Peony & Butterfly part 1 - Chinese Brush Painting by Virginia Lloyd-Davies

[sucedeu]

This is very beautiful. The music choice makes me feel so peaceful and relaxed. Thanks

[THESHOMROM]

Mrs. Lloyd-Davis, I think you cand rightfully call yourselfa Master Painter. Mr. Josh Harveys adding his beautiful improvisation to yours, makes an incredibly beautiful experience.

[THESHOMROM]

It is so helpful to watch you create the lines, curves and volumes you use in forming your subjects.The thing that led me to finding your site is to learn how to paint better. I believe if we could see more of how you load your brush; see more of your forearm, hand and brush actually forming to create the shape and learn the brush best suited to form the shapes you are forming it would be even more helpful. Please consider making more videos.

[virginiald]

@THESHOMROM I am very glad to read that my videos are helping you. I agree that it is helpful to watch the brush more in detail and I will make my next video with that in mind. Thanks for the prompting!

[freekypor]

it's BEAUTIFUL !!

[virginiald]

How did I learn? The most important is to find a teacher you admire, and study with them. My teacher, I-Hsiung Ju is a master painter from mainland China. Watching the strokes being formed is the best way to learn, as long as you practice regularly. Your first attempts will probably be awful; mine certainly were. But that was 30 years ago, and I've practiced a lot since then! My teacher has instructional videos. Go to my website joyfulbrush and click on 'my teacher' to check them out.

[SheeElle]

this is soooo beautiful! I'm so envious of your talent! How did you learn?

[katekk1200000]

is PEONY the CHINESE ROSE??

@challoty

[virginiald]

@katekk1200000 If you are referring to the 'China Rose', then it is not the same family of plants. However, roses and peonies are close in genus - my teacher calls them 'kissing cousins'.

[creativebeam1]

You must of done a lot of practice then. Wonderful work. Thank you.

[creativebeam1]

Oh my goodness. That is so so beautiful.

You make it look so easy! Love it.

[virginiald]

@creativebeam1 Well, you know what they say, practice, practice, practice! Chinese brush strokes are very precise, so they need to be practiced to allow them to flow effortlessly.

[Rosyinks]

beautiful :)

[virginiald]

@Rosyinks Thanks!

[virginiald]

I usually order my brushes from orientalartsupply. I believe Blue Heron Arts also has reliable brushes. If you are painting small strokes (leaf stems, for instance), use a small brush; if you are painting big petals or leaves, use a medium or large brush. I like hard brushes generally (weasel, horse or wolf hair) rather than soft brushes (goat, sheep hair) because I like the springiness of a brush. I suggest a medium Orchid/Bamboo brush and a small Idea brush to start off.

[tulipkg]

Can you tell me where can buy these chinese brushes ( which i can draw bamboo,flowers,etc. ) online. Could you send me the link. Iam impressed by the chinese paintings. Its awesome. Can you also tell me the brush size. Thank you so much.

[gcfanforever]

i have no taklent what do ever DX

[yerhmgirl]

O wow nice

[virginiald]

Good question about loading the brush. Because I am using silk dyes in many of these videos, I rinse my brush then dip it in a water solution containing a few drops of clear glue, then dip the tip into the dye. This still allows the silk dyes to flow on the paper, but gives a bit of body to the stroke. If I am using Chinese inks, I do not use the glue mixture, just water.

[peacock697]

hai, how did you load the brush

[4nDi]

Hi, i want to know what kind of watercolor paper are you using? The Chinese rice paper? or the American watercolor paper from Arts store? If you are using the Chinese rice paper. which side are you using? the semi-smooth surface or the rough texture side?

[virginiald]

@4nDi I buy handmade rice paper called 'shuen', either single or double thickness. I use the raw not the sized paper, because I want the colors to flow and bleed. I use the smooth side for flowers and birds and the rough side for landscapes. Watercolor paper doesn't work because the colors don't penetrate the fiber of the paper. You can see this happening on my videos (I have premounted the rice paper in the videos to facilitate the filming.).

[4nDi]

@virginiald Thank you for the information.

[Thedancingbrush]

@Hi Virginia, How do you pre-mount the xuan paper? Do you wet mount it and then paint on it?

Nora

[virginiald]

@Thedancingbrush Hi Nora! I have a vacupress (a heat press that also creates a vacuum) and I use an archival adhesive tissue mount to mount the xuan to an acid-free mounting board. It works very well once you have worked out how much time to keep it in the machine. My experience is that single xuan may take as little as 35 secs; double xuan maybe 45 secs; never more than a minute or the paper gets sized and unusable. Problem w wetmounting is the board warps too much.

[4nDi]

Hi, i want to know what kind of watercolor paper are you using? The Chinese rice paper? or the American watercolor paper from Arts store? If you are using the Chinese rice paper. which side are you using? the semi-smooth surface or the rough texture side?

[MrJuniorlinares]

this looks awesome

what kind of brush did you use to make this?

[virginiald]

@MrJuniorlinares I generally favor springy brushes for bamboo and orchid, and softer brushes for peonies. All of them are natural hair. Hard brushes may be weasel, soft brushes may be goat hair. Find a brush that works for you, and stick to it.

[virginiald]

@MrJuniorlinares Chinese brushes are all handmade, so each one is different. The price doesn't necessarily indicate a good brush. I've found brushes for $1.50 that were great, and $25 brushes that were disappointing. Oriental Art Supply has good brushes and they give good advice. Their bamboo/orchid brush series work very well.

[MrJuniorlinares]

very beautiful and skilled painting

can i know what kind of brush that is?

[EGOism1]

I like peony...very Beautiful...

My watch is also a peony pattern...

[dipchips]

Wonderful.

[sltwitness]

Wow--your brushwork is totally amazing, and your ability to create a great composition so decisively is unbelievable. So very beautifully done, Virginia!