Chinese Painting - 5 Chicks

Chinese Peinting - Kakemono:

- We can find two types of Chinese paintings: Painting on vertical scroll and on horizontal scroll.
This painting is on verticall Scroll.
- Large painting which is a mix of Painting, screen printing and Chinese Ink art.
- This painting is special because it is on a silk fabric (not rice paper) then the whole painting is mounted on paperboard.
- In this work, a mother hen leads five young chicks as they walk around in their search for food. The background was completely filled with dark ink to make the white subjects stand out even more. This painting has neither seal nor signature of the artist. Although not for certain a work of the Sung dynasty, the artist here certainly was an astute observer of these animals, which were painted with exceptional detail and naturalism.

The Structure:

- A kakemono is a Japanese scroll painting or calligraphy mounted usually with silk fabric edges on a flexible backing, so that it can be rolled for storage.
- The kakemono was introduced to Japan during the Heian period, primarily for displaying Buddhist images for religious veneration, or as a vehicle to display painting or poetry.
- From the Muromachi period, landscapes, flower and bird paintings, portraiture, and poetry became the favorite themes.

Chinese Culture:

- To achieve a beautiful Chinese painting you need four elements: A good brush, some rice paper, a stone ink and some ink stick.
- In order to change ink stick into liquid ink you must crossed the ink stick on the ink stone and add some water.