Finger-painting the west is accepted as an art medium
usually used by adults to teach art to children. It has a different
meaning in China, however. It is a centuries-old Chinese technique of
painting with the fingertips, hands and fingernails.
Chinese artist Zhou Xueyu has been painting with his fingers since 1961 and has made a name
for himself in the art world. “Finger painting achieves effects
different from those from using paintbrushes. The intermittent lines
typical to this technique often yield a kind of hazy touch and the tone
of the whole picture can be quite unexpected,” he said.
My discovery of painting with finger came when I was washing my metal palette tray of acrylic paint and enjoying making all sorts of images, mostly abstract. Then it occurred to me that I can do this on other surfaces - paper, canvas etc.
Painting with fingers and hands feels different from painting with brushes - feels more intimate, you become one with a painting.
Doing research I found that there are even different techniques - this is extract from the site mandarinmorning.com:
Thumb and Fingerprints
The technique of thumb printing helps in making a variety of designs.
Shapes of animals and insects are created with thumb impressions. The
shapes of feathers and other body features of animals can be made with
fingerprints.
Etching Technique
The etching technique of finger painting isn't actually about painting a
surface. Instead, the paint is removed with fingertips for making
designs; the paint is etched out only when it is wet.
(or you can usu nails - Y.K)
Wiggles and Waves
The waves and wiggles are easiest patterns that one can create by means
of finger painting techniques. Thumb and fingerprints are used to make
these designs.
Dot Painting
It is one of the commonly used technique in finger painting. Different
shapes and patterns can be created only out of dots. Dot painting is not
only a common, but also an easy to use technique. Outline of paintings
made by the dot method is not very sharp and intricate designs cannot be
created; however, the basic shapes and patterns suitable for children
can be easily made with dot painting.
Creating Mirror Images
Symmetrical patterns/designs can be created by folding paper into two
halves. The designs made on one half get imprinted on the other by
folding.
(or another idea - just with use of both hands and doing it simultaneously - Y.K)
Palm and Finger
It is a simple technique used in making a painting of earth. Fingers of
the hand should be painted with different colors. Palm should be
smeared with a mixture of green and blue colors. In this finger painting
technique, the hand should be stamped on paper. Stamping need to be
done several times by moving the palm in a circular manner. The final
picture/painting is that of a blue-green colored earth with a variety of
colors surrounding it.
Interesting. I will try some of that.
For today, I have a fantasy Fish painting, named
From the Deep
