Mastering Chinese Drawing Techniques: Peony Painting Guide

Step 1:

For the leaves, use a thin brush (size 3) to outline them with a "tiexian" (iron-line) stroke. The base of the leaf veins should be thick and heavy, and the end of the lines should have a slight hook. Use mostly dark ink to convey a sense of weight. For the flower petals, use a thin brush (size 3) for the outlines, but use very light colors. The lines should be delicate and lively, and you can draw them a bit faster. Pay close attention to the subtle changes in the shape of the petal edges. Most of the time, use a continuous series of large and small semi-circular shapes, with a few square or triangular small structures interspersed to make the shape more vibrant and varied.

For the bracts, tender leaves, and buds, the outlines should be fine and the shapes lively, expressing a sense of thriving life.

For the distant stems, use a stiff wolf hair brush (like a size 7 "zisan-sanyang" brush) for thick outlines. Use medium ink for the strokes, not too dark. The brush should have little water, and you should mainly use a central brushstroke, with a slight side stroke.

The bees are mainly drawn with fine "tiexian" or "yousi" (gossamer) strokes. When drawing bees, pay attention to perspective changes and avoid making all the shapes identical.

Step 2:

For the background, apply several even layers of light Phthalo Blue (Phthalo Blue mixed with Gamboge and a little ink). The color should be thick. Apply about 5 layers, then wash off the excess color with clean water. Then apply two more layers and wash again to achieve a uniform background color. When applying the color, make sure not to cover the lines, and don't leave any thin white edges. The goal is to have the "color and ink in harmony."

For the flower petals, apply a thin layer of white. For the front leaves, apply an even layer of bluish-green (Sap Green with a little Hookers Green). For the back leaves, flower centers, middle leaves, tender leaves, sepals, and flower stems, apply an even base layer of sap green (Phthalo Blue mixed with Gamboge and a little Vermilion). For the bracts and buds, apply a slightly more yellowish sap green. You can add Gamboge and a small amount of Vermilion to the original color to make this sap green brighter. For the old branches, apply a light赭墨色 (ochre-ink color – Vermilion with a little ink).

For the bees, apply light ink to the head. Apply light yellow (Gamboge with white) to the neck. For the body, use ochre-yellow (Vermilion with Gamboge) to shade from back to front.

Step 3:

Flower petals: First, use a very light blue-green (Ultramarine Blue mixed with Lake Blue and a lot of water) to broadly shade from the edges of the petals towards the center. The connection between the front and back flowers should be clear. If the underlying color is blue, the shade can be bluer. If the underlying color is green leaves, add a little sap green (Phthalo Blue with Gamboge and a little yellowish-green) to the color. If the underlying color is petals, the shading should be lighter.

Front leaves: Overall, apply a wash of Ultramarine Blue, dark at the base and light at the tips. The color transition must be smooth, using a broad washing technique to spread the color. Do not let the color accumulate only around the three main veins. It is important to avoid color accumulation. The darkest parts can be directly washed. The lower leaves can be washed multiple times.

Back leaves, sepals, flower stems: Apply a light sap green wash to the base. For the flower stems, use a "raising color" technique (dyeing the raised parts). For the sepals, leave a waterline at the base. Bracts, buds: Dye the base with light turquoise-green, and broadly side-dye the tips with light Vermilion. Tender leaves: Wash the base of the leaves with turquoise-green.

Old branches: Outline and dye with light ochre-ink color (Vermilion with ink).

Bees: Dye the head with medium ink. Shade the body from back to front with light ink.

Step 4:

Flower petals: Use Alizarin Crimson mixed with Phthalo Blue and a lot of water to create a light purple. Broadly shade the petals from the base towards the edge about three times. For the brighter, larger back petals, use a "wo-ran" (circular dye) technique. For other back petals, leave a waterline at the base. The area around the flower center should be dyed multiple times. This step mainly deals with the inherent color changes of the petals and leaves, as well as the overlapping relationship between the upper and lower layers of leaves. Fine structures and the undulations of the petals themselves are not detailed in this step.

Front leaves: Begin dyeing with a medium shade of dark green (Ultramarine Blue mixed with ink). The undulating relationship around the leaf veins should be clearly expressed. The brightest, topmost front leaves should not be dyed too heavily. For the leaves in the distant background, the green used for dyeing should also be lighter. When dyeing, do not solely consider dark at the base and light at the tip. Instead, judge where the dark color should be applied based on the actual position of the leaf and the lighting effects. For example, for the front leaves of the lower flower, the dyeing should be from the tip towards the base.

Back leaves, sepals, flower stems: Dye multiple times with light dark green (Sap Green with a little ink). The darkest parts should be dyed about three times. The base of the sepals still retains a waterline, and small areas are dyed. The flower stems still use the "raising color" technique. Bracts: Skip.

