Chinese watercolors use the same brush strokes as calligraphy. Throughout history and to the present, calligraphy, watercolors and poetry have remained the inseparable major forms of expression for elite Oriental society. Chinese paintings require the FOUR TREASURES: ink, ink stone, brush, and paper (or silk), which make it possible to create paintings suggesting the dimensions and perspectives by various shades of diluted ink. Traditionally Chinese colors come in small chips.

Handmade Chinese paper is available in many different varieties and is very difficult to handle. To achieve the effects intended, the artist must understand the absorbency of the paper, how to load the brush with water and color, and he must use swift and vigorous strokes to prevent bleeding. Of ultimate importance is what my teachers have called ‘composition.’ In Oriental painting symmetry is avoided at all cost; it is the intention of the artist to convey his ‘impression’ of the objects rather than to achieve realistic renditions. 

 Once in Beijing, when asking if there is an abstract school of modern Chinese painting, I was told that throughout history the concept of Chinese expression was that of suggestion, to the point of transforming subject matters to what we call abstract in the West. Chinese painting is a MINIMALIST art: less is more, for it is the line and ‘negative’ space, which brings out the charm. From this it follows that Chinese paintings are very suitable for display in modern surroundings. Lastly, the red signature stamp (chop) as well as the artist’s signature (sometimes combined with a poem) are integral parts of Oriental paintings, and it has also been customary to add ‘mood’ seals in order to further enhance a painting.