Ripe Fruits Attracting Birds

Fenran is one of the fundamental base-coloring methods in Chinese gongbi (工笔) painting. By building gradations of color, it cultivates layered depth within the picture and stands as an essential element of the traditional coloration system.

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In practice, the method employs two brushes in alternating concert: one charged with pigment to lay in the color, the other dipped in clear water to soften and diffuse. By regulating the proportion of water to pigment within the brush, the color is drawn along an edge to achieve a natural transition from rich to light, thereby modeling form and conveying texture. Throughout, mastery of the “water method” is paramount: apply pale, dilute layers in multiple passes, switch swiftly between the two brushes, and match the degrees of wetness to avoid brush tracks and irregular or ragged color edges.

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The video shows how Fenran is performed.