Old branches: Use a medium-light ink to show the overall light and dark areas of the old branches. Focus on highlighting the light and dark areas at the branch forks and the raised parts of the scars. At the same time, the old branches in the background and at the bottom should have a darker overall color to better blend with the background. Bees: Skip.

Step 5:

Flower petals: Use a light purple (Alizarin Crimson mixed with Phthalo Blue) to shade the light and dark structure of the petals. It's important to note that during the initial broad wash, the focus is on the inherent color of the petals, such as darker at the base and lighter at the edge. When shading, in addition to inherent changes, you also need to consider the light and dark changes caused by the undulations of the petals themselves, especially the up and down changes of the structural lines on the petals and the overlapping relationship of the back petals. After shading, use a deeper purple to lightly highlight the base of the petals in small areas. The back petals should be slightly brighter. Pay attention to the overall spherical shape of the flower, and don't get too caught up in the details.

Front leaves: Use Ultramarine Blue to shade around the leaf veins. Carefully refine the up and down undulations around the veins. For the darkest areas, you can use a small amount of ink blue (Ultramarine Blue with ink) to highlight. For the leaves in the dark and lower parts, use a small amount. For the tips of the leaves, use a medium shade of dark green (Gamboge with a small amount) to lightly wash from the tip of the leaf towards the base in small areas.

Back leaves, flower stems, sepals, pedicels, etc.: After washing the outermost layer of the leaves with light green (Sap Green with a small amount), use a four-green (Emerald Green with white) to broadly wash from the tip of the leaf towards the base. When washing, the color should be very thin, lightly dragging the color to the base of the leaf. The four-green doesn't need to be too thick, medium consistency is fine. When washing, don't cover the ink lines.

Middle leaves: After highlighting the dark areas with turquoise-green (Phthalo Blue with Gamboge and a little Malachite Green), wash the bright areas with yellowish-green (Emerald Green with white and Gamboge). The color should not obscure the ink, and the ink lines should remain clear.

Old branches: Use a fine brush (small part-sheep hair brush) dipped in white powder of varying concentrations. Directly dot and write the light and dark areas and textures of the old branches according to the cracks and peeling of the bark. When dotting and writing, use flexible brushstrokes, paying attention to the starts and stops of the lines, and a slightly dry brush technique.

Bracts: Use a medium shade of Vermilion, shading from the tip towards the base.

Step 6:

Flower petals: For the dark areas, apply a small amount of ink purple. Then, use a light blue (Phthalo Blue mixed with Lake Blue) to shade from the edges of the petals towards the base, leaving a waterline in small areas. The color doesn't have to be exactly the same; depending on the background, some areas can have a bit of ink blue, some can have some sap green, and if the background is a flower, you can even add some purple (Alizarin Crimson mixed with Phthalo Blue) for shading. For the back flower, broadly wash with a very light blue, especially the lower left and right sides of the flower, repeatedly washing to define the spherical surface. For the front flower, for the transparent parts of the edges, focus on washing and shading, and the waterline at the petal edges should be very fine, about 0.6 mm thick. Afterward, use a medium-thick white powder to highlight the bright parts of the petals, mainly highlighting the bright back petals. For the edge petals and some front petals in the dark areas, highlight the surface. Finally, use thick Gamboge mixed with white powder to dot the stamens, aiming for a vibrant, wind-blown effect with each stamen like a pearl.

Front leaves: Use a slightly dry Gamboge (Gamboge base with Gamboge) to evenly wash the entire front leaf. For the leaves in the background and dark areas, after the even wash, lightly wash them again with Ultramarine Blue. If the ink lines are blurred, re-outline them locally with medium ink. The base of the three main veins should all be re-outlined. The middle main vein should be re-outlined repeatedly with medium-dark ink, thicker at the base and gradually thinning towards the tip.

Back leaves, sepals, bracts, tender leaves, buds, etc.: After re-outlining with light Carmine ink (Carmine with a lot of water), carefully draw the fine leaf veins. For the distant buds, use light Carmine for outlining. For the flower stems and sepals, mainly use thick lines for re-outlining.

Old branches: Use thick ink to dot moss. After drying, re-dot with thick grayish-green (Emerald Green with white and a little ink).

Bees: After highlighting the body with medium ink, use a medium shade of ochre-yellow (Vermilion mixed with Gamboge) to wash and shade the light and dark areas of the neck. Then, use dark ink to dot the eyes and outline the patterns on the body. Use medium ink for the hairs and to outline the mouthparts and small legs. Use thick Emerald Green for the eyes. For the neck, use light Raw Sienna for the hairs. Finally, use a very thin but very moist light white powder to dot and dye the wings.