Characteristics of Chinese painting

General characteristics of Chinese painting

To learn Chinese painting, you should first understand what the characteristics of Chinese painting are, so this book will start here.

It is not easy to answer the above questions concisely in a few sentences. Traditional Chinese painting has a long history and has adapted to China's cultural soil to take root and blossom. It has its own characteristics in terms of conception, composition, technique and stylized expression. These characteristics are what theorists of traditional Chinese painting are currently discussing and summarizing. problem. Here are a few points to try.

1. The first important thing is to have a clear idea of ??the idea - the conception of Chinese painting

In the creation of Chinese paintings, the idea comes first. Many painting theorists emphasize this point first, whether it is painting landscapes or figures. , or painting flowers and birds.

Zhang Yanyuan of the Tang Dynasty had a discussion about the "Six Methods" in "Records of Famous Paintings of the Past Dynasties": "An image must be similar in shape, and the shape must be complete with its bones. Similarity in bones, shape, and shape. All based on carelessness. Use a pen. "He believes that the intention lies in the end. Only in paintings can there be abnormality and strangeness.

Monk Huaguang, who was famous for painting plum blossoms in the Song Dynasty, was named Zhongren. In the book "Painting Plum Blossoms", which is passed down as Huaguang's work, there is a section of "The Complete Guide to Painting Plum Blossoms", which begins with "Painting Plum Blossoms" All decisions are made, business comes first." In the Qing Dynasty, Fang Xun wrote "Mountain Quiet Residence Painting Theory". Here he also emphasized the relationship between conception and painting. He said: "When painting, you must first establish an conception to determine the position. If you want to be strange, you will be strange. If you want to be high, you will be high. If you want to be far, you will be far away. If you want to be deep, you will be deep. If you want to be ancient, you will be ancient." He believes that mediocre people will paint mediocre paintings, and vulgar people will paint vulgar paintings. Because they lack the most precious "concept" of the painter, their works are mediocre.

Leonardo da Vinci, a painter from the Renaissance period in Italy, is also very similar. He once said: "A painter should depict the two most important things, people and people's thoughts and intentions." This is very consistent with what Gu Xiaozhi, a figure painter of the Jin Dynasty in my country, put forward: "Ingenuity comes from careful thinking".

Where does "meaning" come from? One is the painter's rich observation of real life and sufficient accumulation of creative experience; the other is the painter's own cultivation, so that before creating, what to paint and how to paint have formed mature ideas in his mind.

Wen Yuke, a painter in the Song Dynasty, was praised by others for his "confidence in mind", that is, before he started painting bamboo, he already had the image of bamboo in his mind, and it was ready to appear in his mind and brush. Able to put pen to paper. "'Be confident in your mind" has become an idiom in my country that praises people who are good at planning and arranging things.

Before the "idea" proposed by Zhang Yanyuan, the Shaykhs of the Nanchuan era had the talk of "creativity" and "clear intention". Creative paintings do not fall into clichés and have precise intentions. They borrow scenery to create a sense of place. In this sense, as a painter, you must not only practice brushwork and hone your personal expression skills, but more importantly, We must also seriously strengthen the practice of mind. It is worth noting that many painting practitioners often only focus on practicing their brushwork, but neglect practicing their intention.

2. Use lines to express the spirit through shapes - the modeling rules of Chinese paintings

Chinese paintings use lines to store shapes, and use lines to outline outlines, textures and volumes. The German poet Goethe said that art has the ability to use light to express expressions vividly, which shows that Western paintings use light as one of the modeling methods. However, Chinese painting is mainly based on lines as the basis of modeling, which leads to a clear distinction between Chinese and Western painting in terms of modeling methods. This does not mean that Western painting completely rejects the use of lines, but that light can be used as the main language of painting. of. Rodin of France once emphasized: "A prescribed line runs through the universe." This refers to the issue of how plastic art is separated from the universe, and it is not regarded as the main expression method of painting. Whether it is the broken lines of landscapes or the lines of clothes, Chinese paintings have accumulated a very rich line type and skillfully depict various images.

"Using form to describe spirit" is a famous saying by Jin Dynasty painter Gu Kaizhi, which established the aesthetic view that spirit is higher than form in Chinese art. It is very different from the modern European aesthetics that is purely abstract, that is, painting people is not just about appearance. It is also necessary to rise above the level of spiritual resemblance and draw the human spiritual outlook, without stopping at imitating appearance and not sticking to the reality of nature. This theory establishes the height for artists to strive for in art. Under the guidance of this theory, There have been many excellent works of vivid portrayal in the past dynasties, which have become an important guideline for painting.

3. Multi-point perspective, using white as black - the composition rules of Chinese painting

Chinese painting uses both focus perspective and scattered perspective, which strictly adheres to the real picture space. And Bubai. There are also spaces and white spaces that break the reality and are aligned according to the needs of the composition, so that when the objects appear on the screen, they can be according to the artistic needs of the actual objects on the screen. Stretching or shortening changes its image and changes its position. A peony flower lower than eye level. It can also be mounted higher than the horizontal line to achieve the best perspective effect.

