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The Tao of Sketching: The Complete Guide to Chinese Sketching Techniques
Award-winning artist Qu Lei Lei offers an inspirational view of art from the Chinese perspective. Instead of looking at the sketch as an end in itself, he focuses on the work as personal fulfillment for the artist and as a valued meditation. All the essential techniques are here—from choosing and using materials to mixing the ink to mastering brushstrokes. With the natural world as his subject, Lei Lei pulls out key features—water, trees, landscapes—and focuses on practical ways of depicting their different varieties. A master class covers techniques for capturing pets at play, and for conveying the spirit of all living creatures
127 pages, Hardcover
First published October 28, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
August 30, 2015
The library fairies led me to this book, and I am glad that they did.
While I enjoy creating art using a variety of mediums (media), including a few favourites, for me this was a newish way of looking at the creation of art. I say newish because I have no background in Tao or in Chinese sketching, though through the book I realized that I had intuitively using some Tao principles already in my art (e.g. I switched from photography to painting in order to capture the spirit as well as the form of the scenes and people I draw). The fact that I was already intuitively drawn to Tao principles might be part of the reason that this book resonated with me so much. In the book, I appreciated:
-the marrying of the form, colour, movement, stillness, and spirit of the subjects in the creation of art
-the necessary joining of head, hand, and heart of the artist during the creative process
-the tips that Qu Lei Lei gives in
--capturing scenes and people,
--assessing detail and medium vs. time and mood,
--choosing which parts of a scene to emphasize,
--how to work with moving subjects or sketching while moving (e.g. while on a boat or train)
--etc., etc., etc.
-the inclusion of Tao theory and principles in the book that support and elevate the technical matters discussed without ever being 'heavy' or 'preachy'
--I enjoyed the balance that Qu Lei Lei incorporates both in his art as well as his discussions of art and creating art
-the inclusion of a variety of subjects: built and non-built forms (e.g. cityscapes and forests), people and non-human animals, detailed and 'big picture' sketches, etc.
-the inclusion of subjects from around the world
-the inclusion of comments by Qu Lei Lei about his own travels including his personal responses to the subjects, shown both in the sketching and in his words
--these inclusions added to the feeling of the writing and support of how the Tao principles are brought out without ever over-powering the text as a whole (again, the finding of balance)
-the inclusion on a variety of mediums in the creation of art
-tips on how and when to 'best' use the different mediums vs. time, subject matter, etc.
The book is not perfect, but the minor 'hiccups' for me are also accounted for (or likely accounted for) by translation and/or differences in cultural perspective. Where the 'hiccups' for me were:
-the use of 'man' and male pronouns to supposedly include all of humankind (hopefully the author was including all of humankind)
--While this is a pet peeve of mine, here I am not sure whether this point might be an issue of translation or the author being of the mistaken belief 'male' equating to 'human' in English as many native English speakers also mistakenly hold this belief
-it was difficult for me to understand how to include the 'philosophy' or 'symbolism' of plants such as bamboo and lotus when I was raised in a culture that is fairly unfamiliar with these plants
--also from my frame of reference rather than being 'noble' bamboo, at best, is a 'quasi-invasive weed'
--However, I recognize that 'fair is fair'. The book was written by a Chinese artist about Chinese sketching and originally printed in China. So, it is fair the Chinese philosophy and plants are used
--North American books too are often ethno-centric even when not specifically about 'North American' sketching
--also, the book contains subjects from all over the world
--in fact, Tao principles seem to suggest that I will become a better artist if I were to travel more and gain a better understanding of the world around me; I can agree with that
--the 'fault' of this 'hiccup' therefore is in me, the reader, for being of a different heritage and not yet fully exploring this other philosophy at least as much (or more so) than in the choice of subjects by the author (who, again, also included subjects from around the world, as well as those familiar to most people, e.g. cats, and 'trees')
Overall, this is a wonderful book not just on how to make good sketches but also how to incorporate Tao philosophy into one's work. I think the latter would only elevate the former. Yes, I am glad that the library fairies brought me to this book. I might buy my own copy to keep and refer back to over time.
While I enjoy creating art using a variety of mediums (media), including a few favourites, for me this was a newish way of looking at the creation of art. I say newish because I have no background in Tao or in Chinese sketching, though through the book I realized that I had intuitively using some Tao principles already in my art (e.g. I switched from photography to painting in order to capture the spirit as well as the form of the scenes and people I draw). The fact that I was already intuitively drawn to Tao principles might be part of the reason that this book resonated with me so much. In the book, I appreciated:
-the marrying of the form, colour, movement, stillness, and spirit of the subjects in the creation of art
-the necessary joining of head, hand, and heart of the artist during the creative process
-the tips that Qu Lei Lei gives in
--capturing scenes and people,
--assessing detail and medium vs. time and mood,
--choosing which parts of a scene to emphasize,
--how to work with moving subjects or sketching while moving (e.g. while on a boat or train)
--etc., etc., etc.
-the inclusion of Tao theory and principles in the book that support and elevate the technical matters discussed without ever being 'heavy' or 'preachy'
--I enjoyed the balance that Qu Lei Lei incorporates both in his art as well as his discussions of art and creating art
-the inclusion of a variety of subjects: built and non-built forms (e.g. cityscapes and forests), people and non-human animals, detailed and 'big picture' sketches, etc.
-the inclusion of subjects from around the world
-the inclusion of comments by Qu Lei Lei about his own travels including his personal responses to the subjects, shown both in the sketching and in his words
--these inclusions added to the feeling of the writing and support of how the Tao principles are brought out without ever over-powering the text as a whole (again, the finding of balance)
-the inclusion on a variety of mediums in the creation of art
-tips on how and when to 'best' use the different mediums vs. time, subject matter, etc.
The book is not perfect, but the minor 'hiccups' for me are also accounted for (or likely accounted for) by translation and/or differences in cultural perspective. Where the 'hiccups' for me were:
-the use of 'man' and male pronouns to supposedly include all of humankind (hopefully the author was including all of humankind)
--While this is a pet peeve of mine, here I am not sure whether this point might be an issue of translation or the author being of the mistaken belief 'male' equating to 'human' in English as many native English speakers also mistakenly hold this belief
-it was difficult for me to understand how to include the 'philosophy' or 'symbolism' of plants such as bamboo and lotus when I was raised in a culture that is fairly unfamiliar with these plants
--also from my frame of reference rather than being 'noble' bamboo, at best, is a 'quasi-invasive weed'
--However, I recognize that 'fair is fair'. The book was written by a Chinese artist about Chinese sketching and originally printed in China. So, it is fair the Chinese philosophy and plants are used
--North American books too are often ethno-centric even when not specifically about 'North American' sketching
--also, the book contains subjects from all over the world
--in fact, Tao principles seem to suggest that I will become a better artist if I were to travel more and gain a better understanding of the world around me; I can agree with that
--the 'fault' of this 'hiccup' therefore is in me, the reader, for being of a different heritage and not yet fully exploring this other philosophy at least as much (or more so) than in the choice of subjects by the author (who, again, also included subjects from around the world, as well as those familiar to most people, e.g. cats, and 'trees')
Overall, this is a wonderful book not just on how to make good sketches but also how to incorporate Tao philosophy into one's work. I think the latter would only elevate the former. Yes, I am glad that the library fairies brought me to this book. I might buy my own copy to keep and refer back to over time.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review