Mastering Chinese Peony Painting: A Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: For this painting, since the inherent colors of the flowers and leaves are generally dark, use light ink for outlining. However, the few branches and leaves behind the flower head will be painted with lighter colors to simplify them due to spatial relationships. Therefore, these parts can be outlined with slightly lighter ink. When outlining, pay attention to the brushwork, noting the pauses and changes in strokes.

For old peony leaves, the emphasis is on the strength of the three main veins. The brush speed should not be too fast, and the lines at the base should be thick and strong, gradually thinning towards the tip. However, avoid stiff or slippery lines; instead, convey strength all the way to the tip of the line, making sure each main structural line feels deeply set into the paper. For the stem parts, use primarily "iron-wire" lines, paying attention to making them thick at the edges and thinner in the middle. For the flower head, use fine "iron-wire" lines with a faster brush speed. At turns, there's no need to emphasize pauses; instead, use smooth curves or angular strokes, focusing on expressing a sense of agility in the lines.

Step 2: First, lightly wash the background with a very pale indigo blue. The washed areas should mainly be concentrated in the lower right and upper parts of the painting. Especially, wash the shadowed areas beneath the objects more thoroughly. Use only indigo blue for all washes, without mixing other colors. All front leaves should be painted three times with a medium concentration of grass green (gamboge mixed with indigo blue). The furthest leaves only need one coat, the middle leaves can have two coats, and the closest leaves can have three coats. This way, the approximate spatial relationships of the objects will be established during the initial wash. The back leaves, leaf stems, stamens, and pistil should be painted with a medium concentration of sap green (phthalo blue mixed with gamboge with a little madder).

For the reverse petals of the flower head, apply a medium concentration of pinkish yellow (gamboge mixed with white). For the front petals, apply a medium concentration of vermilion. Ensure details are clear, edges are neat, and color blocks are even. If beginners have weak control over their brushes, they can thin the color and apply multiple layers to achieve an even effect.

Step 3: For the background, apply a very pale grass green wash over a large area, covering an even larger area than the first indigo blue wash. For the distant leaves, include the objects themselves in the grass green wash.

For the front leaves, continue to apply indigo blue washes. Make the color darker at the base and lighter at the tip. The color should be slightly heavier where the three leaf veins overlap. When applying the washes, always pay attention to the overlapping relationships. Each time you wash, first paint the upper leaves or flower head, then consider making the color slightly darker at the bottom and sides. After accurately applying the initial wash, use a larger combined-hair brush to blend from the dark areas to the light areas.

For the back leaves, use a light grass green to wash extensively from the base towards the tip. The stamens, stems, and pistil should also be washed with grass green.

For the front petals, add a small amount of indigo blue to light ink to create a cool ink color. Wash a large area from the base towards the tip, blending the color about one centimeter away from the edge of the petal outlines. The area around the pistil should be washed two more times.

For the reverse petals, continue to wash from the base towards the tip with a medium concentration of goose yellow, blending the color about 3 millimeters away from the outer edge of the petals.

Step 4: For all front leaves, begin dyeing with ink-blue (indigo blue mixed with ink), focusing on the areas to the left and right of the main veins. The water line at the base can be kept distinct, but it should gradually weaken towards the middle of the leaf. For the bright parts of the leaves, use the "dyeing for highlights" method. For this step's ink-blue, it's best to mix phthalo blue with ink, as this will result in finer particles than the original indigo blue, and the changes in cool and warm hues will be easier to control. It's especially important to note the undulating highs and lows around the leaf veins and whether the water line should be on the left or right of the leaf veins; carefully consider these points before applying color.

For all reverse leaves, flower stems, and branches, begin dyeing with light grass green. When dyeing the reverse leaves, the water line can be slightly more distinct, but avoid intentionally compressing it. For the front of the branches, re-outline with light indigo blue, leaving a water line at the edge. For the sides of the branches, re-outline with light grass green, leaving a water line in the middle. When dyeing the structural lines on the flower stem, pay attention to expressing their subtle concave and convex variations. For the top of the pistil, dye the dark areas with light madder. For the seeds and the surrounding covering at the bottom, dye again with light indigo blue.

