Void in paintings and Negative Enegy

As compared with music paintings are less energetic because the object(s) in the paintings do not move and remain still on a 2D surface. But you can feel or find some energy or movement in them.

Space - usually painted as air or sky in western paintings or Chinese landscape paintings (Shan Shui Paintings; 山水画）- has some function to show energy or even movement like sunshine or wind. Chinese Flowers and Birds Paintings (Hua Niao Hua; 花鸟画) and often Figure Paintings (Ren Wu Hua; 人物画) use also space as showing air or sky but quite often use space as purely space or void, nothing. In either case space shows some movement or more precisely ability to move. Where there is no space no movement is possible.

Direction - An arrow can show direction as a graphical sign and psychologically as well.

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Curve (gradual change) and abrupt change(s) of direction also can show movement.





A relatively large black or seemingly heavy object(s) like mountains or rocks (common objects in Chinese paintings) in paintings make us feel some energy too. These objects do not move even in the real world so they do not indicate movement. What kind of energy? We can call this energy as stationary or potential or negative energy. "negative" in this has no negative meaning but has even positive meaning. However when  positive is assigned for moving energy the stationary or potential energy will be negative, not neutral which is has no apparent energy or the state of positive-negative being cancelled out - equilibrium.

sptt

Freehand Figure Paintings or Xie-yi Ren Wu Hua (写意人物画)

Freehand Figure Paintings or Xie-yi Ren Wu Hua (写意人物画) are one part of Chinese Figure Paintings. I explained Xie-yi Hua (写意画) very briefly in the post "Gong-bi (工筆) and Xie-yi (写意)" before. As the name indicates Xie-yi Ren Wu Hua are the figure paintings made in  Xie-yi style (very roughly equal to Freehand) . Shi Nu Hua (仕女画), as explained in my last post, are also a part of Chinese Figure Paintings but they depict only Noble Woman Figures while Xie-yi Ren Wu Hua  have no such discrimination and have both women and men and noticeably more old women and old men employed as objects. Shi Nu Hua are Xie-yi Ren Wu Hua when they are made in Xie-yi (写意) style. When they are made in Gong-bi (工筆) style (very roughly equal to Meticulous Style) they are "Gong-bi Ren Wu Hua (工筆人物画).



The two Xie-yi Ren Wu Hua shown below are well known (very old) and high quality ones. The features of the old men's figures are short and fat (chubby) with a large head, short neck, flat nose and small eyes like a bulldog. The features of the young elegant women's figures in Shi Nu Hua (仕女画) are usually slender with a small head, comparatively long neck, not too high not too flat nose, big eyes and small mouth. You may like a bulldog as well as an elegant woman and feel pleased when you see them. This pleasing feeling comes from the technique of well considered and controlled exaggeration and deformation.

sptt

Shi Nu Hua (仕女画)

Chinese paintings are largely classified into Shan Sui Hua (山水画) Landscape Paintings, Hua Niao Hua (花鸟画) or Flowers and Birds Paintings and and Ren Wu Hua (人物画) or Figure Paintings. (See Beauty of Hua Niao Hua (花鸟画) posted  on Sept 2, 2011)

Ren Wu Hua (人物画) have one particular sub-division called Shi Nu Hua (仕女画). Shi Nu (仕女) can be translated as Court Lady or more generally Noble Woman. Like almost any other Chinese things Shi Nu Hua  (or Noble Woman Figure Paintings) have a vast traditions and a long history.

I cannot find so far the English version Wiki for this word and Chinese version Wiki (as of June 30, 2012) does have but very simple (or poor or even misleading). Baide explains a lot (http://baike.baidu.com/view/17294.htm) even including how to make them.

The Baide's explanations have largely three parts - 1) history, 2) representative works and 3) <how to> of Shi Nu Hua,

1) History

Quite a long history. Dates back to Tang Dynasty and already established as one category of Shi Nu Hua (仕女画). One big change (largely deterioration) happened in Yuan Dynasty. Before Yuan Dynasty the women painted in Shi Nu Hua were healthy, well balanced, flexible but strong and elegant, graceful and beautiful women. Since Yuan Dynasty those women changed to more symbolic (less expression and less real lives) and especially in Qing Dynasty went to extreme - apparently week and not healthy, submissive women.

2) Representative works

The works of the two famous painters Wu Daozi ( 吴道子)and Han Xizai (韩熙载) before Yuan Dynasty. The paintings are mostly multi-figures including men.

3) <How to> of  Shi Nu Hua,

Contrary to the above  2) Representative works, <how to> here describes how to paint Shi Nu in the Chinese traditional ways although recommended showing more creativity.  Lin Fengming (林風眠) painted many modern or somehow westernized Shi Nu's.

Apparently Shi Nu Hua have historically changed as the men's tastes for women have changed or the socially accepted ideal women have changed. On the contrary Chinese women may have not changed much as you might think.  They have been strong.

Very generally the women in Shi Nu Hua and especially those in Qing Dynasty and modern ones of the traditional style are slender (usually very slender), with small head downward tilted above a slender neck and a  small mouse, whitish (not healthy) skin, waring a traditional long dress with legs hidden and quite often surrounded by strange shape rocks in a Chinese garden.

However if you see them positively Shi Nu Hua the women in them are elegant, graceful, serene, quiet, light (not heavy), clean (secluded from a dirty world).

AAG