
Explore Chinese painting brushes: prep by removing caps, soaking to soften glue, and quick rinses; learn about stiff, soft, and combination brushes and proper storage.
Explore raw vs. cooked rice paper, including alum-treated options, and learn how water behavior affects painting and calligraphy, plus beginner-friendly paper choices and practice tips.
Explore the five ink shades—charred, very dark, dark, light, and very light—and learn how air drying and water dilution create tonal range for Chinese painting.
Learn to paint cherries with red and dark red, use white to brighten, apply water, load the brush evenly, blot excess, then use two strokes to create depth via variation.
Learn to paint orchids with ink, mastering leaf strokes and eye-shaped gaps to create realistic twists. Mix purple hues and complete petals, stems, and buds with finishing calligraphy.
Learn bamboo painting by composing intersecting stems, joints, branches, and shoots with leaves on paper, using a pointed brush and ink to create depth with light and dark strokes.
Paint lotus leaves using a center guide, form oval, three-dimensional leaves with dark-to-light gradients and green tones, and create raindrop effects with soapy water. Connect stems and add aquatic plants.
Learn to paint lotus with red, dark red, and white to pink tones; mix white with water for a milk-like consistency, outline petals, and add green leaves and yellow center.
Learn to paint a peony with a three-tone gradient (white to pink to magenta) and layered petals, then add leaves, branches, and stamens with green shades and fine veins.
This is the first installment of Painting with Xin. This skill-building series of courses is designed to teach learners the first steps towards mastering the techniques of Chinese ink and water painting. This course will serve as a precursor to Xin’s more advanced painting techniques eventually leading to her specialty in the Ink and Water Freehand Flower and Bird forms of the Yehenara Natong tradition. These courses are originally taught in Mandarin Chinese by Xin and then an English voice-over was created by one of her students in America.
Yuemin Xin was born in Inner Mongolia, China, in Hulunbur. Since she was a small child, she has competed in art and calligraphy competitions and won numerous awards and honors. In 2012 she became the last apprentice of painting master Zhang Zhishu, the great-grandson of Yehenara Natong. Thus, she is continuing Yehenara Natong's, Ink and Water Freehand Flower and Bird artistic tradition that dates back to the early Qing Dynasty era (roughly 400 years ago). In 2020 Yuemin moved to America. In the hopes of spreading the centuries-old Ink and Water Freehand Flower and Bird style and traditional Chinese calligraphy in America. By taking her course you too can help to continue this centuries-old painting tradition passed down from master to apprentice over the generations.
In this course, she teaches the basics of Chinese ink and water painting as well as Chinese watercolor painting. She teaches the basic principles of the tools of the trade such as the proper traditional paintbrushes, traditional ink, and various types of rice paper, and how to tell them apart. She then gives a comprehensive step-by-step guide on how to use these materials to start making your own traditional Chinese Ink and Water Paintings.
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