In painting, Chinese art is characterized by two brushstrokes/techniques.
There is the Gongbi, which is the realist, detail focused style that displayed care and attention to the non-spiritual elements of an understandable, physical concept (somewhat relatable to still life and portraiture)
The second is ink-and-wash, a style of using black ink in varying consistencies to portray an emotional. This type of painting is personal and has a deeper meaning to it, an interpretive painting intended to capture the spirit of its subject.
Artistic Chinese styles can actually be connected to the period in which they were implemented.
Tang dynasty paintings were landscape focused and ink-and-wash was used
Song dynasty paintings were somewhat warped and used ink-and-wash style to depict Gongbi messages.
Ming dynasty paintings were colorful, used shades and tints, and perfected the use of calligraphy in them.
These are only examples, there are many more.
