2023-11-24 00:50:00
Original title: Art creation cannot be restricted simply by using pen and ink
What I understand as brush and ink is the language form of Chinese painting, and it is a large-scale concept. In a Chinese painting, brush and ink are integrated with other painting elements, such as structure, image, color, artistic conception and charm, to form a complete work. Without these elements of painting, the brush and ink would be nowhere to be found. After the late Ming Dynasty, with the development of literati painting, brush and ink were emphasized to the highest position, but they became increasingly disconnected from the main theme of painting. The lack of creativity in pen and ink has reduced it to a game of pen and ink, and it is getting further and further away from the tradition of pen and ink’s emotional freehand brushwork.
Wang Guowei believes that the arrangement in painting belongs to the first form, and the use of brush and ink belongs to the second form. When talking about pen and ink, we are not talking about the beauty of point painting, but about the form and structure. The Tao resides in the tools, not in the signs. As a meticulous figure painter, I always believe that the shaping of form is very important. “Xuanhe Painting Book” records that Gu Hongzhong, a painter of the Southern Tang Dynasty of the Five Dynasties, was ordered to paint “Han Xizai’s Night Banquet”. “At night, I would peek at the place, memorize it with my eyes and mind, and draw it above.” Although “Han Xizai’s Night Banquet” is a stunning work of Chinese painting, if you look closely, you will find that there are still strong procedural norms, the posture is too rigid, there is rarely a very accidental portrayal angle, behavior state, and no specific perspective angle is chosen. , the clothes also lack variety, there is no distinction between thin and thick texture, and the expressions of the characters are not vivid. Of course, it also has many valuable features, too many to list here. When judging realistic paintings from modern people’s aesthetic point of view, details cannot be ignored. Without “form”, “writing spirit with form” will also become an empty shell. Xu Beihong once pointed out about Chinese classical figure painting, “Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there has been little progress and many shortcomings.” “The clothes in the paintings are difficult to distinguish between spring and summer. The faces are all the same, with just one stroke beside the nose. A child will grow old when he smiles, and a child will grow old when he smiles.” Ai’s eyebrows are ugly, etc., how can they be used as a test for future generations?” “I wrote that people are not allowed to use the test. One of the fingers is missing, the arms and legs are like straight tubes, the body cannot move enough, the head cannot be looked up and sideways, and the hands cannot be stretched forward. If we don’t correct this and make progress, how can we learn anything?” This is a general criticism of the lack of innovation in figure painting since the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The attempts of today’s gongbi painters have shown that the depiction of “shape” in Chinese paintings is a bridge between traditional and modern paintings – incorporating various artistic factors, especially Western anatomy, perspective, optics, and color science Waiting for scientific laws, using realist observation methods, and adding lines with rich content and changes derived from tradition to create living “forms” has become an important entry point for the modern development of gongbi painting. For example, every character in a painting is unique, with different expressions and characteristics. Only by extracting and strengthening characteristics can realistic-themed figure paintings achieve artistic authenticity. Only by properly expressing the external image and inner world of the object can we move from mechanical imitation to subjective depiction and achieve a leap from “writing form” to “writing spirit”. This requires painters to boldly absorb Western painting concepts and explore new meanings of brushwork on the basis of inheriting tradition.
What is the most representative aesthetic of traditional Chinese painting? I think it’s planes and lines. The shaping of planes and the rhythm of lines are the soul of Chinese painting and national characteristics. Western painting places great emphasis on anatomical structure, which also contains its unique style. Chinese painting cannot completely imitate the shaping language of Western art and must retain its own characteristics. I recently re-examined the portraits of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and found that their structural expression and simplification were just right, so the overall momentum was strong and powerful. At the same time, we also noticed that although there were subtle and unique techniques in portraiture during that period, there were still many areas worthy of breakthrough. For example, the description of clothing was still in a general plane state and lacked details. I think we should open up the different painting language systems of China and the West. The national aesthetics of Chinese painting still runs through the picture, and at the same time absorb the rational thinking of Western painting, so that the overall work maintains the two-dimensional sense of Chinese painting, but details such as characters, clothing patterns, etc. all conform to the laws of anatomy and perspective. , no longer a simple flat stack. While exploring lines, it also expresses the scientific structure of the human body, hiding the structural beauty in the flat composition, and perfectly combining rationality and sensibility.
The boundaries of Chinese painting should not be rigid, otherwise many painters will lose their creative direction. Some painters are still obsessed with the details of pen and ink and regard it as the goal of creation. However, this is only a small aspect of painting and cannot be regarded as the only pursuit. We want to present the grand and magnanimous visual effect of Chinese painting.
In addition to shape shaping, color is also an important factor in the visual expression of painting. The times are developing, the colors in life are constantly enriched, and our aesthetics are constantly upgrading. The application of color in painting creation also needs to keep pace with the times and should not just stay in the traditional color system. Exploring new color languages and enriching the visual expression of paintings are aspects that need to be paid attention to in contemporary painting creation. We should boldly try different materials and color languages. Different materials can coexist harmoniously in the same painting. Rock color, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, etc. can all be used in creation, as long as it is suitable for expression and does not feel stiff. Tools and materials are only carriers of expression, and the artist’s creative imagination is the key to determining the quality of the work. Freely using different painting media to depict the pictures in my mind is my attitude towards painting.
Different painting themes and effects require the use of different techniques, and the method of expression must be flexibly decided according to specific needs. Techniques should serve expression rather than become a shackle. If one technique cannot achieve the desired effect, you should try other methods: use brisk lines and bright colors to express cheerful scenes; use layers of dyeing to express the vicissitudes of life and the sense of age for the elderly; use thin layers to see The traditional method of thick, layer-by-layer blending is used to express youthful youth, etc. Techniques and content should be closely combined and complement each other, giving viewers a new viewing experience through different expression techniques.
In addition, I have to talk about digital technology. With the development of AI (artificial intelligence) technology, the mode of painting creation has also changed greatly. Many painters use computer software to assist in painting, and composition and color can also be quickly designed through AI. The most important significance of digital technology is that it provides artists with richer sources of inspiration and inspires more innovative thinking. Of course, only artists with superb aesthetic accomplishments can select the best works from the massive images generated by AI, and only they can accurately guide AI to create in a visual language that is closest to their personal style. In the digital age, what we worry about is not a lack of technology, but a lack of creativity.
Today’s painters’ aesthetic vision has broadened a lot. We can no longer simply use traditional norms to restrict contemporary art creation. Instead, we should present traditional Chinese aesthetics in different languages and organically graft and multi-dimensionally integrate different artistic expression techniques. At present, art is more likely to resonate only if it is close to life and expresses the emotions of ordinary people. The creation that inherits the tradition cannot just be an artist’s self-indulgent game of pen and ink, but needs to take into account different appreciating groups and grasp the aesthetic scale.
How to find the convergence between tradition and modernity in Chinese painting, and how to update and expand its connotation, are all major issues facing the development of Chinese painting, and are also the long-term thinking and exploration directions of many painters. Pen and ink is no longer a static grammatical system, but should keep pace with the times and generate dynamic symbolic interactive relationships. Contemporary painters should adopt an open attitude, inherit and carry forward the essence of tradition, and be compatible with a variety of painting elements, so that pen and ink can radiate new vitality in the modern context.
The world of a painting is very broad, how can it only focus on the issue of pen and ink?
(Author: Li Zhenhua, deputy director of the Chinese Painting Academy of the China Academy of Arts)
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