Hand-painted Autumn Mallow: Traditional Chinese Drawing Technique on Silk
Autumn Mallow Painting
Brief Introduction:
"Autumn Mallow" is a rare piece among Song Dynasty artworks that features a heavy background color. The original might not have had such a deep background, but as time passed, the silk material aged and discolored, gradually forming the visual effect we see today. The rich background contrasts with the pure white flower heads, making them appear exceptionally fresh and vibrant, achieving an artistic realm of "realistic reproduction."
Step One:
Outline the flowers with light ink. Use medium ink for the buds and stems, and dark ink for the front leaves. The flower heads in this work are large, but the lines used are very fine, so a long-bristled brush is suitable for outlining them. When drawing lines, pay attention to smooth brushstrokes and natural curve variations. Also, be mindful of the rhythm of the lines at the bifurcations of the front leaves.
Step Two:
The background is entirely filled with a reddish-brown color (rouge + vermilion + a little ink), with slightly more vermilion.
The flower heads are evenly washed with white.
The back leaves, stems, and petioles are evenly washed with sap green. The front leaves are evenly washed with a greener grass green (gamboge + indigo + a little first green).
Step Three:
Both front and back leaves are lightly washed with ink; the front leaves need to be washed 2 more times.
The flower heads are shaded with a yellowish-green (Phthalo Blue + gamboge + a little vermilion). The base of the flower head is evenly washed with rouge, with the edges slightly blended.
Step Four:
Continue shading the front leaves with ink, leaving a water line along the main veins. The back leaves are shaded with dark green (grass green + a little ink), then covered with a light grass green. The top of the flower calyxes on the buds are highlighted with reddish-brown (vermilion + ochre + a little ink).
Continue shading the flower heads with rouge, ensuring the base is thoroughly colored with rouge. The pistil is shaded with a light yellowish-green, and the spots on the top of the pistil are repeatedly shaded with light ink. The edges of the bracts between the flower buds and calyxes are lightly shaded with light rouge.
Step Five:
For the flower heads, outline the filaments with white powder. For the red spots at the base, use a medium concentration of white powder and a fine brush to create texture. For the stamens on the pistil, use thick white powder to dot the anthers with raised powder.
Dot the calyxes on the buds with a reddish-brown color, and draw parallel veins on the bracts with light green silk.
The veins are shaded again with a light ochre-ink color, then conveniently dotted to create variations in color spots.
After the front leaves are completely covered with grass green, re-outline them once with dark ink, paying attention to maintaining the smoothness of the lines to avoid stiffness. Then, use medium ink to outline the fine veins of the front leaves.
Re-outline the main veins of the back leaves with rouge, then re-outline the fine veins with dark green, and finally re-outline them again along the fine veins with light four-green.
Finally, re-outline the tips of the calyxes, buds, and stems with light rouge.
