WHAT THIS CATEGORY IS ABOUT

In our category dedicated to Chinese brush painting books you can mainly find four series of Chinese painting instructional material which we find very useful and easy to use.

The first being the "Ten Tricks" series . Each of the books in this series is focusing on one traditional basic Chinese painting motif such as a Chinese Peony, Plum Blossoms or the famous tiger. Then, every paint book book introduceds ten different techniques or tricks to master the subject or motif of your choice by focusing on one technique needed to draw the entire motif at a time. Taking the tiger for example, this Chinese paint book starts by focusing on painting the head of the tiger, its ears, the shadings, the head positioning then moving on to the other body parts. In the end, the tiger which you master by now is being place in different surroundings being his natural habitat. That way, in the end you will not only be able to create one type of tiger in a specific body posture in your Chinese brush painting but you can vary the way the tiger looks, stands or the habitat your place him in since you acquired all the basic techniques necessary.

The other book we have in this category is the "Inference Painting" series . This edition of Chinese brush painting books is also instructional in its approach and comparable to the "Ten Tricks" series. The main difference however, can be seen in the fact that the Inference Painting books might be more suitable for beginners having little painting experience. Whereas in the "Ten Tricks" series, basic concepts are introduced, this series is really a step-by-step approach where first the outlines and basic structures of the motif are created and then filled with life by adding colors. Therefore, this series is especially suitable for those interested in fineline and gongbi painting since Sumi is a more free-hand style requiring more experience and intuition when executing your strokes.

Then there is the series of "May's Painting Cards" . The main difference of these to the other Chinese art books, is that each set of May's Painting Cards comes as a deck of large cards in a folder which are easier to use than a book. When working with a Chinese art book it can prove difficult at times to place it on your desk at a suitable angle when painting or it is difficult to keep it flat. The Chinese painting cards however, can be easily placed on a book- or learning material stand one at a time or several together. Once you master one step you move the first card to the back and focus on the next one. That way, you can keep a comfortable and correct posture all the way through the process of creating your Chinese painting.

Finally you find the "Mustard Seed Garden" series of Chinese paint books in our collection. This is a well known Chinese art book classic which has been first used during the early Qing Dynasty and since then served as probably the basic Chinese brush painting instructional book not only by hobby artists but also painters who later in their career became famous and are still reverred today such as the famous Qi Baishi.