Chinese painting pays special attention to the management of blank spaces, often borrowing the calculation method from calligraphy to treat white as black. That is to say, the parts without pictures should be scrutinized and processed as carefully as the parts with pictures.

4. Add color according to the category and harmonize the colors - the color rules of Chinese painting

The colors of Chinese painting are not limited to the limitations of warm and cold tones of the light source, but pay more attention to the inherent color of the object itself. Rather than emphasizing the conditional color under special light.

When you paint an object, you give it the basic color, achieving the harmony of color and object, color and line, color and ink, and color and color.

5. The scene is full of vitality and vividness - the artistic conception of Chinese painting

Chinese painting requires the combination of pen and ink, the combination of emotion and scenery, and the infinitely rich scenes in reality. The painter uses strong images Contagious. Relying on this feeling, the painter aroused the passion to depict these scenes, so the works reappeared as a copy of the scenes, making the scenes blend together.

As for the vivid charm, it is the artistic spiritual realm created by the painter. It is different from ordinary sketches. It should be full of vitality, fresh and lively, with a poetic charm, which makes the viewer fascinated. If it does not express such vivid and rich connotations, of course, it will not be able to give people these feelings, and it will not achieve the fascinating artistic conception of Chinese painting.

6. Poetry, calligraphy, painting, paper and pen - a unique form of Chinese painting

It can be said that only Chinese painting has the practice of inscription and sealing. Not only literati paintings can also display their poems and calligraphy. The three unique features of painting are that even ordinary paintings must always be inscribed and stamped, so that they can have a strong flavor of traditional art.

Inscriptions and verses can enhance or supplement the viewer’s appreciation and understanding of the work, and also enrich the changes in the composition. They set off and highlight each other, embellish and balance the various aspects of the composition. effect.

The performance of Chinese painting tools and materials also determines the characteristics of Chinese painting. Chinese painting uses silk and paper to paint, especially the emergence of raw rice paper, which gives full play to the interest of brushwork and ink color. The permeability of rice paper and the sharp taper of the brush allow the brush tip to change infinitely, producing wonderful effects. At the same time, various imitation and depiction methods, painting methods and brushwork methods were formed.

From sketching to freehand brushwork

When I first started learning traditional Chinese painting, copying was used as an entry-level method, and I gradually progressed to sketching objects from life. Turning to the freehand brushwork of objects, not only the freehand brushwork with thick brushwork is like this, but also the meticulous and meticulous freehand brushwork also has its freehand brushwork elements. Because when Chinese painting depicts objects, whether it is fine brushwork or freehand brushwork, its processing techniques are all freehand. It is not a simple copy, but to get the essence and forget the roughness, to be complex where it should be, and to be simple where it should be. Dang Jian has a high degree of refining and processing of objects. He does not focus on the realistic appearance of light, color and appearance, but focuses on the inner understanding.

According to Dong Qichang's records, many famous landscape painters used real landscapes as manuscripts for their creations, such as "Li Sixun wrote about overseas mountains, Ma Yuan and Xia Gui wrote about Qiantang Mountain, and Zhao Wuxing wrote about Yingxue Mountain." , Huang Zijiu wrote "Haiyu Mountain". When future generations look at these paintings, they feel that they are both sketching and freehand; they are learning from nature, but they are not trapped by natural phenomena. Take Huang Zijiu's "Dwelling in Fuchun Mountains". The author drew the material from Fuchun Mountain, which is not the environmental geography map of Fuchun Mountain. What he represents is Huang Zijiu's idealized state.

This explains how ancient painters understood and expressed various objects in nature, turned real objects into artistic images, and gradually regularized and stylized them. At the same time, we can see their rich expressions techniques.

By comparing "Jiezi Biography of Traditional Chinese Painting" and other painting manuals, and then comparing the use of this program by painters in the past, readers can feel the process of processing and generalization from natural ecology to the artistic form in traditional Chinese painting. . From it, we can also understand the processing techniques from sketching to freehand brushwork, and master the modeling characteristics of Chinese painting from a technical perspective.

Outstanding theme

Wang Keyu of the Ming Dynasty said in "Coral Outline": "The ancients all had deep meanings in painting, and they all had their own ideas when writing." "The owner" is also the theme. Prominent theme is an essential feature in artistic creation. Once a theme idea is formed, you can decide what theme to use to express it, then decide on the choice of materials, and even determine the title of the work, and what kind of expression method to use, all depend on what the theme expresses. Like Yan Liben's famous work of the Tang Dynasty, "The Picture of Xiao Yi Earning the Orchid Pavilion" (Biography), this story has many twists and turns, but Yan Liben chose Xiao Yi's "intentional, deceitful and deceptive" and "unintentional" eloquence. ", kindness and being deceived" two typical plots to highlight the theme of the painting. The theme is highlighted on the word "earn", and other details are abbreviated or summarized. This is completely consistent with the description of this fact in "Fa Shu Yao Lu".

