In a tree the order is trunk, central and side limbs [(Plate XXI)], branches and their subdivisions, leaves and their veinings, and dots.
In birds: The beak in three strokes (ten, chi, jin), the eye, the head, the throat and breast, the back, the wings, the body, the tail, the legs, claws, nails and eyeball [(Plate XXII)].
In landscape work the general rule is to paint what is nearest first and what is farthest last. Kubota's method was to do all this rapidly and, if possible, with one dip of the well-watered brush into the sumi, so that as the sumi becomes gradually [pg 76] diluted and exhausted the proper effect of foreground, middle distance and remote perspective is obtained.
In painting mountain ranges that recede one behind the other the same process is followed, and mountains as they disappear to the right or left of the picture should tend to rise. This principle is called bo un or cloud longing.
It is useless here to enumerate the many faults which art students are warned against committing. Suffice it to say the number is enormous. Out of many of the Chinese formulas I will give only one, which is known as shi byo or the four faults, and is as follows:
Ja, kan, zoku, rai. Ja refers to attempted originality in a painting without the ability to give it character, departing from all law to produce something not reducible to any law or principle. Kan is producing only superficial, pleasing effect without any power in the brush stroke—a characterless painting to charm only the ignorant. Zoku refers to the fault of painting from a mercenary motive only,—thinking of money instead of art. Rai is the base imitation of or copying or cribbing from others.
