What painting tools are used in Chinese painting?

The tool materials of Chinese painting are mainly the traditional "Four Treasures of the Study" in China-pen, ink, paper and inkstone, plus Chinese painting pigments, rubber alum, palette, pen container, pen washer (or water bowl) and felt. Generally, it is necessary to prepare various satisfactory tool materials before painting. "If you want to do a good job, you must sharpen your tools first." The choice of tools and materials will directly affect the artistic conception and expression of painting.

1, pen (brush):

Chinese painting brushes can be divided into three types according to the softness and hardness of bristles: soft, hard and double-headed brushes. Soft hair is mostly wool, followed by chicken feathers. Soft brush is generally weak in elasticity, but it contains more water. The bristles are mostly wolf hair, followed by purple hair and badger hair. Hard brush is generally more elastic, but it contains less water. Double-strand brush is made of two or more different kinds of wool, which combines the advantages and disadvantages of soft wool and hard wool. Its hardness is moderate, suitable for marking and rendering. For example, Baiyun pen is made of wolf hair and wool, and Wuzi Wuyang pen is made of purple hair and wool.

According to the length of bristles, it can be divided into three types: long front, center and short front. Long front pen is suitable for expressing various ink color changes, but it is not easy to master. Short front pen, short front, less water, easy to write. Neutral pen, moderate frontage, between long and short, suitable for line drawing and rendering.

The selection criteria of brushes are: sharp, flat, round and healthy.

Sharp: the pen tip is sharp, and it is as sharp as ever after being dipped in ink.

Flat: the bristles are neatly trimmed, and the bristles are spread out and flattened, so that the bristles are all neat and mixed in length.

Round: the belly of the pen is round and full, like a newly unearthed bamboo shoot, without unevenness.

Jane: The nib is elastic. After lifting the pen, the nib converges as before, and it has good recovery after bending.

Wash the brush with clean water in time after use, straighten the bristles and the nib, slightly blot it with absorbent paper, insert it into the pen container or hang it on the pen rack, or roll it up with a pen curtain.

2. Ink

Ink and wash occupies a unique position in China's paintings. There are three kinds of inks: oil smoke ink, lacquer smoke ink and Song Yanmo. Generally, oil smoke ink and lacquer smoke ink are used for painting, and fine and moist texture, blue or purple are preferred. Song Yanmo is plain and warm, suitable for writing.

At present, there are China Ink, Yidege and Cao Sugong in the market. The ink is easy to use, the color is deep, and Mo Yun is beautiful and delicate. However, due to the heavy colloid of ink, the ink color flow is unstable, so it is difficult to play the interest of brush strokes and ink color levels. You can grind ink with an inkstone.

There is a way to grind ink gently, slowly and straightly, that is, when grinding ink, you should not be too hasty or too hasty, your hands should be straight and impartial, and you should hold Mo Ding vertically and not swing from side to side. Slowly and steadily grind it round and round until the ink thickens. The water needed for ink grinding should be clean and not turbid. When adding water, add it bit by bit. After the ink is thickened, add water and grind it again. Repeat this process until the amount of ink ground reaches the amount of ink needed for one day. Don't grind too much, grind as much as you use that day to keep the ink clear and fresh.

3. Paper:

The paper of traditional Chinese painting is mainly rice paper and silk. There are three kinds of raw rice paper: raw rice paper, cooked rice paper and semi-cooked rice paper. Raw rice paper is characterized by good water permeability and water absorption. Cooked rice paper is made by adding alum water on the basis of raw rice paper, which is characterized by impermeability and water absorption. Semi-cooked paper means that the permeability is between raw rice paper and cooked rice paper. There are two kinds of silk: raw silk and cooked silk. Raw silk has the same characteristics as raw silk and cooked silk. Cooked silk and cooked silk are generally used in meticulous painting, but the price of silk is much higher than that of rice paper, and the preservation time is not as long as that of rice paper. Cooked rice paper should contain more cotton, no alum leakage and no lint. Modern Chinese painting paper also includes leather paper, kraft paper, wool paper, Korean paper and so on. The choice of paper depends on the needs of the picture.

According to the raw materials, rice paper has three kinds: cotton, leather and grass. According to the size of the format, it is divided into three feet, four feet, five feet, six feet, eight feet, one foot, two feet and six feet. According to the original thinness and processing of paper, it can be divided into single Xuan, double Xuan, three-layer Xuan, thread, jade plate, cicada, mica, antique Xuan, Nezha Xuan, tiger skin Xuan, mud kim hyun and so on.

4. Pigment

Pigments used in Chinese painting are divided into plant pigments and mineral pigments. Plant pigments are also called watercolors and mineral pigments are also called stone paints. Plant colors include gamboge, cyanine, phthalocyanine blue, rouge, scarlet, eosin and so on. The colors of minerals are kyanite, azurite, ochre, cinnabar, vermilion and stone yellow.

The color of minerals is not easy to change color and has hiding power. Plant color is characterized by easy oxidation and discoloration, transparency and weak concealment. Meticulous painting is usually painted with ink or water, which is made by repeated rendering and superposition. Meticulous painting is to add stone color to ink or watercolor, then brush alum glue, then stone color, then brush alum glue, and then repeatedly overlap until the color is satisfactory. The "three alum and nine dyes" in Chinese painting refers to repeated superposition.

5. Glue alum

Glue alum is a commonly used material in China meticulous painting. It has three functions: first, it is used to leak paper alum; Second, it is used to fix color; Thirdly, it is used for color matching in meticulous painting to make rubber alum solution.

Glue: The glue used by modern painters is mostly gelatin. Gelatin is made from pigskin, which has the characteristics of good transparency, light color, easy dissolution, strong adhesion and low price. Generally speaking, glue with high transparency and quick dissolution after heating water is a good glue. Attention should be paid to the following points when using gelatin: (1) When soaking gelatin, the water temperature is 70-80℃. If the water temperature is too low, the colloidal particles will not foam, and if the water temperature is too high, it will destroy the collagen in the glue and weaken the gelation. (2) After pouring hot water, stir the colloidal particles with hot water with a small spoon or stick to accelerate the dissolution of colloidal particles. In order to prevent the hot water from cooling too fast, a bowl filled with hot water can be added outside the plastic container to keep warm. (3) If the soaked glue can't be used up on the same day, it should be covered and stored in the refrigerator to prevent rancidity and deterioration, and it will lose its stickiness after deterioration.

Alum: Alum is alum, which is a colorless and translucent crystal. Just soak it in warm water. Alum plays an isolated role in painting, and the traditional technique of "three alums and nine dyes" is to fix the color with alum. However, alum does great damage to paper. Alum used in paper and silk too much will become brittle due to corrosion, which will affect long-term preservation. The ancients said that alum can "bite paper", so we should pay attention to measurement when using it.

Glue alum water has been made in China since ancient times, and the proportion of glue alum is generally "two glues, one alum, two Jin and a half water", that is, 60g gelatin+30g alum+1250g water. This ratio should be properly adjusted according to the cold and warm weather and sunny days. "Summer six glue four aluminum, autumn eight glue two aluminum, autumn three aluminum seven glue", we should be flexible in deployment.