The marks an artist makes, are partly determined by his personality,
or disposition, and partly by the subject he chooses. A particular
media (for example water colour or oil) will allow different types
of brush marks, so the artist chooses these in accordance with the
requirements of his subject or content.
A painter who is starting out, will often use timid, light, sketchy
marks, and may erase often. There is an appearance of stiffness in
his pictures. One of the major differences between a child's picture
and that of the practised artist, is that the child's has a
gangliness of form, (which is appealing in its abstractness) while
the master has a fluidity.
As an artist develops, his marks become more confident. There is
more concern for communicating the idea well. Through this desire,
comes the unasked for, but essential character of the artist
himself. There is no greater compliment someone can give an artist
about his work than... "It is you."
There are techniques and brushwork that become too slick and facile,
hiding the artist's personality. There is a fine line between
virtuosity and easy superficiality of technique. The Chinese masters
of yesteryear, purposely made their brushwork just a little less
than perfect, perhaps understanding this vital difference.
"... the beauty, is in the artist's touch, which is his
brushwork. Not only must the way in which he plies his brush fix the
essential character of trees, rocks, and mountains, but the
brushwork must itself be alive - it must dance on the paper and
silk, for only thus can the artist animate what would otherwise be a
set of lifeless conventions." (214)
(Michael Sullivan "The Art of Landscape Painting in China")
"Figures, even though painted without eyes, must seem to look;
without ears, must seem to listen... there are things which ten
hundred brushstrokes cannot depict but can be captured by a few
simple strokes if they are right." (215)
(From the " Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting" 1679 - 1701)
214. Michael Sullivan, Symbols of Eternity, (Stanford, Cal.,
Stanford University Press, 1979), p.16
215. E.H. Gombrich, Art and Illusion, (Princeton, N.J., U.S.A.,
Princeton University Press, 1972), p.208
