Chinese Peony Painting

The Peony

The tree-peony is regarded as the king of flowers, the flower of riches and honor and is held in high esteem by the Chinese since the T’ang Dynasty.

It is an emblem of love and affection, a symbol of feminine beauty, and also represents the season of spring. The peony is sometimes called the ‘flower of wealth and rank’. From the Sung period onwards it has often been a favorite pottery motif, both on its own and in composition with rocks.

If the plant becomes loaded with flower heads and heavily leafed in green this is regarded as an omen of good fortune; but if the leaves dry up and the flowers suddenly fade, this presages poverty for the flower’s owner, or even some appalling disaster to the whole family.

Flowering plants are divided into two kinds; those with woody stems, usually perennials, and herbaceous plants which are usually annuals.

Painting the Peony

Following the painting of the narcissus as an all-outline flower, and the lotus, which was painted in the combined techniques of outline flower and solid-stroke leaves, the third technique is to paint the lowers and leaves all in the solid-stroke method. The peony is a good example of this method as it lends itself to the impressionistic looseness of the brush strokes, in contrast to the carefully constructed neatness of outline flowers.

The flower itself is large and heavy, not delicate, and is well shown by the techniques of shades of black.

The order of painting for the peony is: flower first, followed by leaves, and finally the stems are added. It is usual to begin at the centre of the flower, whether the flower is fully open or half open. Petals can be painted in a light shade of grey first, with strokes being superimposed in darker shades while the first brush strokes are still wet. The peony has petals darker at the outside and lighter in the middle, with each petal having a very ragged edge. The peony plant has its leaves grouped in threes at the end of a stem which is connected to the main one.