GongBi and XieYi
Classical Chinese painting distinguishes two main styles.
GongBi (工笔) often referred to as the exact detailed contour painting and XieYi (写意), the fast free hand painting.
Although both painting techniques place great emphasis on brush strokes and brushwork, they are distinctly different and easy to recognize. XieYi style paintings can be created in a few hours, sometimes even minutes, while GongBi paintings often require weeks or months of work.
However, both genres differ not only in painting technique, but also in visual language and meaning.
The XieYi technique should serve as a means to convey not only the appearance of an object, but express how the artist looks at it, which makes the painting also open to own interpretations.
Opposite to XieYi, the GongBi technique places extreme emphasis on the accurate reproduction of details without leaving much room for interpretation. The image is more representational and descriptive, like a photograph.