Capture the beauty and vitality of Chinese painting in your watercolors! Using a few brushes, some rice paper and a small number of inks and paints, you can explore new realms of artistic expression in your watercolors. Author and artist Lian Quan Zhen shows you how, providing you with the clear, practical instruction you need to master every element of this intriguing style - from holding a bamboo brush to applying Chinese composition techniques. Zhen makes learning easy with step-by-step instructions that enable you to apply brushstrokes with strength and confidence - a skill that will carry over into your everyday watercolor work. And you'll find inspiration in Zhen's own works of art - ranging from egrets in flight to gracefully swimming koi - as you discover the best techniques of the East and West. He'll show you that the beauty of fine art crosses every border and that your artistic journey has no limits.

Minimum stroke - maximum effect Learn how to make each brushstroke count when painting classically beautiful landscapes using a combination of traditional and modern watercolor techniques. Master artist and teacher Lian Quan Zhen shows how to blend Eastern and Western art theories, materials and techniques to create landscapes with graceful simplicity. Chinese Landscape Painting Techniques for Watercolor includes 27 start-to-finish demonstrations, which show how to capture the spirit and mood of the landscape in all types of weather and in all four seasons. It also features a wide variety of landscape subjects from America and around the world.

Capture the essence of animals like never before! Using Chinese and watercolor techniques and materials, you can create animals with elegance and grace. Let award-winning artist Lian Quan Zhan show you how with his clear and basic step-by-step instructions. Artists at all levels will benefit from Lian's deep understanding of both art forms. He guides you through the process by beginning with the basic properties of Chinese materials such as rice paper and ink, and leading to more advanced techniques such as loading a brush with multiple colors. He also teaches watercolor pouring techniques so you can create vibrant animals and beautiful backgrounds. So much of Chinese painting stems from observation and interpretation of nature. Apply these principles by painting cats, birds, tigers, and many other animals in seventeen step-by-step demonstrations. Find your inspiration within the animals of this book, and breathe the spirit of the East and West into your own art.

East meets West Combine Chinese and Western painting techniques to create beautiful flower paintings. In this beautifully illustrated book, two proud traditions mix and mingle to create fresh watercolor expressions. Learn how to infuse your flowers with new life using a combination of traditional Chinese brush painting and Western watercolor techniques. 80 pages of exciting step-by-step watercolor demonstrations 16 popular flowers, 8 of them in both Western and Eastern styles Traditional Chinese painting materials and techniques 4 creative variations for further experimentation Lian Quan Zhen makes Eastern art ideas and techniques accessible and approachable. Written with both beginning and advanced artists in mind, the lessons in this book will sharpen your sense of composition, enrich your use of color and help you capture the essence of your flower subjects.

"How-to" manual provides all levels of students with detailed methods for painting such simple subjects as bamboo and plum blossoms as well as more ambitious motifs. 150 illustrations, including 82 in full color.

Anyone interested in traditional Chinese painting will find these four volumes useful for self-study. Each of the four volumes teach amateur brush painters to execute the intricacies of Chinese brush painting. Beginning with the separate parts and then progressing to the composition, these volumes feature exquisite illustrations that will enable the learner to pick up the basics as if in a classroom setting.