What Sets Chinese Painting Apart From Western Painting


Because of different instruments, materials and cultural background, Chinese paintings have their own image and content in comparison to other types of paintings. Unique appearance of Chinese Painting owes much to the use of the Chinese writing brush and the Chinese paper (rice and silk). There are four essential elements used in the creation of Chinese Painting, the brush, ink, paper, and the ink stone. Lacking any of them the job cannot be done.

The most important factors for Chinese Painting are the special pedagogy, the close relationship with the painter's personality and the unique Chinese philosophy. They are trained not only to convey the objects but also express the mood and the spirit of the subject. The Chinese also believe that the painting is the expression of the painter's knowledge and temperament. In this way, Chinese Painting becomes something much more than art.

The most essential philosophy of China is the unity of Heaven, Earth and Human Beings. What the Chinese Painters are trying to express is not what meets the eye, but their attitude to the Great Nature. The Chinese painter has a profound love and admiration for nature. It is part of their culture, religious practices and their need to depend on nature to survive.

In relationship to human and animal figures, the Chinese painter utilizes the forms he finds in nature, such as ovals, circles, and geometric lines which are found also found in Chinese calligraphy. Thus, all Chinese paintings whether they are landscapes or the human figure are painted with the same movement, rhythm, and harmony that is used when drawing the forms of calligraphy. Calligraphy is a form of art, even more revered and honored than all other painting.

In the same theme they may spend hours contemplating and drawing inspiration from the figures of nature such as humming birds with their fragile wings, the robust legs of the cricket, and the fascinating form of the praying mantis. From the minor or simple creatures that are chosen as subjects of art work, we can see how they enjoy the nature and the love they devote to the most humble things.

The Chinese painter finds it offensive to contemplate and draw the human figure by itself. Human beings are part of the surrounding heavens and earth. They are all together. That is why Chinese paintings are simple in composition and full of harmony, overall balance and peace with all of creation. They are interested in the mood and spirit.

Copyright 2004 © Ernesto Apomayta

Publishing guidelines: You may publish my article in your newsletter, on your website, or in your print publication provided you include the resource box at the end. Notification would be appreciated but is not required.

About The Author

Ernesto Apomayta

Born and raised in Puno, Peru, Ernesto Apomayta was identified as an artistic prodigy at the tender age of five. As a boy, Apomayta was first influenced and inspired by the natural marvels surrounding the humble home he shared with his family. In close proximity to shimmering Lake Titicaca, the striking beauty of the Andes and the awe-inspiring Incan ruins of his ancestors, Apomayta was spiritually compelled to express his wonder visually through his paintbrush. A direct ancestor of the legendary photographer, Martin Chambi, Apomayta derived inspiration from the same native influences and his legacy that encouraged Apomayta to fulfill his own artistic destiny.

To view many of Ernesto Apomayta's pieces of artwork please visit www.apomaytaart.com for full information on Mr. Apomayta.

apomayta@hotmail.com







Related News



MSU Recycling Program - Reiten Television KXMB Bismarck

MSU Recycling Program
Reiten Television KXMB Bismarck, ND -2 hours ago
It's a number that surprised Linda Olson, chair of the humanities department and the person in charge of a new recycling effort on campus. ...
MSU Gears Up for New School YearKFYR-TV
MSU implements recycling programMinot Daily News
College President Welcomes StaffReiten Television KXMB Bismarck
all 9 news articles

WEB INFORMATION SPECIALIST - Seattle Post Intelligencer

WEB INFORMATION SPECIALIST
Seattle Post Intelligencer -10 hours ago
The Simpson Center for Humanities has an outstanding opportunity for a Web Information Specialist. The Web Information Specialist is responsible for the ...

New York Times columnist Dowd to speak at ASU - San Angelo Standard Times

New York Times columnist Dowd to speak at ASU
San Angelo Standard Times, tx -17 hours ago
Maureen Dowd, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist on the New York Times Op-Ed page, will present the 2008 Community Lectureship in the Humanities at 7 pm ...
SAISD convocationSan Angelo Standard-Times
all 4 news articles

Activists to get training in Boulder - Daily Camera

Activists to get training in Boulder
Daily Camera, CO -14 hours ago
The training is scheduled to take place from noon to 7 pm in Room 240 of the Eaton Humanities Building at the University of Colorado. ...


Two serve on boards appointed by Barbour - Clinton News

Two serve on boards appointed by Barbour
Clinton News, MS -1 hour ago
Ricki Garrett has been reappointed to the Mississippi Humanities Council. The council is designed to provide public programs in traditional liberal arts ...

UW-Madison chancellor leaves campus a better place - WIBA-AM

UW-Madison chancellor leaves campus a better place
WIBA-AM, WI -Aug 19, 2008
Among the projects he is championing in his last days in office is a makeover for the east side of campus to create an arts and humanities district that ...

LBJ legacy oral history project opening Sunday - San Marcos Daily Record

LBJ legacy oral history project opening Sunday
San Marcos Daily Record, TX -15 hours ago
Funded in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, the exhibit represents the museum's first interactive exhibit. It includes oral history text, ...

Five Year Old Lost At Charter School - NBC4i.com

Five Year Old Lost At Charter School
NBC4i.com, OH -3 hours ago
Rose Smith told NBC4 her son was not at the Columbus Humanities Arts School on Morse Road when she arrived. Although he stays after school in a latchkey ...

Professor contributes to Web site project - Arizona State University

Professor contributes to Web site project
Arizona State University, Tempe -11 hours ago
The project is included on the EDSITEment Web site, which is maintained by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Lockard says he doesn’t know who ...

Community Shorts - Martha's Vineyard Times

Martha's Vineyard Times

Community Shorts
Martha's Vineyard Times, MA -6 hours ago
Jerry Fritz, Renee Arsenault, Ron DiOrio, and Jason Filiaut break the ground at the new Habitat for Humanity house. Ms. Arsenault and Mr. Filiaut are the ...