Traditional Chinese Ink Painting: Grapes & Grasshopper Tutorial

2025年7月25日

Part 1: Outlining

Use dark ink to outline the front leaves and grape stems (use "iron-wire" stroke).
Use medium ink to outline the back leaves and old vine branches (use a dry brush).
Use light ink to outline the grapes ("gossamer" stroke), new vine branches, and the grasshopper.
When outlining the leaves, the lines should be fluid, varying in thickness according to the undulations of the leaf's outer contour. The auxiliary veins should be slightly lighter than the main veins, and the lines for the veins and auxiliary veins should gradually thin out.

Part 2: Light Ink Wash to Establish Tonal Values for Leaves, Branches, and Grapes

The light source in this painting comes from the upper left.

1. Light Ink Wash for Base Color:

Front Leaves: Apply a large, flat wash of light ink. For the tips and edges, blend it out so the ink gradually fades towards the edges and tips of the leaves.
Back Leaves: Apply a clear ink wash around the base of the leaves and the main veins.
Branches: Apply a light ink wash where the branches meet the leaves and grapes (do not wash the area where the grapes near the grasshopper meet the branch yet), and on the shaded parts of the branches.
Grapes: Use light ink to create the light and shadow relationships, indicating overlapping. Start by washing the lowest layer of grapes, making sure to leave bright circular areas on the grapes. For smaller areas, you can apply a flat wash directly.
Grasshopper: Use light ink to define the back, wings, and large legs. For the back, shade to create two planes. For the large legs, shade from the thinnest part outwards.
Grasshopper's Head: Shade from the outside in, leaving the eyes unshaded.
Grasshopper's Abdomen: Shade from the outside in.

2. Overall Washing (Layering):

Front Leaves: Continue to deepen the color based on the light and shadow, with the washed area being smaller than the initial base wash.
Branches and Vines: Create light and shadow relationships. Primarily wash the shaded areas (for very thin parts, you can outline and then wash).
Shading the Veins of Front Leaves: Use light ink (slightly darker than the base wash, but not too concentrated) to shade the veins of the front leaves. Except for the main vein, leave a "water line" on both sides of the auxiliary veins. The area of shading on the illuminated side should be smaller. This step is about showing the inherent color variation.
Shading the Veins of Back Leaves: Continue to deepen the base color with green-blue ink.
Texturing the Old Branches: Use a dry brush and medium ink to texture the old vine parts. This includes the projection of the veins onto the branch, which should also be done in this step.
Texturing the Tendrils: Continue to shade the dark and grey areas, leaving the bright areas unshaded.

Part 3: Coloring Grapes and Leaves

Grapes: Continue to use light ink to create layers in the grapes. First, establish the overlapping shadows, then the light and shadow of the grapes themselves. Start with the lowest layer. Be bold in making the bottom-most grapes dark, but be more cautious with the upper grapes. When painting, also consider the light and shadow relationships of the entire bunch of grapes, not just individual ones. The grapes at the top of a bunch are usually the brightest, so wash a smaller area. Then they get darker, the grapes in the middle that stick out become brighter again but are still darker than the top ones, and the bottom grapes are the darkest. The grapes in the upper left should have a larger illuminated area. Analyze each grape individually; the inherent light and shadow of each grape should be washed from the bottom right outwards.
Grasshopper: Use the "outline wash" method. Use light ink to continue creating the tonal values of the grasshopper. It's best to use a smaller brush for the grasshopper.
Front Leaves: Use medium ink to shade the main veins. Continue to preserve the "water line" of the main veins, but the "water line" of the auxiliary veins is no longer needed. The washed area should be smaller than the previous time. This step should be done sufficiently, with the washed area gradually decreasing each time.
Back Leaves: Apply a flat wash of sap green (three greens + gamboge) to the back leaves, leaf stalks, veins, and tendrils. The sap green should have a certain concentration and not be too light.
Ochre Ink (vermilion + ink): Apply a flat wash to the old branches. Before the color dries, use a water brush to lift the color from the bright areas.
Coloring Grapes (Inherent Color): Use one brush to flat wash with purplish-red (carmine + a little phthalocyanine blue). Use another brush with yellow-green (three greens + gamboge). Use a wet-on-wet technique to blend the purplish-red and green, allowing the colors to transition naturally. You can also dab some yellow-green on the purple grapes. This step might result in some unevenness, but that's fine.
Grasshopper: Apply emerald green (gamboge + phthalocyanine blue + a little head green) wash over the cover, head, thorax, forelegs, large legs, and upper back. Apply yellow-green (three greens + gamboge) wash over the abdomen. Apply sandalwood green (three greens + gamboge + vermilion) wash over the wings.
Lightly shade the leg joints with vermilion.
Front Leaves: Apply an orange-yellow (gamboge + vermilion) wash. (It should be redder than yellow and yellower than red.) Do not make it too concentrated. Wash from the tips towards the base.

