12.5 cm x 18 cm; 300-lb watercolor paper; Taiwan watercolors

Blog Post 24

Chimonobambusa mamorea is the Red Chinese Bamboo. My Chinese brush painting teacher once told me that paintings of red bamboos are given as gifts for good luck, especially during special occasions.

Some painting tips: For the bamboo stalks, I mixed carmine and vermillion. For the two-toned bamboo leaves, I loaded a small Chinese brush with yellow-green; then, I dipped its tip in blue-green before painting.

Here’s another red bamboo painting I did from my left-over carmine & vermillion mixture. Notice that this bamboo has an upward leaf arrangement. The red bamboo leaves and sprout just exist in my mind–not in nature.

Sprouting Red Bamboo; 15 cm x 10 cm; 300-lb watercolor paper; Taiwan watercolor

Good luck!