Use Chinese brush painting techniques to paint a still life

Painting Chinese cabbage

Learn how to paint a still life of pak choi, pepper and radish using Chinese brush painting techniques.

Pak choi, also called bok choy or Chinese cabbage, is a staple vegetable in China, where it is honoured as ‘king of vegetables’ for its pleasing taste.

With green leaves inside and white leaves outside, bok choy implies innocence – so it also symbolizes the literati’s virtue of behaving innocently.

In Mandarin Chinese, the vegetable’s name sounds similar to a phrase which means enormous wealth and good fortune – another reason for the high regard in which it’s held.

Demonstration: Crystal White and Green

Outline the outer leaves of the Chinese cabbage in light ink.

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Outline the inner leaves of the pak choi in light ink, wait for the ink to dry somewhat, then outline the leaf veins in thick ink and paint the root.

Mix scarlet red with a little eosin, then use the mix to paint the contours of the radish on the lower right of the composition.

Mix gamboge with phthalo blue, and use the mix for the radish’s leaves.

Outline the veins of the radish leaves with thick ink.

Paint the contour of a green pepper with the same green mix as earlier.

Paint the stem of green pepper with thick ink. Add an inscription and seal to the painting to finish.

SEE MORE CHINESE BRUSH PAINTING IDEAS

This Chinese brush painting demonstration is by Sun Chenggang and is additional to the spring chapter of the book, Chinese Brush painting Through The Seasons, published by Search Press.

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