In our unit on Chinese Brush Painting we begin by studying the "Four Treasures" of the tradition of Chinese painting: Ink, Stone, Paper, and Brush. We examine and practice grinding the ink stick on the stone to create a variety of values from black to white, and then practice "double loading" brush technique to create beautiful and simple pictures of bamboo.
January 29, 2006 marks the advent of the Chinese New Year, this year being the Year of the Dog. We proceed to look at examples of Chinese temple dogs painted in traditional style and practice these as well as traditional renditions of bamboo.