Four Treasures of Study：Chinese people have called writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and ink slabs the four treasures of the study since ancient times. With such special materials and tools, consisting of brushes of different types, ink and pigments of different textures, xuan paper, silk and various kinds of ink slabs, all of them play important roles in Chinese painting and should be well-prepared and meticulous-choose.

Brushes: There are three types of brushes for traditional Chinese painting: soft, stiff and mixed.

Ink: Either ink stick or prepared ink, duan ink slab or pigments.

Paper: Raw (unprocessed) xuan paper for traditional Chinese painting, and felt pad.

Color-mixing trays (dish): brush-washing jar.

Painting Six Laws：Six points to consider when draw a painting should be keep in mind and practice them:

“Spirit Resonance”, or vitality, and refers to the flow of energy that encompasses theme, work, and artist.

“Bone Method”, or the way of using the brush, and refers not only to texture and brush stroke, but to the close link between handwriting and personality. In his day, the art of calligraphy was inseparable from painting.

“Correspondence to the object” or the depicting of form, which would include shape and line

“Suitability to type” or the application of color, including layers, value and tone

“Division and Planning”, or placing and arrangement, corresponding to composition, space and depth

“Transmission by copying”or the copying of models, not only from life but also the works of antiquity

With confidence：There is a saying in Chinese about having a picture of bamboo in your mind. It means that before an artist paints, he must carefully observe the growth and shape of the bamboo and have them clearly in mind. Then in painting the bamboo will be finished at one go and depicted vividly. Then, the painters can really bring out the theme prominently and express the artist’s ideas and feelings to achieve ideal artistic effect and produce direct, pure, and bright aesthetic appeal.

Chinese Bamboo Painting

Pleasing：Finally, the work can be brought to successful completion and become a great feast for your eyes.