Text/Dong Zhenhuai
Sketch painting should be pursued in the creation, the far-reaching artistic conception, the infinite imagination, the small can win the big, the simplicity is not simple, the lyrical intention, the form and the god are both, the fresh and lively, the quiet beauty of the pen and ink.
Sketches, out of the Buddhist language, the Buddhists call the sample "big product" simply "sketch". Speaking of the word "pin" from three mouths, referring to three people or many people, this is the original meaning, from the literal meaning, the word "pin" as a verb contains the meaning of discernment, evaluation, analysis, and perception.
The term "sketch" existed as early as the Jin Dynasty and is an ancient Indian Buddhist term. "World Speaks of New Languages and Literature": "Yin Zhongjun Reads Sketches" Under the sentence Liu Xiao noted: "Shi Shi's "Discernment of the Void Classic" has a detailed one, and a slight one. The detailed ones are large pieces, and the slight ones are small pieces. Kumarosh translated the Mahabharata Sutra and called the more detailed twenty-seven volumes the Great Pinnacle Prajnaparamita and the slighter ten-volume version the Minor Prajnaparamita. It can be seen that "small works" are the opposite of "big pieces" and refer to the excerpts of Buddhist scriptures. Because of its short length and simple language, it is easy to read and spread, so it is favored by people. Zhang Rong's "Testament Order": "I am good in my life, and I should smile at Lingyun." Three thousand to buy a coffin, no new one. The left hand holds the "Filial Piety Sutra" and "Lao Tzu", and the right hand holds the sketch "Lotus Sutra". (Book of Southern Qi, vol. 41) Shows his preference for "sketches.") In the late Ming Dynasty, Xia Shufang wrote "Xianglin Mu", from the preface yun: "Changxia JubiShan, The Lotus Flower Sketch of the Ri Li, the most famous incense in the temple, slightly into a piece." In order to escape the political scourge, the late Ming Dynasty literati became fond of Buddhism, but they only fled to Zen and hid in Zen, and most people did not really escape into the void. Therefore, they simply do not have the patience to delve into the profound and mysterious and voluminous Buddhist texts, but they have a special love for "sketches". With the rise of the "Zen delight" wind, it became natural for the scribes to transplant the concept of "sketches" into literature. In the thirty-ninth year of the Wanli Calendar (1611), Wang Nazhi compiled the "Sketches of Su Changgong", and the earliest "sketches" were regarded as a literary concept. Chen Jiru's "Su Changgong Sketches" Yun: "If you want to choose the collection of Changgong, it is advisable to put its short and different ones in front, and its arguments, strategies, and seals can be as many as tens of thousands of words, which will be recited by those who are constantly recited by the scriptures later." For example, if you read the Buddhist Tibetans, first read the Ahan Sketches, and then Xu and the five thousand and forty-eight volumes, not too late. This reads long public set law also. ("Mr. MeiGong's Tuberose Hall Sketches", vol. 11) put forward "short and different" as a characteristic of "sketches", and compared to "A Han Sketches", it can also be seen that the concept of "sketches" was transferred from buddhist scriptures. This is the original "sketch" view of the late Ming Dynasty, which basically refers to the prose style, which is short and timeless. Chen Jiru was the leader of the "mountain people" clan in the late Ming Dynasty literary circles, and after his call, the word "sketch" did not go away, and for a while everyone competed to write sketches, choose sketches, and discuss sketches, which became a common practice.
As a painting of song sketches, the painting has reached a very high level in the Song Dynasty, and the works with small scales are painted with landscapes and pavilions, flowers, birds, plants and insects, and character stories. Their subject matter is diverse and colorful, and these exquisite paintings are small and large, and their depictions are no less than large vertical scrolls or long hand scrolls. As the saying goes, "there are big difficulties in the big", in fact, "small is also difficult to be small". The small picture allows the viewer to see at a glance, unobstructed, unable to hide clumsiness, must be carefully created everywhere, not sloppy. Therefore, these sketch paintings are very delicate, enduring, and can withstand the taste of play. Moreover, there are also many famous masters among the authors of album paintings. These albums, which may have been decorative paintings on screens in the palace or decorative paintings on fans, were collected and framed into albums because of their artistic quality.
