Fruit and Vegetable Fan

A small study of fruit on the branch, painted in clear bright colour and framed in raw wood.

NOTES

Studio notes

I began with pale ink for the branch, then built the fruit in layers of cinnabar and rouge, and added the leaves last.

A fan is curved, so the composition has to follow the arc. The fruit gathers on the right; the left is left open to breathe.

It now hangs in the entrance hall — the first thing you see coming in.

Small pictures are all about what you leave out.

— Gao Xinuo · studio note