From ‘The Mustard Seed Garden – Manual of Painting’
From The Book of Trees – Method of painting a tree beginning with the four main branches
To paint landscapes, one should first know how to draw trees. To draw trees, one should be able first to draw the trunk and main branches, then to dot the foliage, and eventually to depict a luxuriant forest.
Lu Ch’ai said:
Neither complexity in itself nor simplicity is enough.
Neither dexterity nor conscientiousness is enough.
Some set great value on method, while others pride themselves on dispensing with method. To be without method is deplorable but to depend entirely on method is worse.
You must learn first to observe the rules faithfully, afterwards, modify them according to your intelligence and capacity. The end of all method is to seem to have no method.
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