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2.  View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow, Thomas Cole, 1836, Oil on canvas, 51 1/2 x 76 in.

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A Solitary Temple Amid Clearing Peaks, Li Cheng, Hanging scroll, Ink on silk, Northern Song, 10th century CE

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A Solitary Temple Amid Clearing Peaks, Li Cheng, Hanging scroll, Ink on silk, Northern Song, 10th century CE

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Li Cheng’s ‘A Solitary Temple Amid Clearing Peaks’ is an incredibly detailed, Chinese monumental ink landscape painting. In the foreground, a path guides the viewer into the painting, inviting the exploration of the ornate and detailed nature. The composition is vast. The figures walking the path in the foreground are dwarfed by the elements of nature. Towering peaks, gnarled trees, and delicate waterfalls are rendered in layers of ornate brushstrokes. A few architectural elements are placed in the foreground and midground of the painting, but they act only as an accent to the powerful natural elements.

The American oil painting ‘View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow,’ painted by Thomas Cole, is another monumental, highly detailed landscape painting that aims to capture the awe and power of nature. On the left side of the painting, we see dark rolling clouds over thick green forests, implying the passage of a storm. On the right side, the landscape is brighter, showing the winding Connecticut River and flattened, tamed terrain. In the foreground, a cliff overlooks the distant nature; in the center of this, we can even see the artist as he paints.

These two paintings share many similarities, despite the differences in time, culture, and location. Through impressive detail, both artists strive to capture the essence of the power and scale of nature. In Li Cheng’s piece, a path leads the viewer through the painting. In Thomas Cole’s painting, a similar experience is achieved through the winding river that breaks up the composition. Between these two paintings, there are many differences in material, subject, and physical landscape. There is a significant difference in the style of painting that each artist uses. Li Cheng uses more stylized, almost exaggerated strokes, utilizing crisp outlines and layers of ink washes to build up the shading and texture and capture the essence of the landscape. On the contrary, Cole uses smooth blending and colors to communicate every minute detail, resulting in a more photo-realistic feeling piece. The perspective of the compositions also provides an interesting contrast with each other. While the ink painting feels as though the viewer is at the base of the scene looking up in awe, Cole’s oil painting looks down on the land, giving the viewer a sense of power, conquest, and conquer.

I chose these two paintings because of the similarities in composition and detail, both carrying out the goal of capturing the beauty of nature in meticulous, “realistic” details. The similarities are fascinating to me, given the drastic difference in time and setting when these paintings were created. Awe of nature seems to be a common theme in many different cultures and times of art.

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The Four Sleepers, Mokuan Reien, East Asia, 14th century, Ink on paper, 27 1/2 x 14 in.

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The Four Sleepers, Mokuan Reien, East Asia, 14th century, Ink on paper, 27 1/2 x 14 in.

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The Four Sleepers, Mokuan Reien, East Asia, 14th century, Ink on paper, 27 1/2 x 14 in.

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The Four Sleepers painting immediately reminded me of Lian Kai’s Sage. Both paintings use textured brushstrokes to render details with shapes more than ornate line work. The facial hair on both the Sage, and the middle subject are created with soft watery ink blotted, perhaps even letting the ink bleed on purpose to create the faded shape. In both paintings, no further details are added to the hair, leaving it simple, transparent and soft. Mu Qi’s Six Persimmons also come to mind when looking at this painting. The simplicity in shape and quick feel of the composition are a shared theme in both ink paintings. There is also a variety in transparency and bleed in Mu Qi’s painting. Both achieving the illusion of varied texture and color through the monochrome ink painting. These examples are differ in setting. Lian Kai’s Sage and Mu Qi’s Persimmons do not have any spacial details, whereas The Four Sleepers are set in an environment with distinguishable features.

Mokuan Reien subjects have unique facial features, moving away from the idealized, similar facial details that are displayed in Gu Hongzhon’s Night Revels of Han Xizai or Emperor Huizhong’s Court Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk. Also likely learned from other Chan style paintings, is Mokuan Reien’s vast variation in brushstroke. He utilizes thick strokes of light ink washes, paper thin strokes of dark ink, dry strokes, and wet strokes that bleed the ink into the paper.

