Chinese Traditional Landscape Paintings

Music out of the Tranquil Valley by Ding Jianhong (136x68 cm)

The Chinese have a longstanding passion for landscape painting. The tradional technique uses large sheets of strong, white paper. Black ink is mixed with water. With each dip of the brush, the artist progresses from heavy lines to light. No preliminary pattern is drawn on the paper; the artist simply begins painting. After the ink dries, the paper is turned over. A wash of watercolor is applied to the back side, so the wash doesn't run the ink. Then the painting is mounted on a stiffer paper and bordered with silk. It is either framed in wood or fixed like a scroll for easy transport. Landscape paintings can be quite large. A standard "small" size is 69x69 cm. Other typical sizes are 98x198, 132x240, and 136x68. The painting "Seeing Mountains in Dream" is a series of panels; the full size is 945x180 cm (31'x5'10"). Many of the images on this webpage have been cropped severely in order to fit them into a "thumbnail" format. Artists featured on this webpage:    Ding Jianghong    Cai Yinlong

Ding Jianhong
Ding Jianhong is a nationally-recognized painter of traditional Chinese landscapes. He lives in Xiangtan, Hunan. His biography states that he is an expert at "mountain-and-water painting in traditional and creative techniques. His artistic language is plain, emotional, and profound, from which we can sense his understanding of nature, society, and life."
The images shown here were scanned from the book, Painting Collections of Accomplished Chinese Trans-century Artists: Ding Jianhong, China Arts Association, Dec. 1999, ISBN 7-5314-2419-3 / J-1435.

Charm of the Stream	Quiet Village	Quiet Village	Small Scene in Deghang
Endless Path on Cloud-enveloped Mountain	Beautiful Scenery of XiJiang River	Beautiful Scenery of XiJiang River	Autumn Scenery of River and Village
Mountains in Green	Spring Scenery of Stream and Mountain	Spring Scenery of Stream and Mountain	Green Mountains and Far River
Village of the Dongs Surrounded by Stream	"Holy Water" Pavilion on Mount Ermei	Spring Morning Scene of a Village of the Dongs	Landscape of River and Mountain
Village of the Dongs Surrounded by Stream

Cai Yinlong
Cai Yinlong is a promising young painter of Chinese landscapes, in both traditional and creative techniques. He is described as a man who "never feels contented with repeating what the ancient artists have done or describing the landscape directly... Owing to his good nature, he is capable of understanding nature thoroughly, discovering the beautiful in it and creating emotionalism in his work."
The images shown here were scanned from the book, Painting Collections of Chinese Artists: Cai Yinlong, 2000, ISBN 7-102-02221-2.

Seeing Mountains in Dream	Village Scene in the Dusk	Mountains Clean in the Depth	Scenery of an Old Town
Yuanjiang River in the Morning Sunlight	Clear Day	Egrets Flying	Sun Rising from behind the Chilly Mountain

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