Gongbi is a technique in Chinese painting

Chinese painting

Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. The earliest paintings were not representational but ornamental; they consisted of patterns or designs rather than pictures. Early pottery was painted with spirals, zigzags, dots, or animals...

. The name is from the Chinese

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

 Gong chin meaning tidy (meticulous brush technique). The technique uses highly detailed brushstrokes that delimits details very precisely and without independent or expressive variation. It is often highly coloured and usually depicts figural or narrative subjects. The term gongbi is also used to refer to paintings that are generally more descriptive than interpretive. Gongbi paintings are considered to be the opposite of more freely and quickly sketched paintings called Xieyi, or “sketching [one’s] thoughts.”

History

The GongBi style had its beginnings approximately 2000 years ago during the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) when Han's political stability and its prosperity favored the advancement of the arts. Chinese GongBi paintings peaked out between the Tang

Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

 and Song

Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...

 Dynasties (618 AD - 1279 AD) where these paintings were endorsed and collected by the Royal families of China.The GongBi artists to perfect this style must totally commit themselves to the GongBi techniques. Only the wealthy could afford GongBi artists. This style of art was accomplished in secret in royal palaces and private homes.

How to draw Gongbi

Gongbi requires drawing with fine lines first to represent the exaggerated likenesses of the objects, and then adds washes of ink and color layer by layer, so as to approach the perfection of exquisiteness and fine art.

Gongbi painters in history

Yan Liben

Yan Liben

Yan Liben , formally Baron Wenzhen of Boling , was a Chinese painter and government official of the early Tang Dynasty. His most renowned work is the Thirteen Emperors Scroll...

 (c. 600-673)

Zhang Xuan

Zhang Xuan

Zhang Xuan was a Chinese painter who lived during the Tang Dynasty .Zhang Xuan painted many pieces of art, one of his best known paintings is Court Ladies Preparing Newly-Woven Silk, of which a single copy survives painted by Emperor Huizong of Song in the early 12th century...

 (713-755)

Zhou Fang

Zhou Fang

Zhou Fang was one of two influential painters during the mid-Tang dynasty. He was also known as Zhou Jing Xuan and Zhong Lang. Zhou lived in the Tang capital of Chang'an, which is now modern Xi'an, during the 8th century...

 (c. 730-800)

Gu Hongzhong

Gu Hongzhong

Gu Hongzhong was a Chinese painter during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of Chinese history.Little is known about Gu Hongzhong's life. He was most likely a court painter for the Southern Tang Emperor Li Yu. Gu was active from 943 to 960 C.E. His most well-known work is the Night...

 (937-975)

Song Huizong (1082-1135)

Tang Yin

Tang Yin

Tang Yin , better known by his courtesy name Tang Bohu , was a Chinese scholar, painter, calligrapher, and poet of the Ming Dynasty period whose life story has become a part of popular lore...

 (1470-1524)

Qiu Ying

Qiu Ying

Qiu Ying was a Chinese painter who specialized in the gongbi brush technique.Qiu Ying's courtesy name was Shifu , and his pseudonym was Shizhou . He was born to a peasant family in Taicang and studied painting under Zhou Chen in Suzhou...

 (1494-1552)

Chen Hongshou

Chen Hongshou

This is a Chinese name; the family name is 陈 Chen Hongshou ; 1598-1652) was a Chinese painter of late Ming Dynasty.-Life:A native of Zhuji, ZheJiang province, was a painter of the Ming dynasty. His style name was Zhanghou . His pseudonyms were Laolian , Fuchi , Yunmenseng , Huichi , Chiheshang ...

(1598 - 1652)