“Quiet Fragrance” Round Fan

After the outline I laid in four washes: rouge graded from petal tip to base, and indigo separating the two faces of each leaf.

The vase is a plain ash-glazed pot, deliberately humble so the flowers carry; a dark cloth on the table holds the bottom of the picture down.

I called it “Quiet Fragrance” because I painted it during the plum rains, when the room was very still.

Gongbi is slow — but slow pays you back.

— Gao Xinuo · studio note