For the front petals of the flower head, continue to wash with a medium concentration of ink-blue. The color should mainly be concentrated at the base of the petals, without considering the local structural undulations of the petals. The main focus should be on expressing the depth relationships of each petal. Simply put, use a "relief-like" light and shadow treatment to represent each petal. For the reverse petals, first wash with light goose yellow (gamboge mixed with madder). After drying, add a little madder to the goose yellow, and dye the base of the petals, leaving a water line at the edge.

Step 5: Use a slightly darker ink-blue to lightly wash the darkest areas of all front leaves. When doing so, do not over-detail the surface leaves. For distant leaves, be cautious when washing, and use lighter colors. For reverse leaves, flower stems, and branches, use a small amount of ink-green (grass green with a little ink) for highlights. For the front of the branches, continue to outline with heavy indigo blue.

For the front petals of the flower head, use a medium concentration of ink-blue to deeply define the main structure of the petals, following the changes in the structural lines on the petals. When drawing this step, be sure to carefully observe the undulating highs and lows around the petal structural lines and their overlapping relationships before applying color. After applying the highlights, the darkest areas at the base of the petals should be washed multiple times with a concentrated ink-blue until the color is sufficient.

For the reverse petals, use an ochre color (with added gamboge and a little ink to make it slightly yellowish) to highlight the reverse petals. The reverse petals are all convex, so the distance between them is very close. Therefore, the area for highlighting at the base of the reverse petals should not be too large. Often, where two bright petals overlap, a method similar to outlining can be used. In this step, some small structures with clear overlapping relationships at the edges of the petals can also be slightly detailed.

After all the highlights are applied, wet the entire paper with clean water. Then, while wet, use a wash brush dipped in malachite green, indigo blue, and lake blue, etc., to wash the entire painting according to the desired color treatment. The upper left should be washed mainly with malachite green and goose yellow, the upper middle with malachite green, and the lower right with indigo blue and lake blue. When washing, you can include nearby objects. For the bright areas of the flower head, if there are undesirable turbid colors, you can use a wet paper towel to absorb them.

Step 6: Background: After wetting the paper, continue to wash the lower right part of the painting with a large area of indigo blue, allowing for slight striations in the brushwork to create a sense of flowing from right to lower left. When 80% dry, dip in clear water. Continue to wash the upper part of the painting with malachite green and grass green. After drying, paint the distant blurred leaves in the upper left with a light ink-green using the boneless method (without outlines). Paint the blurred leaves in the upper right with a light ink-blue. All washes can be applied to nearby objects as well; the color difference between the objects and the background should not be too strong.

Front leaves: Overall wash with a medium-to-light grass green. The tips of the surface leaves should be extensively washed with a dry yellow (gamboge mixed with madder). After drying, lightly re-outline blurred ink lines with medium ink. Re-outline the main veins with a medium concentration of madder, and outline the fine leaf veins with a light ink-blue.

Reverse leaves, flower stems, branches, pistil: After washing from the bright areas to the dark areas with a thin four-greens color (malachite green with white and a little viridian), dry and then brush off any floating color. Then, re-outline the contours and outline the fine leaf veins with madder water (madder with plenty of ink). The dark areas of the branches and flower stems can be re-outlined multiple times. For the top of the pistil, highlight the tip with concentrated white powder, and outline the base with light madder.

Flower head: After lightly staining the base of the front petals with a concentrated ink-blue, apply an overall wash of medium-to-light madder, aiming for a red that shows through black, and black that hints at red. For the reverse petals, lightly stain the darkest areas with a pale gamboge. Outline the delicate structures at the petal edges with ink-gamboge. Finally, dot the stamens with concentrated vermilion using the "raised powder" method. After drying, re-dot a small area with a concentrated five-greens color (three greens with a large amount of white powder and a little malachite green), and outline the flower filaments with concentrated white powder.