Traditional Chinese Fruit Painting - Learn Chinese Drawing Technique

2026年4月14日

Step One: Outlining

The key to outlining this piece is to accurately capture the texture of each object. For example, the thorny branch in the back should be outlined with thick, heavy lines that still feel sharp. Even though the citrus leaves are quite large, the overall outlining should be delicate and smooth. The pomegranate in the foreground needs strong, slightly winding lines, primarily using angular strokes. The surrounding citrus fruits should have varied line thickness, favoring thicker ink.

The line variations in the fruits are also quite noticeable. For instance, the fruit on the right should be outlined with rich ink. Although the lines are thin, they must maintain a sense of strength, and subtle pauses and turns need precise handling. The fruit on the left side of the image uses robust, "zigzag" like strokes for outlining, which are noticeably thicker and heavier compared to the pomegranate.

For the pomegranate leaves, in addition to accurately following the rule of thick lines at the base and thin lines at the tip, pay attention to the wavy undulations of the outer contours. When outlining, aim for a flowing, gliding sensation.

Based on their spatial positions, objects in the background, such as the pomegranate on the upper left, the group of pomegranate leaves on the upper right, and the single withered leaf at the very back, should be outlined more lightly.

Since all leaf foundations will be outlined separately later, for the formal brush-and-ink colored draft, the foundations can be temporarily omitted.

Step Two: Background and Flat Washes

Background: Apply a flat wash of an antique speckled color. Add a suitable amount of water, first add gamboge, then a small amount of ink to create an orange-yellow. Add a bit more ink to the orange-yellow, then add a bit more ink to achieve a bronze color to unify the entire background. When brushing the wrinkled color, the brush should be saturated with water, then use a textured brush to remove excess water.

Leaves:

First, mix a small amount of gamboge and light ink to create a light ochre color. Apply this flat wash to all old branches in the painting. Do not use too much water during this flat wash. Add a small amount of clear water to the ochre, then add ink and gamboge to create an ochre-yellow. Use this to flat wash the edges of sparse leaves and the fibrous layers exposed after the fruit peel has peeled off. Continue adding a small amount of gamboge to the ochre-yellow to create a slightly earthy yellow color to flat wash the fruits. The color density should not be too thick, and leave out the fruit stems during the flat wash.

Use light ochre to flat wash the leafy areas of the pomegranate fruit.

Mix gamboge with a small amount of phthalocyanine blue to create a yellow-green. Then add green to create a sap green to flat wash all fruit stems. Add a small amount of ochre to the sap green to create a dark fragrant green. Use this to flat wash all leaves.

Add a small amount of phthalocyanine blue to the dark fragrant green to create a vibrant blue-green. Use this to flat wash the front-facing leaves colliding in the background of the painting. Add a small amount of ochre and clear water to the blue-green to create olive green (also called old green). Use this to flat wash other front-facing leaves, including their stems.

Flat wash the citrus pomegranate seeds with light white powder. The white powder should not be too thick and should not cover the ink lines underneath. The outer skin of the pomegranate and the flesh should be flat washed separately. Add a tiny bit of carmine to the white powder to create a white powder with a hint of red. Use this to flat wash the outer skin. When flat washing the pomegranate flesh, make the white powder slightly thicker.

Step Three: First Layer of Shading

First, lightly shade around the objects with a pale reddish-brown (cinnabar + ink + carmine). The area below the objects can be shaded an extra time. The shaded area should not be too large, just close to the edges of the objects. Shade all leaves with light indigo, leaving a thin unpainted line at the base of the leaves, but don't be too deliberate. The back of the leaves should be shaded with a light ochre-ink color.

For the main edges, shade with a thin wash of water. For the grapes, shade with a light green color, with the base color being a middle-tone green. The topmost overlapping parts can be left unpainted. Shade the fruit stems with grass green, leaving connections unpainted. The skin and flesh of the pomegranate should be shaded with a very light vermilion (carmine + a little gamboge), and a hazy edge should be left with a water line. The flesh part should be shaded entirely with a dark green. The white inner part of the pomegranate peel should be lightly graded with a light ochre. For the damaged part of the top of the fruit near the edge, shade from bottom to top with a light ink-brown. The citrus in the back should be lightly graded with a light ink-green (emerald green + a little ink). The old branches of the citrus should be shaded with light ink, primarily by shading from both sides towards the middle.

Step Four: Deepening Colors

Continue to deepen the shading of all leaves twice with indigo. The second time, a small amount of ink can be added to make it an inky blue-green. The reverse sides of the leaves should continue to be shaded with light grass green, with the shaded area slightly smaller than the previous wash. The grape fruits should continue to be shaded with ink-brown, with the darkest parts and the bottom layers of grapes using heavier color. The old wooden stems of the grapes should be re-shaded.

Both the outer skin and the flesh of the pomegranate should be shaded with a medium-light carmine. At the crisp, broken edge of the skin, still leave a thin water line, but when leaving the water line, use the brush lightly to blur it slightly. The contrast should not be too stark. When coloring the skin, pay attention to the overall relationship; the heaviest color should primarily be concentrated on the foremost piece of skin. The pomegranate skin in the background should primarily be shaded from the edges towards the center. The color beneath the pomegranate should be slightly heavier. After the pomegranate flesh has been re-shaded and then re-dyed, use a lighter wash of carmine water (carmine + a lot of water) to roughly re-outline along the shattered petal-like lines with a thick brush. The color should be light, and the strokes must be strong and robust, avoiding overly rounded shapes, similar to hexagons.

