A Blue and Green Landscape Gongbi Workshop
Instructor: Victoria Li
Date: Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Time: 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM (PT)
Format: Live, interactive Zoom session (recorded with lifetime access)
Level: All levels welcome
Your first gongbi landscape in blue and green
Join Victoria Li to explore the majestic world of traditional “blue and green” (青綠) landscape painting, inspired by Wang Ximeng’s 12th‑century masterpiece Ten Thousand Mile Rivers and Mountains. In this 3.5‑hour live workshop, you will create a classical gongbi landscape, guided step‑by‑step from initial ink drawing to final calligraphic touch.
Whether you are a returning student or brand new to Chinese brush painting, Victoria will help you feel confident as you move into the refined, structural language of gongbi. You will learn to express towering peaks, tranquil waters, and distant trees using time‑honored mineral pigments and carefully layered color.
What you will learn
Foundational ink work: Refine your line quality as you outline mountain forms, water, and trees with clear, controlled strokes suited to gongbi.
Traditional underpainting: Apply transparent, warm earth‑tone washes to establish depth, volume, and contrast before adding color.
Mineral color layering: Build luminous blues and greens through multiple thin layers, keeping your colors clean, rich, and harmonious.
Calligraphic finishing: Complete your painting by writing the four‑character inscription 只此青綠 (“Only This Blue and Green”) and placing your personal seal to unify painting and calligraphy.
Materials and preparation
To let you focus on brushwork and color during the live session, a printable letter‑size template will be emailed to you the weekend before class.
Recommended supplies:
- Sized Xuan rice paper or silk; for best results, we recommend our premium cicada‑wing paper for excellent transparency and crisp, fine lines, available through the Blue Heron Arts store.
- A fine liner brush for detailed structural ink work: BHA Gongbi Liner
- The set of three brushes: essential detail, stiff, and soft brushes for detailing, shading, and washes.
- Traditional Chinese painting colors: Marie's 12 Chinese painting colors tubes or cakes, plus these two colors: Dark Green ████ (591), Dark Blue ████ (491).
- Fresh sumi ink.
Reserve your spot, secure your template, and enjoy a tranquil summer morning painting a blue‑and‑green gongbi landscape with Victoria—with forever access to the class recording so you can review at your own pace.
