Traditional and Contemporary Chinese Brush Painting

Using step-by-step demonstrations and his own evocative and inspirational pictures, Cheng Yan shows you how to capture the beauty and freshness of this exquisite style of painting.

With enthusiasm and energy, he guides the artist through all the traditional techniques, illustrating how to create atmosphere and light in landscapes, focusing on trees, water, mountains, sky and clouds. He shows how to capture liveliness and movement in animals, birds, fish and insects, and he transforms flowers and plants into beautiful works of art skilfully showing how to master composition, inks, paints and traditional brushstrokes. Detail is as important as a spontaneous style; leaves, stems bamboo, feathers, scales and blossom are clearly depicted and Yan also explores texture, blending colours to define shapes and outlines.

This invaluable guide captures the essence of Chinese painting, bringing together the fun of learning, the joy of creativity and the delight of discovery.

Cheng Yan lives and works in Cardiff, and he has been painting since childhood. He sells his work widely and demonstrates nationwide in exhibitions, fairs and to art societies. Bringing Eastern philosophy and traditional methods into his paintings, he has attracted much publicity and continues to work to commission, producing work that has been reproduced as cards and limited edition prints.