There’s a name for my favorite brush stroke!
I never knew there was a name for the broken brushwork I so dearly love, but in Chinese painting it’s called “flying white.”
Which is perfect. I love this kind of stroke, it’s so expressive, so imperfect, so very apt.
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It makes me wonder, are there poetic names for all the different brushstrokes? Flying white is beautiful, and I even like your sample
Hi, Meredith.
Yes! there are poetic names for many brushstrokes.
Groups of dots have names like rat’s-foot dots, chrysanthemum dots and confused dots. (!)
Longer strokes have names like axe-head, raveled rope and nail-head.
Lines have names like iron-wire lines, willow-leaf lines and nail-head rat’s tail lines.
As I read more, I get the sense that flying white is more of an approach than a specific line. Another approach with an evocative name is “boneless” — the brush applies a body of tone without outline.