In the creation of traditional Chinese paintings, good themes are discovered, and it does not wait to highlight the theme. If you only seek vivid depiction of characters, rich changes in pictures, or straightforward narration, it cannot be considered as a prominent theme. The author can only consider what should be highlighted based on the unique laws and expression techniques of traditional Chinese painting. He must be good at summarizing the subject matter according to the form of traditional Chinese painting, determining the theme, and using the characterization of characters and the organization of details to highlight the theme and make the viewer see from the picture. Ding can understand the painter's intention without explanation. Therefore, Guo Xi believes: "When making a painting, you must first give it a title, otherwise there will be no painting without a title."

After the theme is clear, the most appropriate title should be given to the work. In most cases, it should be inscribed on the picture. Above. The title should be concise and concise, with profound meaning. It can also directly reveal the theme or imply the meaning of the theme to achieve the finishing touch.

Accumulate material

Literary work. Writers need to accumulate a lot of materials in life. Writers use words, and painters sometimes use words, but they mainly use brushes to sketch.

When a painter comes into contact with landscapes, flowers and characters in nature, he should always record them with sketches and collect the observed objects with a brush at any time. Like the painter Qi Baishi, for various niches. They have a very detailed observation and understanding of the physiological structure of the artist. If they continue to do so, they will also exercise the artist's ability to observe life and modeling.

Mr. Lu Xun once mentioned, "Authors must practice sketching outside or indoors every day in order to make progress. Sketching outside is the most beneficial."

The original materials recorded from daily life are like mined ores and the source of living water. They are infinitely vivid and rich. Compared with the materials obtained from taking photos or copying illustrated newspapers, they are more intimate. And profound. In the practice of in-depth exploration of natural scenery and characters, a large number of materials are accumulated, and new painting topics are conceived, which will arouse endless thoughts.

Subject matter genre

Subject matter is different from material. Material is unsmelted ore, while subject matter is obtained from a large number of materials. The materials that are most suitable for expressing a certain theme are found through scouring and alchemy. If the selection of materials is not precise, the content to be expressed will lose its distinctiveness and typicality.

Use a popular metaphor to explain style, which is like tailoring clothes, cutting different styles according to different body types. For example, when making a large mural, it would be inappropriate to use a small album format. Another example is the aforementioned "Xiao Yi's Orchid Pavilion", which is better in the form of figure painting, while "Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River" is of course better in the form of a long scroll of landscape painting. In various poetic paintings that praise plum blossoms, it is most appropriate to use flowers to surprise the audience.

Among the various forms and genres of figures, landscapes, and flowers, they are divided into fine brushwork, freehand brushwork, heavy color, ink and so on. After the author determines the theme of the painting, he should start from the content, and then consider the genre to be used. Such as long or short, whether to use a large scene or a close-up.

Two basic skills

1. In the process of its formation, Chinese painting has many traditional expression techniques. To master these methods, a frequently used method is; Teacher's drawing. The seventh painter Wang Shigu, who copied the masters of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, was quite accomplished. After decades of copying and experience, he felt that he had a full grasp of the green mountains and green waters. This will be discussed in more detail in the chapter on copying. talk.

2. The rich environment in life is the most vivid painting book for painters. Painters should constantly hone themselves in life. Chinese painters often emphasize taking nature as their teacher. Only from this rich treasure can , Only in this way can we develop the treasures of art, get inspiration from nature, and collect a wide range of materials.

The two basic skills complement each other and are indispensable. If you only copy the manuscripts of your predecessors, as time goes by, you will lose the ability to create on your own. If you only rely on sketching, you will often lose the traditional style of writing. .

After a painter has a good foundation in Chinese painting copying, life is the most important thing. Shi Tao, a painter of the Qing Dynasty, said that "the pen is neither life nor life". It is impossible to shut up in a room and think hard. The disadvantage is that without the images collected by oneself, one has no idea about the character's personality and mental outlook. This kind of image will become conceptualization. On the contrary, if you draw the most familiar characters in your life, as soon as you close your eyes, the person's spiritual temperament, voice, and smile will come out spontaneously, and they will become much more vivid.

Take painters as an example. Although workers and farmers are both laborers, they have different personalities and temperaments. These require silent grinding in life to stand out. Painting landscapes, flowers and birds is also inseparable from on-site travel sketching and experience. Of course, as an artist, in addition to the basics of writing and life, the cultivation of character and morality cannot be ignored. In the past, people often said that the book is like the person or the painting is like the person, which means that the character and cultivation of a painter are often naturally revealed in the writing.

In the Qing Dynasty, Wang Xing wrote in his book "Dongzhuang On Painting" that "those who learn painting should first establish their quality". In the Qing Dynasty, Shen Zongchun said in "Qi Zhou Xue Hua Bian": "The quality of the brush style is also like the character of the person" and "the mind paints the form and the evil and right of the person are divided." It is enough to show that calligraphy and painting critics, in addition to the artistic level of the painter, must also comprehensively analyze the painter's character and morality. Only painters with high artistic quality are worthy of people's learning and respect.

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