See Selected Bibliography for more information.

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Fine brush
(gong bi 工筆)

Freehand or "sketching idea"
(xie yi 寫意)

Mixed Western and Traditional Chinese Techniques

• This style tends to be visually complex and more descriptive than interpretive of the subject matter.
• It generally displays meticulous brushwork and shading in the use of color and ink.
• Note the detail in Shen Mei's foreground rendering of the cactus flowers below, which then fades off into the background lending depth to the painting.

• This style emphasizes the interpretive aspect of brushwork and the shading of ink--seeking to express the essence of the subject, not the details of realism.
• Xie yi style displays a freer, unrestrained look that has an expressionistic aspect rather than the elaborate and finely detailed work of the gong bi approach.
• The examples below convey a mood through few brush strokes and the use of ink wash to create space for the imagination in the paintings.

• Wu Guanzhong's work offers an excellent example of an artist who has studied Western painting and successfully married some of its techniques to Chinese ink painting styles. His works display some of the qualities of abstract expressionism combined with the freehand (xie yi) approach to subject matter; namely, a concern with form, line, color, and ink tone rather than realistic representations.
• Liu Ce's landscape below shows more of a typical Western perspective than the traditional Chinese style.

Selected Bibliography