Part 4: Continuing to Color Grapes and Grasshopper

Grapes:
- Red Grapes: Continue to wash the grapes with ink-red (carmine + a little ink) (leaning towards red). Start from the lowest layer, first creating the dark, shaded areas of the grapes. Do not make the area too large; this is a lifting wash. Once dry, start painting the highlights of the grapes. Leave a reflected light, but it should not be too harsh.
- Add a little water to the ink-red to adjust the grey tones.
- Green Grapes: Wash the green grapes with emerald green (gamboge + phthalocyanine blue + a little head green + a tiny bit of ink). The method is the same as for the purple grapes. The reflected light on the outermost grapes should not be too obvious. Pay attention to the natural transition between the red and green grapes. Since the green grapes are in the brightest area, do not wash too large an area when shading the dark parts of each grape.
- Use ink-red (carmine + ink) (leaning towards ink) and a narrow wash technique to continue washing the darkest parts. Wash until sufficient.
Grasshopper: Use ink-blue (indigo + ink) for outlining and washing the chest, face, and eyes.
Use light sandalwood green (three greens + gamboge + vermilion) to wash the back, creating a segmented look. Use light emerald green (gamboge + phthalocyanine blue + a little head green) to outline and wash the large legs, the base of the wings, the junction of the back and abdomen, the top of the head, and the front legs.
Use a small brush with (three greens + gamboge) to wash the abdomen.
Use a small brush with ochre (vermilion + ink) to wash the lower legs, front legs, and antennae, outlining them slightly thicker than the original ink lines. Use the tip of the brush dipped in dark ink to paint the eyes. The eyes should be round, and any blurry areas should be defined. Dot the thorns on the lower legs. Use a dry brush to create the thorn texture. Use a medium concentration of carmine to outline the central axis of the large legs. While still wet, paint the texture on the legs.
Flat wash the back cover with (three greens + white). Outline the edges of the dark areas of the lower legs and other dark areas with light indigo. Outline the side edges of the back.
Apply a light wash of carmine (light wash + light ink-blue) over the grapes. Wash and blend from the bottom right towards the upper left, creating a darker effect on the right and lighter on the left.
Back Leaves: Apply a raised wash of five greens (three greens + white powder), being careful not to cover the main vein lines and outer contour lines. Raise the highlights on the leaf stalks, tendrils, and veins.
Highlighting Green Grapes: Start applying color from the bright areas (five greens + gamboge + white powder), essentially along the edge but not extending into the dark areas. The area for highlighting powder is not uniform. The water content of the water brush should be appropriate when highlighting. If you encounter grapes with red and green mixed, do not worry about the red grapes; just apply the green directly.
Highlighting Red Grapes: Use rose red (white powder + carmine). Do not mix the color too concentrated. Start from the very top. When highlighting, also consider the shadows to create depth in the grapes.
Highlighting Red Grapes (Reflected Light): Use powdery purple (white powder + carmine + a little three blues). The color should lean towards red but have a purple tint. Apply it to the opposite side (opposite to where the highlights are applied). Each grape will be different; analyze each one specifically when applying reflected light. The ones at the very top should be brighter, while those near the white paper might not need reflected light. Grapes with mixed red and green colors will also have different reflected lights. Be careful that the brightness of the reflected light does not exceed the brightness of the illuminated area.
Highlighting Green Grapes (Reflected Light): Use powdery green (three greens + gamboge + white powder + a tiny bit of phthalocyanine blue + white powder). It should lean towards head green with a bit more white powder, having a slightly bluish-green tint. Use a medium concentration. Similarly, the reflected light should not be brighter than the illuminated area.

Part 5: Finishing Touches

For the purple grapes, use light carmine to dab irregular long dots on the grapes. Blend them out with a water brush. This gives the impression of frost being wiped off the grapes.
For the green grapes, use emerald green (yellow-green) (more gamboge + phthalocyanine blue). The color should not be too dark, as it would destroy the light and shadow relationships.
Use light brown (vermilion + ink) to apply a raised wash from the tips of the front leaves. The brightest leaves should have less raised wash. For distant leaves, add water when applying the raised wash, making it very light.
Use a small brush dipped in medium-concentration powdery green to paint the grape stems. Paint them with a mix of soft and sharp touches.
Use a sheep-hair brush dipped in yellow-green (more gamboge + phthalocyanine blue) to wash over the back leaves and stalks, making the previously applied powdery green less jarring. The color brush should not be too dry; it should have enough water.
Old Branches: Use a dry brush and concentrated ink to re-outline parts of the old branches.
Dotting Moss: Dip the tip of an ink-green brush in ink and dot it on the old branches.
Re-outlining Main Veins of Leaves: Use an outlining brush to re-outline the main veins of the leaves (ink + a tiny bit of phthalocyanine blue). Any slightly blurry branches should also be outlined.
Dewdrops on Grapes: Use a dry brush and light ink. The ink lines should not be thick. Do not draw too many dewdrops.
Shadows of Dewdrops:
- Use ink-red to paint the shadows of the dewdrops on the purple grapes. Paint the shadows in the dark areas.
- Use ink-green to paint the shadows of the dewdrops on the green grapes. Paint the shadows in the dark areas.
- Light and Shadow of Dewdrops Themselves: Use a small brush dipped in ink-red or ink-green to dab on the brighter parts, then blend with a water brush.
Mix (white powder + a small amount of carmine) to create a very bright pink to paint the dewdrops on the purple grapes.
Dot white powder to create the highlights on each dewdrop; the highlight should be a line.
Water Lines of Front Leaf Main Veins: Use an outlining brush to lightly outline the water lines of the front leaf main veins with very light five blues (three blues + white powder), aiming for a subtle, almost invisible effect.
Back Leaves, Stalks, and Tendrils: Use an outlining brush with extremely light rouge water to outline the main veins, outer contours, auxiliary veins, and tendrils.
Switch to a slightly thicker brush and dip it in light rouge water to outline the leaf stalks and stems.
Use an outlining brush with slightly darker four greens (three greens + white) to outline the auxiliary veins and main veins of the back leaves along their edges. Highlight the brightest part of the stalks.
Use medium ink to dot the navel (blossom end scar) of the grapes.