Gongbi, or line drawing, is a very traditional style of Chinese painting that dates back to the Song Dynasty, 1,000 years ago. Contrary to the more interpretive and abstract/free/expressive Xieye (or “sketching thoughts”) style, Gongbi is characterized by carefully drawn lines, and attention to realist detail. Color, which goes on almost as a glaze, must be layered - as many as NINE LAYERS - to achieve the effects of depth and realism that make the compositions so exquisite. Gongbi is best painted on silk or cicada paper (this studio uses only cicada paper), which is whisper thin, translucent, and has a subtle, but beguiling, shimmer. Whereas Xieye style paintings can sometimes be finished with a few flourishes of the brush, Gongbi is a meticulous technique that takes many hours to complete. For the effort, what you get is something quite special and refined that appears to leap from the paper, and cannot truly be captured in photographs.