The earliest examples of traditional Chinese painting date back 6,000 years. This delicate style of painting encompasses subject matters such as historical figures from Chinese royal dynasties, rolling landscapes, birds and flowers. Rice paper, which is paper made from wood fiber and rice straw, is the most common artist's canvas. For those new to the world of Asian art, painting bamboo leaves is a great first project because you need minimal materials and only basic painting techniques.
Mix ink and water. Use a craft stick to stir the mixture in a small bowl until you achieve the desired opacity. Make a medium concentration in one bowl, and make a darker concentration in another bowl.
Cover a flat work surface with a drop cloth or a newspaper.
Place the rice paper flat on the covered surface.
Dip the flat brush in the medium-concentration ink water. Blot the excess water on a paper towel.
Place the brush flat at the bottom of page. Hold the brush comfortably with your hand positioned more toward the top of the brush. Gently pull the brush up to create the first part of the bamboo stem. Repeat this brush stroke to create the entire bamboo stem. Leave a sliver of white space between each segment.
Dip the tip of the round brush into the more opaque ink concentration. Blot the excess water off on a paper towel. Paint semicircular lines in the white spaces between the bamboo segments to simulate bamboo nodes.
Dip the tip of the round brush into the water with the more opaque ink concentration. Blot the excess water off on a paper towel. Hold the brush closer to the bristles, and rest your wrist on the paper as you paint very thin branches coming out of the nodes. Repeat this brush stroke to add as many branches as desired.
Dip the tip of the round brush into the medium-concentration ink water. Blot the excess water off on a paper towel. Hold the brush comfortably, with your hand positioned more toward the top of the brush. Place the tip of the brush on the paper, then tilt your hand to drag the bristles to create the body of the leaf. Lift the brush tip up to finish the tip of the leaf. Repeat this brush stroke to create as many leaves as desired. Create a few groups of leaves at the top of each stem.
