Way of the Brush: Painting Techniques of China and Japan Book

A sentence in the author's concluding remarks warns us, "While a knowledge of painting techniques may not always be prerequisite in judging a Western work of art, it is absolutely indispensable for the Westerner who wants to understand Eastern art" (p. 313). Way of the Brush launches one on the way--it introduces the most basic concepts of Chinese brush art often using the pairing of Chinese paintings to contrast one technique or style against another, along the way teaching the basic vocabulary of Chinese art critics (note, not necessarily the artists themselves). For example, in subject matter, the pairings of mountain and water (shansui), people and things (renwu), animal paintings or 'feather and fur' (lingmao), etc.

This is a larger, denser, and more demanding work than other introductions to the topic (for example, Jerome Silbergeld's Chinese Painting Style: Media, Methods, and Principles of Form) and some readers may find the frequent references to Japanese art--an area author Van Briessen knows exceedingly well--extraneous or even peripheral. However, do not let that dissuade you from investing the time (and the thought) laying the groundwork. It's a slow slog, and I personally found the sections on 'shaping lines' hard going, but it all came together later when the idea of 'dragon veins' (longmo) or 'connectives' is introduced and the idea of 'host and guest', or how an artist can 'have ink' or 'have brush' or even at the best of times, both.

Since I began the study of Chinese when Wade-Giles was shifting to Pinyin, I found the use of Wade-Giles only slightly troublesome; for those who weren't schooled in both transcription systems, be sure to download a WG-Pinyin cheat sheet to ease your way as the examples van Briessen has chosen represent many of the best painters of their periods and not learning their names along with their styles would be to squander half of the value of The Way of the Brush.

This is a book to read, then spend some months looking at Chinese paintings close-up, first hand, before returning to another read before returning again and again and again, each time with more knowing eyes.