Bird on an Autumn Branch

Amid pale mist and rust-red leaves, a songbird pauses on a mottled old branch, holding a single breath of autumn stillness.

With the meticulous gongbi bird-and-flower technique, the fissures and knots of the aged branch are precisely delineated; the plumage is glazed in light layers of color, and ink washes open into distant hills and thin mist. A thick trunk arcs from the lower left and the boughs reach to the upper right, the bird alighting at the tip as the focal point; leaves of ocher‑orange and gray‑green interlace between solid and void, setting off a clear reserve of sky. The overall mood is tranquil with a slight chill, like a single breath when the wind falls still, where motion and stillness, warm and cool, hold each other on one branch.

Category

Ink · Bird & Flower

Year

2002