Old Friends at Sunset

This painting is about two very good friends at the sunset of life.

They have been friends for a long time, and though they are closer to the end than to the beginning of their lives, their friendship is still as strong as ever.

The Chinese characters are the title that I translated into English above, along with the artist's signature.

The deeper meaning was inspired by a conversation that I had with the artist.

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The Materials...

Painted with watercolor and special Chinese ink on handmade xuan paper (rice paper) with gold flecks/flakes. The paper itself is handmade in a process that takes more than a year to complete.

We've been doing some experiments with mounting some of these philosophy art paintings to wall scrolls. I don't know if this will become a regular item or not. This one is mounted with an antique-style two-tone silk cloth combination. This is very much the style you would see in China hundreds of years ago - a very classic style. See: How we make our wall scrolls.

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About This Collection of Chinese Philosophy Art

This painting is from the San Yang Collection, a great series of paintings that depict various folklore, stories, and philosophies of Chinese culture.

I have translated the stories of these paintings into English with the personal help of the artist.

This work was done in Beijing, China by Zhang Xiuzhen whose pen name is "San Yang".

She is a rather famous artist in northern China and has been painting since 1958.
Her work has been seen in many international exhibitions around the world over the last decade.

This is known as "free-hand style" painting.
This style of painting is done quickly with broad and powerful strokes. But often with a half-dry brush. This is a very specific technique that this artist has mastered, and many try to copy.