新年快乐! Happy Chinese Lunar New Year! 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit in Chinese zodiac! To celebrate, let’s take a look at some traditional Chinese ink paintings of rabbits!
兔 (Rabbit), 1977, ink and colour on paper
Liu Jiyou is a modern Chinese painter known for his ink paintings. Born into a family of artists, he studied western oil painting techniques with his artist father. As he studied drawing and watercolour painting along with Chinese ink painting, Liu Jiyou incorporated the perspective and anatomical studies of western art with the aesthetic values and dynamic brushstrokes in Chinese ink painting, creating works of lively animals.
喜鹊登梅 (Magpie on Plum Blossoms), ink and colour on paper
Chinese ink paintings are often flatter in perspective compared to western oil paintings. In addition, in contrast to western compositions that fill the entire canvas with the subjects and their ambience, Chinese ink paintings often leave areas surrounding the subject blank or only ornate with diluted ink. Liu Jiyou’s paintings of women maintain the flatness and blank spaces in Chinese ink paintings while adding more perspectives in the women’s faces to draw the viewers’ attention.
to the left: Marie Antoinette in a Chemise Dress, Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, 1783, oil on canvas
to the right: 少女与兔 (Young Girl and Rabbits), Liu Jiyou, ink and colour on paper
The same use of perspective can be seen in his animal paintings, where he uses foreshortened poses to create movement and depth.
荔枝双兔 (Two Rabbits and Lychee), ink and colour on paper
To further emphasize the animals’ vivacity, Liu Jiyou employs a combination of sketch-like, short, brisk strokes often seen in western drawings with slow, thick washes of ink from Chinese paintings. His brush strokes vary a wide range, from thin outlines to large splashes of ink. The contrast further brings in a sense of movement.
双兔 (Two Rabbits), ink and colour on paper
His compositions, too, include implied diagonal lines, creating a sense of dynamism.
双兔白菜 (Two Rabbits and Cabbage, a vegetable for good fortune), ink and colour on paper
The blankness in some places brings balance with the dark ink outlined rabbits, a balance that extends the mere artwork into the emotional experience: a sense of calmness and vitality, similar to the serenity seen in Yamamoto’s photographs.
荔枝双兔 (Two Rabbits and Lychee), ink and colour on paper
Liu Jiyou limits his palette to monotone ink with small, diluted spots of pink and brown, bringing the focus not on depicting the rabbits as they are, as he would with oil painting, but the idea of rabbits being energetic, soft, and gentle. Similar to Georgia O’Keeffe’s approach, that “[she] had to create an equivalent for what [she] felt about what [she] was looking at—not copy it”. Often, Chinese ink painting is created without a reference, so it becomes not a direct life-drawing, but abstract sensations and attitudes towards life portrayed through the outlined paws, splashed furs, and dappled eyes.
双兔 (Two Rabbits), ink and colour on paper
So absent are realistic details. Instead, with his fluid brushstrokes and dynamic compositions, Liu Jiyou portrays a pure fascination over life, the serenity and wonders of simply enjoying living. With this, Happy Chinese Lunar New Year to everyone! Wishing you and your family infinite happiness, health, and love in a prosperous new year!
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