chinese painting

Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. The earliest paintings were not representational but ornamental; they consisted of patterns or designs rather than pictures. Early pottery was painted with spirals, zigzags, dots, or animals. It was only during the  Warring States Period (475-221 BC) that artists began to represent the world around them.
Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as guó huà (国画), meaning 'national' or 'native painting', as opposed to Western styles of art which became popular in China in the 20th century. Traditional painting involves essentially the same techniques as and is done with a brush dipped in black or colored ink ;ich paintings are made of are paper and silk. The finished work can be mounted on scrolls, such as hanging srolls and handscrolls. Traditional painting can also be done on album sheets, walls, lacquerware, folding screens, and other media.
The two main techniques in Chinese painting are:

·     Meticulous – gong bi (工筆) often referred to as "court-style" painting

·     Freehand – shui mo(水墨) loosely termed watercolour or brush painting. The Chinese character "mo" means ink and "shui" means water. This style is also referred to as "xie yi" (寫意) or freehand style.

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