Outward appearance
For the first time that you are appreciating the Chinese paintings, it is not so easy just to enjoy the pictures, but also the following -to see whether they are exquisite.
The painting
We may see the painter’s achievement by his works and the image by the refection of the painting. Usually, we make subjective judgment on the painting-good or bad, which is greatly effected by the painting.
Calligraphy
The Chinese paintings are different from the western ones, of which, the calligraphy is a fact. On the Chinese paintings, there are always some poems, which are the spirits of the painting, and poems are like the fishing touch, making it vivid as well. The calligraphy on the painting has also a great affect on the painting, and for this reason, many not so excellent painters don’t have inscriptions and leave their names only, which is also the reflection of their skill level.
Seal
There are many aspects for use on the paintings: the painter’s stamp, the inscriber’s personal seal, the seal cutting, appreciation chop and the identification seal etc, and the seal’s sculpture craft, sculpturing contents as well as the stamping location can all be judged for their evaluation, of which, stamps on the ancient paintings have the seals of the emperor, the masters, painting collectors and the connoisseurs for distinguishing fact from fable.
Mounting
The Chinese paintings have their unique mountings, and the two major ones are the paper mounting and aya mounting, of which, the paper mounting is thicker and the aya mounting is finer, with their color, width, mat, the jointing point and the mounting work so fancy.
Inner beauty
The Chinese people appreciate the calligraphy and painting not only on its surface, they pay more attention on the interrelationship of the work-related and the author-related staff.
Skills
The beginner of calligraphy and painting will never master the skills of the experience after many years, and the particular one is the calligraphy- the ones with rich experience have powerful stroke and vivid impression, also the Chinese painting-its lines, designs as well as the background may also show the author’s skills. So the skills means a young painter will never have the same performance as those with artists of colorful life experience.
Layout
The layout might be judged as the painting design, but actually it is also the author’s ideals of the world, which can be seem from their works. There are many differences from Chinese and western paintings, and of which, the most obvious one is the “margin”- the traditional Chinese painting never have the background color with margins instead, they are scattered, dense, assembling and loose for its layout, and on the margin, calligraphy, poems and seal are added with blanks left at the same time, which is also the reflection of the author’s unique methods.
Wisdom
We may know the painter’s skills and layout from the works, and actually his/her wisdom also has great impression on the work. There is a good Chinese saying “wen-jen-hua” and different famous artists have different taste, one of the reasons lies his/her wisdom.
Character
The western painters often enjoy freedom and romance, they treat the world as a game and the people who appreciate their works will never pay attention to their personal moral but only their works, which is different form China-the Chinese people will never appreciate the painter’s work if the painter has disorderly conduct, dishonesty, notorious and an evil, examples are cao cao and qing kuai’s poems will never be admitted but Yue Fei and Sun Yat-san’s “ back my motherland, all under heaven are equal” are well accepted by them.
Poems
The poems in the calligraphy and inscriptions are usually the painter’s thinking, and a good poem may reflect the artist’s inner beauty and wisdom with the function as the finishing touch at the same time.
Printing
The seal cutting press point often appears on neither calligraphy nor paintings, and the seal cutting is actually the corner of margin on the painting or calligraphy and the words on the printing have great impact on it sometimes though, form which, we may see the printer’s mood or the environment. A good carving on the painting may bring bright life to it for a good printing.
I wish to learn Chinese calligraphy