Chinese painting is known as Guohua

Chinese language learning is necessary for little kids. Chinese realistic painting is often very colorful and with a lot of details, it involves first drawing a basic outline of the object with a thin brush in black and then meticulously coloring in the detail with specialized brushes.

A famous example of this style is the painting from the Song dynasty by the artists Zhang Xuan called ‘Court ladies preparing newly woven silk’. It depicts an annual celebration where the court ladies would prepare silk, therefore opening a window to the past. See how all the court ladies are performing different tasks, and how each has been painted to express their individual character.

Unlike realistic painting,ink-wash painting is based on one color, black calligraphy ink. These paintings are stunning in that details are added by having different shades of black.

This is a great example of ink-wash technique done by Chen Rong is ‘nine dragons’, which plays on the Chinese mythology of the nine sons of the dragon king, the painting style itself focuses on the forces of nature based on Daoism. This painting is so famous that it can even be found in mosaics or painted on walls in China.