Traditional Bamboo Painting Workshop in Hoi An

In 2024 I had taken part in a Vietnamese Calligraphy Workshop in Hoian and a watercolour workshop in Hanoi. When I saw a traditional bamboo painting workshop while browsing workshops I could do I expected it to be like one or the other. Instead bamboo painting is it’s very own discipline and it was very interesting to try my hand at it.

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First we chose our motif from two they had prepared in advance. If you are not a beginner you can also paint what you want, but as a first time bamboo painter interested in traditional motifs I chose one with bamboo and fishing boats.

Initially you start by painting on simple paper. You learn how to hold the brush and how to apply pressure to achieve the look of bamboo and the leaves. Then you learn how to draw the people fishing from their boats. It is more complicated than I thought, but once you know the order of what to start with some brush strokes and some outlines form a boat, a person and finally a pole.

While I only pictured three practice sheets here, I think I went through at least six, before they let me paint the bamboo. You start with the boats and the sunset, before adding the bamboo canes in the foreground.

Once the painting is done you mark it with your thumb-print and sign your name. Then it can dry a little, or they speed up the drying process with a blow drier. I used this time to wash my hands (and underarms) and got most of the paint off.

I asked our instructor, Ho Tam Phuc, about the bamboo paintings along the walls and he enthusiastically explained some oft he motifs to me.

Most often he paints traditional pictures, with nature such as bamboo and lotus, animals like water buffalo, koi and dragons or humans like fishers, merchants or women in Ao Dai (the traditional Vietnamese dress).