Last year, I pulled out one of the three painting instruction books authored by Lian Quan Zhen from my bookshelf. Among the many beautiful flower paintings, I picked a watercolor painting of a peony flower bouquet. It called for using three watercolor paints: Antwerp Blue (Winsor & Newton), Azo Yellow Medium (Van Gogh) and Permanent Red Deep (Van Gogh). The only paint I had on hand was the Winsor & Newton Antwerp Blue. Wanting to dive into the painting, I picked the red and yellow paints from my paint supplies. I ended up using Winsor Red and Winsor Yellow. Mr. Zhen’s instructions are quite detailed and on the surface easy to follow. Like all painting instruction books, I find the examples to be just a starting point to guide us through our own painting journey. The very first try required stop and go type of work rhythm as I was reading the instructions as I painted. Painting with the three colors by pouring each onto the paper and blending them by guiding the direction of the flow, like powerful brushstrokes, can breathe vital energy (chi) into the painting. I am reminded again, that this can only be achieved by practice; otherwise, it can easily result in a muddy mess! You want to preserve the original colors and accentuate them by adding one or both other paints to create different values and colors. Mixing all three in a large area just creates a muddy puddle.

As you practice, you become more familiar with the subject as you free yourself from trying to purely copy. The bouquet becomes your own to add or create leaves and flowers. You feel the lighting as if you see the bouquet in your mind not just merely preserving the white of the paper following the example. I added Prussian Blue to the paints as it seemed to work better with my red and yellow paint choices. With each practice, the pouring of the paints become more focused as the eyes are kept on the paper and not on the instructions. The amount of each color to pour on the paper becomes clearer so as to avoid the muddy mess. The painting I am posting is still muddy, and I wish my blues were purer like in Mr. Zhen’s example (a tall order).  Also, going rogue from the strict triad color scheme did not help. In addition to the Prussian Blue, I added a tiny bit of Alizarin Crimson. The more paints I added, I realized I did not have the skill to mix the colors spontaneously. The upside is that failure always provides an opportunity to try again and again and again…

According to the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting, the first of the six essentials and qualities (laws) of Chinese painting is that “action of the Chi and powerful brushwork go together.”  Mr. Zhen is also an accomplished traditional Chinese painter. He introduces us to the same six laws, the first being the most important. In his words, it means that “vitality resonates from a painting.” He goes on to explain that it means “the painting should carry lively forces that touch the viewer.” Regardless of the type of painting, Mr. Zhen’s artwork resonates “Chi” which make his works full of life force. The paintings are not stagnant, not just sitting pretty or masterful, they appear organic, natural, powerful, and exquisite.

In a foreword in one of his books, it notes that Mr. Zhen was trained as a physician in China and later attained an art degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He also has a master’s degree in Architecture from MIT! With all these accomplishments and (exceptional) talent, his words in his books remain inviting, approachable, and encouraging. This leads me to believe that his beautiful artwork comes from within – from someone who loves life, is well-grounded and remains humble.