Continue to use light ink to texture the old branches of the pomegranate, paying attention to leaving unpainted areas at knot scars. The old branches of the citrus should be textured and shaded with medium ink, with the overall color slightly heavier, and attention should be paid to leaving unpainted areas on raised parts. The citrus fruit should be shaded with a small area of light ink-green, then all fine, fragmented dots should be locally filled with very light ink-black. The shading must be saturated.

Step_Five: Initial Wet Rinsing and Layering

Dampen the base color evenly with clear water. Shade according to the previous light and dark, wet and dry conditions, varying the degree of shading. The focus of the shading should be primarily on the lower part of the painting, and the upper left and right corners should also be made slightly lighter. Shade the shaded side of the old citrus tree with light ink. A thin unpainted line can be left at the base of the leaves, but don't be too deliberate. Continue to shade the back of the leaves with light grass green, but apply the color when it's dry, and gently brush to deepen the layers.

After achieving the desired effect for the light and dark shading of the base color, when the painting is about 60% dry, flick some clear water onto the lower part using a clean water technique to create a blooming effect, making the base color appear more natural and clean.

Leaves: In order, use rich grass green (gamboge + indigo). For the back of the leaves and the fruit stems and fruit clusters of the grapes, apply a four-green wash (three greens + white) mixed with a tiny amount of light ink to create a grayish-green. For the front-facing citrus leaves, apply a head green wash, from soft to rich, three times. For the back of the citrus leaves, apply a lighter four-green wash to the roots, then shade from the front towards the roots with a light ochre. For the citrus itself, apply a flat wash of medium-density white powder, making sure to leave out the speckled areas. For the grapes, now apply a light ink-brown wash from the edges towards the center. Don't worry about obscuring relationships; just focus on expressing the sweetness of the grapes themselves. For the area where the grapes meet the pomegranate, first apply one wash, then use a deep green (three greens + white). For the rest of the grapes, apply a flat wash of light ochre. Considering that the orange color of the maple fruit is very opaque, you can add a type of white to create an orange color when painting.

Flat wash the old branches of the pomegranate with light ochre. Continue to shade the old branches of the citrus in the background with medium ink. For the middle old branches, pay attention to the changes in light and shadow, darker at the top and lighter at the bottom. Continue to apply carmine to the flesh of the pomegranate. The darkest areas can be depicted with carmine ink. The seeds should be covered entirely with carmine ink. For the inner wall of the peel, apply two layers of medium-density white powder. When coloring, pay close attention to the depiction of light and shadow, showing much more detail in the changes of the pomegranate splash behind.

For the fractured cracks beneath the pomegranate, use a purplish-brown for small-area highlighting to enhance the light and shadow effect.

Step Six: Repeated Wet Rinsing and Layering

For the fractured cracks beneath the pomegranate, use a purplish-brown for small-area highlighting to enhance the light and shadow effect.

Step Seven: Final Adjustments and Details

Gently wet the entire surface with concentrated ink, then use a background brush to lightly wash away any floating colors on the painting. For areas that need significant scrubbing, use a smaller 2-inch background brush. The back of the withered leaves in the background, which mostly lack distinct edges, require repeated scrubbing until the paper is noticeably worn and white. Finally, use a clean background brush to absorb all murky water stains from the painting. To maintain the clean color gradation of the citrus and pomegranate shells, it's best to locally absorb color with a paper-dipping technique. After evaluating the color washing, if needed, continue to shade the background with light ink until the desired effect is achieved.

Mix gamboge with ink and indigo to create an ink-green (gamboge + indigo). For the back of the leaves, and the grape stems and fruit clusters, apply a four-green wash (three greens + white) mixed with a tiny amount of light ink to create a grayish-green. For the front-facing citrus leaves, apply a head green wash, from soft to rich, three times. For the back of the citrus leaves, apply a lighter four-green wash to the roots, then shade from the front towards the roots with a light ochre. For the citrus itself, apply a flat wash of medium-density white powder, making sure to leave out the speckled areas. For the grapes, now apply a light ink-brown wash from the edges towards the center. Don't worry about obscuring relationships; just focus on expressing the sweetness of the grapes themselves. For the area where the grapes meet the pomegranate, first apply one wash, then use a deep green (three greens + white). For the rest of the grapes, apply a flat wash of light ochre. Considering that the orange color of the maple fruit is very opaque, you can add a type of white to create an orange color when painting.

For the fractured cracks beneath the pomegranate, use a purplish-brown for small-area highlighting to enhance the light and shadow effect.

For all leaves, apply local shading with thick ink as needed. For the edges of the pomegranate's old branches, dot with light ink. After drying, re-outline with ink-green. For the back of the citrus leaves, first use a light ink-green to pull color (grass green + a little ink) to define them, then re-outline with a light four-green (three greens + white). For the back of the pomegranate leaves, repeatedly re-outline with light washed-out color, then outline the fine leaf veins. Several very small tender leaves also need to be partially shaded towards the roots with light washed-out color.

For all citrus fruits, apply local shading with thick ink as needed. For the edges of the pomegranate's old branches, dot with light ink. After drying, re-outline with ink-green. For the old branches of the citrus, use ink-green to pull color. For the citrus fruit stem, use ink-green to pull color.

For the citrus fruits, cover the entire surface with grass green (phthalocyanine blue + gamboge + a little ink-green).

For the cracked areas of the pomegranate skin, use a sheep hair fine brush with light ink to dot small circles. For the seeds, shade with light ink several times, making the final outline much finer than the previous ones, outlining only in the middle of the rough texture.

Finally, based on the needs of the painting, adjust the overall image. Refer to the colors used during previous shading and washes for each part. This will not be described in detail here. When making overall adjustments, be sure to carefully observe the details and note the light and shadow variations between objects. Do not treat parts like grapes and pomegranate leaves as completely identical to avoid a stiff appearance.

ブログに戻る