Specialist dragon painters

Painting dragons was an artistic specialty in imperial China. Chen Rong, who painted during the 13th century, is the most famous Chinese dragon artist. He was an eccentric painter who used unusual techniques. He splashed ink on his paintings to make clouds; he formed mist by spitting water on the painting. He dipped his cap in the ink and smeared it over the scroll. His methods shocked the conservative painters of the time who were used to following strict rules about how to paint things, but the results are wonderful. Chen’s delicate, eerie dragons peer out of dark swirling clouds. Some of his works have survived, including the beautiful Nine Dragon Scroll which is in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in USA. This scroll is 11 metres long.

Another celebrated dragon artist was Zhang Zengyao who painted in the 6th century. None of Zhang’s work has survived, but there is a legend of how one of his dragon paintings came to life. Eyes of the Dragon