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| Owner of Soft Brush Art Studio located in Northern VA. Oriental Brush Paintings and Oil Paintings by artist, Darlene Kaplan |
| Chinese Art & Oil Paintings at Soft Brush Studio by Darlene Kaplan |
My Thoughts as an Artist
For many years I painted realism in oils before making the change to oriental brush painting. Studying
martial arts for years inspired me to try this medium, which I fell in love with right away. The calming effect
of grinding the ink before painting, the energy that is put into throwing ink on paper is just the greatest of
pleasures that only this style of art allows me to feel.
I grew up in the country in Tennessee where all of my spare time was spent walking in the woods
searching out bugs, plants and anything else that was alive. Those childhood days spent with nature is
brought alive every time I put a brush stroke down on paper. All of my paintings are derived from nature.
The paintings are from the very simple, elegant brush stroke of the bamboo orchid to the complicated
soothing landscapes that your eyes can take a journey up into the mountains and off into the mist before
returning home.
Subtlety of a good painting lies in its being alike and yet unlike the subject where the absence of content
can itself create rhythm and variety.
I believe that an artist is a person who can see something within the mind that can be brought into reality
where it can be seen, felt, touched, heard, and even sometimes smelled.
For many years I painted realism in oils before making the change to oriental brush painting. Studying
martial arts for years inspired me to try this medium, which I fell in love with right away. The calming effect
of grinding the ink before painting, the energy that is put into throwing ink on paper is just the greatest of
pleasures that only this style of art allows me to feel.
I grew up in the country in Tennessee where all of my spare time was spent walking in the woods
searching out bugs, plants and anything else that was alive. Those childhood days spent with nature is
brought alive every time I put a brush stroke down on paper. All of my paintings are derived from nature.
The paintings are from the very simple, elegant brush stroke of the bamboo orchid to the complicated
soothing landscapes that your eyes can take a journey up into the mountains and off into the mist before
returning home.
Subtlety of a good painting lies in its being alike and yet unlike the subject where the absence of content
can itself create rhythm and variety.
I believe that an artist is a person who can see something within the mind that can be brought into reality
where it can be seen, felt, touched, heard, and even sometimes smelled.
About the Art
The Chinese Watercolor Paintings often referred to as Chinese Brush Paintings (which are the bulk of my
paintings now) in my art gallery are rendered on rice paper, then mounted on a thicker paper using glue.
The color is ground from minerals or plants and mixed with glue so it will stick to the paper. The ink comes
in liquid form or ink sticks that are ground on an ink stone made of slate and mixed with water. The ink stick
is preferred over the liquid ink. The brushes are soft (rabbit hair), medium (mixed fox and horse hair), or
hard (horse hair), and are loaded with water first, then as many layers of color or ink will be added
depending on the subject matter. By loading the brush in this manner it allows the blending of one color
into the other gradually in one brush stroke. After the paintings have been mounted the mood seals and
chop with name of artist will be added. One chop has my name while the mood seals are poetical sayings
or a symbol, which has a connection with the painting. The seals are pressed into a tin of cinnabar paste, a
scarlet red color, and is pressed onto the painting. When using a red seal on a monochrome painting, it is
said to be adding the eye to the dragon. Besides the signature seal, my work also has my name in
Chinese characters, and my signature in English.
The subject matter for my Chinese Art varies from birds, to flowers, fish, landscapes, animals, insects and
so on. Much of the subject matter has symbolic meaning. For instance,if a couple were getting married, or
moving into a new house, a great gift would be a painting with fish. Fish symbolize long life and happiness.
If you have fish in the work place it keep cash flowing, so a painting of fish in the office would be a great
choice. Landscapes symbolize tranquility, which makes a living room a great place for a landscape
painting. Both Crane and pine tree are strong and is a symbol of long life . These paintings are used by
many interior decorators to feng shui home and or office for their clients.
The Chinese Watercolor Paintings often referred to as Chinese Brush Paintings (which are the bulk of my
paintings now) in my art gallery are rendered on rice paper, then mounted on a thicker paper using glue.
The color is ground from minerals or plants and mixed with glue so it will stick to the paper. The ink comes
in liquid form or ink sticks that are ground on an ink stone made of slate and mixed with water. The ink stick
is preferred over the liquid ink. The brushes are soft (rabbit hair), medium (mixed fox and horse hair), or
hard (horse hair), and are loaded with water first, then as many layers of color or ink will be added
depending on the subject matter. By loading the brush in this manner it allows the blending of one color
into the other gradually in one brush stroke. After the paintings have been mounted the mood seals and
chop with name of artist will be added. One chop has my name while the mood seals are poetical sayings
or a symbol, which has a connection with the painting. The seals are pressed into a tin of cinnabar paste, a
scarlet red color, and is pressed onto the painting. When using a red seal on a monochrome painting, it is
said to be adding the eye to the dragon. Besides the signature seal, my work also has my name in
Chinese characters, and my signature in English.
The subject matter for my Chinese Art varies from birds, to flowers, fish, landscapes, animals, insects and
so on. Much of the subject matter has symbolic meaning. For instance,if a couple were getting married, or
moving into a new house, a great gift would be a painting with fish. Fish symbolize long life and happiness.
If you have fish in the work place it keep cash flowing, so a painting of fish in the office would be a great
choice. Landscapes symbolize tranquility, which makes a living room a great place for a landscape
painting. Both Crane and pine tree are strong and is a symbol of long life . These paintings are used by
many interior decorators to feng shui home and or office for their clients.
What I Do
For many years I painted realism in oils before making the change to oriental brush painting. Studying
martial arts for years inspired me to try this medium, which I fell in love with right away. The calming effect
of grinding the ink before painting, the energy that is put into throwing ink on paper is just the greatest of
pleasures that only this style of art allows me to feel.
I grew up in the country in Tennessee where all of my spare time was spent walking in the woods
searching out bugs, plants and anything else that was alive. Those childhood days spent with nature is
brought alive every time I put a brush stroke down on paper. All of my paintings are derived from nature.
The paintings are from the very simple, elegant brush stroke of the bamboo orchid to the complicated
soothing landscapes that your eyes can take a journey up into the mountains and off into the mist before
returning home.
Subtlety of a good painting lies in its being alike and yet unlike the subject where the absence of content
can itself create rhythm and variety.
I believe that an artist is a person who can see something within the mind that can be brought into reality
where it can be seen, felt, touched, heard, and even sometimes smelled.
For many years I painted realism in oils before making the change to oriental brush painting. Studying
martial arts for years inspired me to try this medium, which I fell in love with right away. The calming effect
of grinding the ink before painting, the energy that is put into throwing ink on paper is just the greatest of
pleasures that only this style of art allows me to feel.
I grew up in the country in Tennessee where all of my spare time was spent walking in the woods
searching out bugs, plants and anything else that was alive. Those childhood days spent with nature is
brought alive every time I put a brush stroke down on paper. All of my paintings are derived from nature.
The paintings are from the very simple, elegant brush stroke of the bamboo orchid to the complicated
soothing landscapes that your eyes can take a journey up into the mountains and off into the mist before
returning home.
Subtlety of a good painting lies in its being alike and yet unlike the subject where the absence of content
can itself create rhythm and variety.
I believe that an artist is a person who can see something within the mind that can be brought into reality
where it can be seen, felt, touched, heard, and even sometimes smelled.
| Darlene Kaplan with Master Instructor Mr Henry Wo--2010 |