Dong Qichang, in the Shade of Summer Trees, 17th Century, Ming Dynasty

This video is from the Ming Dynasty, and really clearly depicts and captures the essence of The Southern School, or Literati painters. The first amour to none is the overall write up of the painting. First and foremost it is a landscape painting. The colors ar very monochrome the space is stretched to reveal a depth to the painting that the midriff cannot capture and there is inanimateness to the art that embraces nature and serenity of animation. In the right-hand corner of the painting there is calligraphy.The calligraphy lacks the precision, save is very clear in its form, much like the depiction within the painting itself. There are lead men in the painting. The men are at ease and are almost befuddled in the painting. The men do not seem distinct from their surroundings but rather entirely another natural element in the bigger picture. The men are in poses that do not suggest positions that can be held for long periods of time, but rather only a moment. The men bul ge out to be marveling at their surroundings as they look out into the vast wilderness. Above them, and hidden buttocks trees, there is a building.Just like the men, the nature and trees overwhelm the structure itself, clearly defining the more(prenominal) important and powerful of the two. Just below the men, there is a peeingfall. The water appears to be making its route downward tramping its way through the clusters of rocks. Water, representing the source of tone, flows in this painting with great force, capturing the vitality and life of an individual moment in nature. This painting possesses a narrative emphasizing nature and the life that exists beyond human existence. It is the influence of nature on the human and not the influence of the human on nature. piece the painting lacks the formal resemblance we recognize from photographs or our own perception, there is an overall impression that the ravisher is left with a true introduction to nature, and an intimate glimps e into a particular moment. The painting takes what the eye can see and extends it further, to a realm that cannot be captured by someone unless they have the patience and diligence to see beyond the obvious and capture more than the eye permits. Dong Qichang is revealing his discovery of nature and its importance and relevance to himself at a particular moment in time.There is an inner justice and realization that is depicted with every stroke of the brush and as individually different element is unveiled, a different realization of life and nature is put down as a record. After attempting to simulate the techniques of Dong Qichang, and create a literati painting using the California scenery, I have realized some(prenominal) things. One is that I would never make it as a painter. The other things revolve around the life of the painting. The painting seems to resonate with a vitality that is captured through the depiction of a moment in time.The wind moves all the trees, and fo rces them to take on a life of their own and assume a position that seizes a particular moment, even though the layout and the trees themselves seem to lack the likeness to what we would expect to see in nature. The water is caught in a single moment, and we can see the life in it as it tries to get agone the rocks and settle below. We know that the water is only in that particular position for a miniscule enumerate of time, and we can see that the painting truly captures a very distinct and precise time.The painting shows three men, one of whom is lifting his arm to point to something in the distance, and all three men follow with their heads to the direction of his arm. This is in addition capturing a single moment in time, and the painting serves as the record for a past compositors case that will never be again, and captures emotions distinct to that moment, that will probably never be felt in the same way again. We can see the instantaneous placement of the cloud creating a fog and with it an partiality of something that is unknown and mysterious.This moment is captured so expertly before the fog can be burned away, or hidden by night, or pushed away with the wind. There is also emptiness in the painting. I did not realize this until I started to try to do a landscape drawing of my own. While the emptiness lacks all objects, it seems to have, or be, purposeful in the painting. It represents something, and is a source to the elements in the painting. It could be the wind that is moving the trees, or gravity that is causing the water to fall. The empty part of the picture seems to hold significance to the individual persuasion and time of the painting.The artists personal feelings and reasoning once again captured and recorded in the painting. exclusively of this being said, the question of how much of the painting is natural and how much of the painting is artifice arises. I intend that the best way to tackle this question is from the largest pers pective, and narrowing thereafter. That which the painting references is natural, and that which is within the painting is natural, but the composition and interaction between the different elements is artifice. Everything within the painting draws on what is natural trees, water, rocks, mountains, clouds, humans, etc.It is how these elements interact with each other and with the canvas that enriches the painting with artifice. The interaction between the artists thoughts and emotions and nature, are so intertwined that the painting almost masks the artists true feelings with the natural behaviors of the elements. It is when the viewer steps back and looks at the unharmed painting, that one is able to appreciate the importance this painting plays as a record to an individual moment- both for the artist and its muse, nature.