Recently, our art class undertook learning to paint bamboo, cherry blossoms and orchids in a traditional Eastern style. Chinese art is done, in many ways, very differently than Western art. Most artists in Canada tend to creatively evolve with the mindset of doing art in any way you want and having no rules. Eastern art, however, is a very strict style.
Our class learned some of the principal rules of Eastern art when we were taught to draw various plants. The most difficult thing for me to get used to was the brush grip; The brush had to be held perpendicular to the paper between the thumb and the index and middle finger, but the hardest part is that your army can't be resting on the table as you draw. I'm used to drawing in short accurate strokes, so drawing long flowing lines with my arm instead of my wrist was a challenge.
Another rule that I found quite interesting was that lines had to be made in a certain order to improve the chi of the composition, so if you start with the wrong leaf when drawing orchids the chi is disrupted.
There are also some rules that are similarly paralleled in Western art, but less strictly. A good example of this is using negative space. Negative space is used and considered in Western art, but the negative space in the composition is generally left tot he discretion of the artist. In Eastern art, however, having trapped negative space in the composition is simply wrong; So we really had to consider the composition before we started painting.
Learned Chinese ink painting was an interesting experience, and I think that restrictions inspire creativity more than anything, so I'm glad that there are so many different styles with different rules -- or lack or rules.
