The simplicity in the Chinese Paintings really stuck out in my opinion. The first thing you notice is the color. The first two paintings have a sepia color to them, which happens to be my favorite. It gives the paintings an aged look. The next thing I noticed was that the paintings looked like they were draw with a fine pen or pencil. This is extremely different from American art. When we look at our art we see many colors and thick brush strokes, but not here. The Chinese paintings were also different because they leave most of the page empty. The background color is also provided by the beige paper, rather than having the artists draw the background by themselves.
In the first picture the use of shadowing and shading were done really well. You can determine the depths and shapes of all the objects based on the shading. I also found it interesting that the trees were almost crossing each other. It might have some symbolic meaning to it. What I also found appealing was the absence of color, specifically in this picture. When we think of a spring, we think of blue water flowing or colorful plants. Here, due to the lack of color, I feel a depressed mood.
On a Mountain Path in Spring, Ma Yuan c.1190 to 1224
In the second painting I feel as if someone was sketching a character. The lack of background did not bode well with me, and really took away from the scene. Although the people were drawn really nicely, I can’t determine why the artist refused to draw a background.
The Demon-Queller Zhong Kui Giving His Sister Away in Marriage, Yan Geng, late 13th century
The last picture was very different than the other two, because it includes much color. The problem was that it almost appears like a coloring book page, and that a 10 year old colored it in with colored pencils. The color doesn’t mesh well with the beige background paper in this picture though. Drawing a clear sky could have made the picture a better one.
Watching Geese, Qian Xuan, c.1295
As I mentioned before, we don’t notice any stroke thicker than a pencil in any of the three pictures. This can probably be attributed to the difference in cultures. Overall I really admired these painting and think they took much talent. However, they feel more like school art projects than paintings to me.