I started a Chinese painting class, which is a lot of fun, and I've missed holding a real paint brush in my hand. The class is taught in both Cantonese and English, but most of the students speak Cantonese. We are given a demonstration and then told to copy it exactly. I like the teacher, he's so fast he makes it all look so easy. I'm having a bit of trouble adjusting to how wet or dry the brush should be, how much ink to use to create the values. It's not a super forgiving medium. Here's a running dialogue of what the teacher says when he comes around to see how I am progressing:
"This bamboo no good, too sharp at corner. This bamboo stalk too high. See mine? Must be lower than other bamboo. You paint too many leaves, only 3, not 4!"
Then he proceeds to circle all the areas on my painting where my bamboo has deviated from his. My bamboo must conform to the status, no individual bamboo here please!
"This bamboo no good, too sharp at corner. This bamboo stalk too high. See mine? Must be lower than other bamboo. You paint too many leaves, only 3, not 4!"
Then he proceeds to circle all the areas on my painting where my bamboo has deviated from his. My bamboo must conform to the status, no individual bamboo here please!
The Teacher's
My Sad Attempt!
