Mastering Chinese Drawing Techniques: Lotus and Kingfisher Painting Guide

1.  Outline the flower heads with light ink. Use dark ink for the front leaves, and medium ink for the reverse leaves, stems, and aquatic plants. The outer lines of the leaf edges should be a bit thicker to show their full shape. For outlining, it's best to use a long-tipped brush. This type of 'white drawing' (bai miao), which uses long lines, helps to better capture a sense of lively grace. Lines in the foreground should be slightly thicker, and those in the background a little thinner. The steps for drawing the kingfisher are not included here (same for later steps).

2.  After flat-washing the flower heads with white powder, mix a little Phthalo Blue into "three blues" and use this to uniformly wash them for the first time. For the other parts (leaves, aquatic plants, background, etc.), first apply a base layer of light blue (Phthalo Blue + "three blues"). Then, flat-wash the front leaves with a medium strength blue (Phthalo Blue + "three blues"), followed by a first layer of shading with a slightly bluer Payne's Gray, leaving thin unpainted lines along both sides of the veins.

Flat-wash the reverse leaves with light "three blues," then apply the first layer of shading with blue (Phthalo Blue + "three blues"), painting from the base outwards and blending it out about 3 centimeters from the outer edge. For the front of the aquatic plants, lotus stems, and duckweed, use dark Payne's Gray (Payne's Gray + ink) for shading. Flat-wash the arrowhead leaves with light ink, and the flower heads with a powdery yellow (Gamboge + white). The spatterdock leaves are painted the same way as the front lotus leaves, and the spatterdock flower heads are flat-washed with white.

3.  Continue to shade the base of the flower heads two or three more times with "three blues" + Phthalo Blue. Shade the lotus pods with Payne's Gray. Continue to shade the front leaves about three more times with Payne's Gray. Continue to shade the reverse leaves, lotus stems, and duckweed with dark Payne's Gray (Payne's Gray + ink). Gradually wash-dye the entire background from bottom to top with Payne's Gray, going from dark at the bottom to light at the top. This should be done about 7 or 8 times, making sure the color changes smoothly. For the darkest bottom layer, you can use dark Payne's Gray (Payne's Gray + ink) for the wash-dyeing.

Flat-wash the arrowhead leaves with deep Payne's Gray + a little Phthalo Blue, leaving unpainted lines around the edges for a decorative look. Shade the arrowhead flower heads with crimson (Carmine + Vermilion + a little ink). Uniformly wash the spatterdock flowers with a light yellowish-green (Gamboge + Phthalo Blue + a little "three greens"). Shade the reverse of the aquatic plants with light "secondary blue," leaving unpainted lines at the edges. Shade the front of the aquatic plants with dark Payne's Gray, leaving the main veins as unpainted lines. Lightly draw subtle shadows underneath the duckweed.

4.  Use white powder to highlight and brighten the lotus flower heads. Use "primary blue" + a little Phthalo Blue to highlight and brighten the lotus leaves. Use thin "five greens" (three greens + white) to highlight and brighten the reverse leaves. Then, uniformly wash the front of the lotus leaves with dark Payne's Gray, including some noticeable unpainted lines, making sure these lines vary. The reverse leaves can be uniformly washed with Payne's Gray. Finally, mix dark Payne's Gray (Payne's Gray + ink) with a lot of water to create a dark Payne's Gray wash, and use it to uniformly wash and blend the entire picture. The key to this step is to create the right atmosphere for the painting, so use bold brushstrokes.

Don't be afraid to darken areas that need it (like the spatterdock flower heads). For some areas in the distance or background, you can use a nylon bristle paint brush or an oil painting brush dipped in clean water to gently wash away some color and soften them. For the aquatic plants, flat-wash them with ochre from the tip towards the base for about a quarter of their length, then use a wide wash method to spread the color out. For some bright parts of flower heads in dark and distant areas, after painting them white, use a light blue to wash back from the edges, leaving an unpainted line, focusing on showing the transparency of the flower heads and the overall light and dark balance.

5.  Continue to uniformly wash the flower heads with light blue, without getting bogged down in small details. Once sufficiently colored, use light vermilion to re-outline the tips of the flower heads. Cover the entire front of the lotus leaves with a light Phthalo Blue wash; the wash for distant views should be slightly lighter and grayer. After sufficiently coloring the lotus pods with Payne's Gray, entirely cover their bright surfaces with a light orange-yellow (Gamboge + Vermilion) wash. Dot the tops of the lotus seeds with concentrated Carmine. Then, use concentrated powdery yellow (Gamboge + white) to dot the stamens, use concentrated white powder for raised dots at the stamen tips, and outline the pistils with white powder.

Lightly highlight the edges of the reverse leaves with a very light ochre-yellow. Stain the insect-eaten parts of the front leaves with ochre-ink, allowing brushstrokes to be visible. Use medium ink to dot the thorns on the lotus stems, pressing the brush against the paper in a reverse stroke for a stable look. Dot the stamens of the arrowhead and spatterdock flower heads with concentrated powdery yellow in raised dots. Flat-wash the arrowhead stems with light "three greens," then re-outline them with light Carmine. Finally, wash the entire background and distant areas again with a clean water brush to adjust the balance of full and empty areas until the overall look of the painting is satisfactory, completing this artwork.