What the eyes and the soul sometimes do not see

From left: A lotus painting from the Song-Dynasty (960-1279); bird and insect-bitten leaves depicted by a Song Dynasty painter..[Photo/ China Daily]

It is these powers that Yang believes anchor her effort as a gongbi painter.

"If you look at the rim of an insect-bitten hole on an autumn leaf, as depicted by a Song Dynasty master, you'll understand the emphasis that was put on recreating the most startling yet often overlooked aspect of nature. Sadly, very few of us modern painters would go to that length. Most of them simply paint from imagination, or a rough impression."

She cites herself as an example.

"I had painted the lotus flower for several years before I really started to focus my attention on all the details, for example, the tiny pricks on the stem. It soon became obvious to me that these pricks have aligned themselves in a distinct way and deserve much more than a few thoughtless dabs of ink."

However, championing realism does not mean one cannot do deductions with gongbi.

"For me, painting is about making additions and deductions, and ultimately, deductions. After taking everything in by eye and by heart, one can finally decide what he or she wants to emphasize, by dispensing with the rest," says Yang, referring to obscuring a large part of her painting that has a porous feeling to itself.

"I want my works to breathe."

Over the years this painter of lotus flowers has probably painted more stems than flowers.

"It's the part beneath the spreading lotus leaves and above the water surface that attracts my attention. I want to introduce viewers of my work to a type of beauty often overlooked by my fellow painters."

Inspection

During the Song Dynasty, gongbi painters often made their paintbrushes very dry before starting to drag them slowly and steadily across the paper.

"Because the brush was very dry, the granules of ink rubbed against the surface of the paper, giving the finished line a subtle brokenness that is visible only upon very close inspection," she says.

"And the line, as fine as hair, would simply disappear after the colors were applied. Experimentation has always gone on, but the goal has remained the same: To create something that appeals not only to the eye, but the mind and the soul as well."