No I am not Tevye. Isn't Fiddler On The Roof a wonderful piece of work! In teaching my students about the basics of brush strokes, and Chinese Brush Painting in general, I cannot circumvent some fundamental painting techniques. To make my case more poignant, I have to fall back on a favorite subject matter, the orchid. Orchid is touted as one of the 4 "PALS" in Chinese painting, possessing the virtue of lady like elegance and arrogance. There is a very hierarchical way of depicting orchid...