There is a certain fluidity and relaxation in this linework. It gives the feeling that the artist used quick sloppy marks of ink, capturing the feeling of the scene rather than every line of detail. These varied lines create a stylized rather than “realistic” scene that is recognizable as to the Chan ink style painting. To me, painting takes Chan style a step further with it’s more abstracted and varied content. There is strong combination of different brush techniques. Where Lian Kai’s Sage is unified in the consistent use of thick rough brushstrokes, Mokuan Reien almost seems to use a different technique with every mark, making for more abstracted and stylized content overall.

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2. Olive Trees at Collioure, Henri Matisse, Summer 1906, Oil on canvas, 18 1/8 × 21 5/8 in.

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Crooked Pine, Wu Zhen, Yuan dynasty, 14th Century, Hanging scroll; ink on silk, 65 3/8 x 32 1/2 in.

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Crooked Pine, Wu Zhen, Yuan dynasty, 14th Century, Hanging scroll; ink on silk, 65 3/8 x 32 1/2 in.

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In the ink painting, Crooked pine, we see the subject of a pine tree protruding from the lower left, growing into the center, and then taking up majority of the negative space in the composition. We can see an attention to detail on the bark of the tree, portraying the texture of the surface. The needles of the tree have a slight variation in brushstroke, ranging from more abstract blotches to thin radial lines. A jagged rock fills the negative space behind the tree; horizontal brushstrokes are used to describe the sharp angles and texture. Blotted brushstrokes, similar to the "Ma dot" are used to express abstract foliage on the rocks, as well as the branches of the tree.

Matisse's Olive Trees at Collioure utilizes abstract brushstrokes and colors to create its olive trees and background scenery. There is little variation in line thickness, blotchy, messy strokes are used for both texture, line, and color. Pink and green are the colors primarily used in the composition, yellows, blues and blacks are used in the outline and highlights of the subject. Two olive trees take up the most space in the composition other foliage, smaller trees and some hints of structures fill the space in the background.

These two pieces have lots of differences, but are united partially in their subject matter. Wu Zhen's ink painting has a vast variation of fine lines, dry brushstrokes, and diluted washes of ink. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Matisse uses one weight of line for all the details in the composition, creating messy details by blending colors and texture of the Oil. While the evident similarity of both paintings is it's subject of trees, there is also a similarity in technique when rendering foliage. Wu Zhen uses more abstract brushes to suggest plant life on the rocks and branches of the tree, its contrast in brushstroke making it stand out from the other linework. Matisse also uses abstract short almost stipple-like brushstrokes for details like the leaves and grass. The contrast here comes from the variation in color rather than intricate linework. I chose these two pieces because of their evident differences. It fascinates me to compare two extremely opposite styles when they have the same subject matter. I enjoy the fact that artists from vastly different times and cultures are enamored enough with the everyday nature that surrounds them that they decide to paint them.

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Bird and Flower Painting, Iverson Park, 9/24/25

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Bird and Flower Painting, Iverson Park, 9/24/25

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Bird and Flower Painting, Iverson Park, 9/24/25

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For this project, I chose to spend my evening in Iverson Park. I took my time exploring the area and looking for subjects to draw. I was drawn to the small joys scattered throughout the park. Small brightly colored mushrooms amidst the dull fallen leaves caught my attention for their tiny, colorful details. I chose to draw many flowers and plants too. Despite many being dead and seeding, their shapes were all unique and interesting to me. I saw many water striders dancing on the water, also creating fun forms and lines for me to try and capture. I did not see as many animals on my trip as I had hoped, but I was happy to catch a robin because it reminded me of Huang Quan's pieces. A sweet dog payed me a visit while I was sketching on a bench, making for a perfect model as well. Being so immersed in nature with no distractions gave me a lot of inspiration to create art and I ended up making many more sketches than I had anticipated. The mountains are calling my name. I think I'm going to become a hermit.