Sun Lung, a native of Kiangsu province, served at the Hsuan-te (1426-1435) court and excelled at painting birds and flowers as well as plants and insects. Using only ink, he followed in the Northern Sung (960-1126) tradition of “boneless” ink and wash painting, but actually he formed a style of his own. This work comes from “Album of Sketches from Life by Sun Lung with Calligraphy by Yao Kung-shou.” It shows a dragonfly and a damselfly perched on the tip of a plant. The light touch of the brushwork looks almost like it was carelessly finished. Sun, however, was able to fully grasp the pose and spirit of these insects. The accompanying calligraphy by Yao Kung-shou (1423-1495) is also fluid, adding an elegant scholar's touch to this sketch from nature.