Product Description

"Chinese Landscapes Made Easy" shows you how to paint stunning landscapes in the classic Chinese style with a core material list of just six essential Chinese brushes. Starting with how to hold and control a Chinese brush, the author builds your confidence by demonstrating simple techniques on paper, before tackling more complex marks in conjunction with a series of painting 'lessons', each dedicated to a different key element of Chinese landscape painting. The projects section takes you through all the step-by-step techniques in order to complete your very own works of art. Each project has a colour palette and information on brushes to use, so you can be fully prepared. Master just two simple brushstrokes - 'dots' and 'long dots' - and you will be able to paint a simple waterfall. With more practice you can progress to more advanced strokes that enable you to depict subtle light reflections on land. With clear illustrations on key hand movements and easy-to-follow techniques, "Chinese Landscapes Made Easy" guides you all the way to mastering this beautiful form of landscape painting.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19386 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

About the Author
Rebecca Yue started learning Chinese brush painting at the age of ten. She is a very popular tutor in the west of England, where her systematic approach to learning draws a large number of devoted followers. She is the author of Chinese Calligraphy Made Easy and Chinese Flower Painting Made Easy, published by Collins & Brown in 2004. Rebecca lives in Bath, England.

Customer Reviews

Extremely helpful and beautiful book
Imagery of the tranquillity and poetry of nature has remained a compelling source of inspiration for artists throughout the millennia. In particular, Chinese landscape paintings, clearly depict nature as more than a mere facsimile of surroundings. Rather, they are abstract expressions of the heart and mind of the artist -- they are images that tell stories, exemplifying the depth and beauty of their surrounding culture.

In CHINESE LANDSCAPES MADE EASY, author and artist Rebecca Yue's comprehensive and methodical instruction, not only brings a beautifully painted Chinese landscape easily within reach of a novice artist, but also affords a glimpse into the old world techniques and inspiration behind the art.

Along with clear instructions, requisite materials and equipment are outlined and listed, which include: six basic, yet essential, Chinese brushes; various types and weight of paper to facilitate differing painting methods; ink; and other indispensable accessories. These items coupled with a little time, effort and imagination will help the artist master the basics of creating a beautiful finished painting.

The artist is artfully guided through the steps by systematic instructions, and diagrams, in how to manoeuvre the brushes, angling the brush on the painting surface, along with crucial techniques such as the "press and lift" and "dots and long dots" methods, dry and wet loading, two-color loading, and various brush strokes. The effects achieved by each technique are clearly demonstrated with illustrations and descriptive text.

In the beautifully illustrated "Moods & Seasons" and "Landscape Features" chapters, Yue utilizes her own paintings as a guide to clearly demonstrate how to piece together the elements learned in previous chapters, to produce an inspiring and stunning final painting.

In short, CHINESE LANDSCAPES MADE EASY encapsulates an entire comprehensive art course, which aids the budding artist through every step of creating a beautiful Chinese landscapes, and even facilitates the needs of more intermediate/advanced-level artist, seeking to improve skills in achieving a more true-to-form Chinese technique -- an art form, in its own right.

Landscape made fun

They say that most books are sold by their cover, if this is true then Rebecca Yue's latest book: Chinese Landscapes made easy must be flying off the bookshelves. After admiring the cover illustrations, I would then advise the user to turn to chapter 5, the gallery, towards the rear of the book. Here a selection of landscapes, from traditional terraced rice paddies and mountain scenes to less traditional Breton seascapes, providing more than enough incentive to return to the beginning of the book and work through the early chapters.

In chapters 1 and 2 using her usual clear, concise style Rebecca instructs the newcomer to Chinese Brush Painting through equipment choice and basic techniques. I like the valuable stress put on 'wrist and elbow' and 'press and lift' techniques and the choice of brush for each task.

However, the true beauty of Rebecca's book lies in her emphasis on capturing the emotion and feeling behind a landscape. This is where chapters 3 and 4 Landscape features and Moods and seasons come in. Chapter 3 concentrates on the landscape features needed to flesh out the basic structure of a painting (traditional Chinese features are continued in the appendix.) She works through wet and dry techniques and a variety of washes too. Chapter 4 concentrates on bringing seasonality into a painting and here Rebecca emphasises the need for the artist to plan ahead and have an idea of what the finished work should be.

The book is beautifully produced and very user friendly, not only for beginners. More advanced students will find the sections on spraying, splattering and washing both fun and useful too.