Capturing the essence

"A Western painter and a Chinese painter were given three days
to produce a picture of a duck. The Westerner spent two days
making sketches of ducks on his local pond. On the third day he
returned to the pond and painted a portrait of a particular duck.
The Chinese sat by the pond for two and a half days without
making a mark. On the last afternoon, he went back to his studio
and painted a picture that captured the essence of duckness"

Apocryphal story, courtesy of Jane Evans, author Collins
Learn to Paint Chinese Brush