong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-05-01
Features: The crane has an extraordinary and long life. Due to its graceful form and elegant demeanor, as well as its ability to sing and dance, it is revered as a celestial bird and is also called a fairy crane. In people's hearts, the crane holds a unique image and status. From ancient times, both the nobility and the common folk have been deeply fond of it, making it a model for praise and depiction by scholars, painters, and poets throughout the generations. Generations of painters and poets have poured their deep affection into it, adding many mystical elements to its image. The Song Dynasty poet Lin Bu was deeply fond of plum blossoms and even more so of raising cranes. He remained a hermit his whole life, never taking an official position or marrying, living alone on the isolated mountain of West Lake with plum blossoms and cranes. He was later praised for having plum blossoms as his wife and cranes as his children. Learning Chinese painting, copying is very important and is also one of the indispensable methods. The ancients called it "transferring and copying." Copying is a method and means of learning, not the goal. Through copying, one learns and masters the traditional brush and ink techniques, seeking not mere resemblance but spiritual likeness. Only through diligent study and practice, accumulating more brush and ink skills and painting knowledge, can one become adept at sketching and creation.