Most of the album paintings of the Song Dynasty did not have the author's signature, and when they came from the hands of the unknown painters of the painting academy, some of the paintings left famous models, and the painters were generally more well-known. For example, Ma Yuan, one of the "Four Houses of the Southern Song Dynasty", painted the "MeishiXi Jie Tu" and "White Rose Tu". His works, most famous for landscape paintings, pay attention to the composition of the corners of the paintings, and use "axe splitting" to carry the pen, which is very distinctive. Ma Yuan is also good at making plum blossoms, the shape is peculiar, the branches are tilted downwards and dragged, the Song people like to give people nicknames, so the horse is far away from the "horse corner" and "dragging branches Ma Yuan" nickname, Ma Yuan's artistic feature can be clearly seen in the "Meishi Xi Tu".
In addition, Ma Lin's (Ma Yuan's son) painting "Green Orange Diagram", Lin Chun's "Loquat Mountain Bird Diagram", "Grape Grass Worm Diagram", "Fruit Ripe Bird Diagram", Li Di's "Chicken Chicks To Be Fed" and "Hound Dog Diagram", Liang Kai's "Autumn Willow Double Crow Diagram" and "Sparse Willow Jackdaw Diagram", Chen Juzhong's "Four Sheep Diagram" and "Liutang Herding Horse Diagram" painted by Chen Juzhong are all from the hands of well-known painters of the Southern Song Dynasty Painting Academy. Their works are either rigorous in shape and vivid in color, or free in brush strokes and dripping with ink, and have diverse styles, reflecting the new orientation of the Southern Song Dynasty Painting Academy in painting style. Among them, Liang Kai, in particular, is eclectic and very indulgent in terms of personality and painting style, so he has the nickname of "Liang Crazy". In the history of painting, Liang Kai's paintings are called "passed down to the world in a grassy way, called subtraction of brush strokes", and his painting method of splashing ink, "reducing pen" and large strokes was not only infiltrated by the painting style of the literati at that time, but also had a great influence on future generations.
Sketch painting is not a huge production with a strict structure and rich plot. However, sketch paintings and small paintings cannot be equated, and sketch paintings should have some characteristics of their own in addition to their small size. Zhang Daqian, a famous modern painter, believes that "sketches should have great sustenance", which is a very classic sentence and the original purpose of sketch painting. Sketch painting is not a random small painting, but a work of the mind with thought, skill, and expression. Whether it is a Chinese painting sketch, an oil painting sketch, or a printmaking sketch, it must follow this purpose.
Chinese painting sketches are born out of thematic Chinese painting creation, is the most suitable form for Chinese painters to explore the pen and ink technique, sketch paintings are sometimes handy, casually sprinkled, even if it is a small piece of brushwork, they are also exquisitely chosen, the pen is simple and intentional, but the painter's inspiration is a reflection of the hair, is the breeze out of the wind, the bright moon into the heart of the natural expression. Although the sketch is small in length, it has the characteristics of seeing the big in the small and has a rich connotation, and Nasu mimi is in the meson, and it is within easy reach of thousands of miles. Like the last sentence in ancient poetry, the small order, the qin people are evocative. The so-called sketches in Chinese paintings are relative to large-scale, thematic creations, small pieces, small size, in the content of the requirements of conciseness, generalization, small in the big. Fun and timeless is the highest state pursued by sketch painting. The themes it expresses include small scenes, ordinary stories, folk customs, deified legends, historical figures, poetic meanings and so on. Because it is small, one stone and one flower, one tree and one pavilion, one person and one thing can be included in the painting. Although the sketch painting is small, its elegance can give people a sense of beauty, and it also has high aesthetic value. "A map within a few feet, writing a scene of a hundred thousand miles", "a leaf knows autumn", "a drop of water to see the world", small but not small, small paintings still need a big hand, not much ink but full of fun.
The forms of sketch painting are diverse, such as strips, horizontal cloaks, bucket squares, albums, fans, etc., the format is vertical, horizontal, round, square, flat, the size is not small or even not a foot, its large one is only four feet three open, four feet apart or so, no matter what form of sketch painting is the painter's expression of the heavens and the earth and all things the soul of the feelings of the expression, the expression of true feelings.
Looking at the ancient and modern sketches, leaving a strong stroke of sketch painting in history, we are inspired, all works with true feelings, regardless of size, can make people moved, the painter in the form of sketches to make a big painting creation of thinking and endowed with profound connotations, conciseness contains philosophy, wisdom, so that the sketches to an independent language format, is undoubtedly an attempt of painters with academic value. Sketch painting, with its unique perspective and keen insight, pays attention to life, pays attention to the world, pays attention to nature, praises and degrades the world, and observes the people in an image way, which is the distinctive personality of sketch painting creation, and also fully expresses the painter's sense of responsibility for career and society. Although the scale of the sketch painting is not large, it can achieve a vast and subtle artistic effect, which is the viewer's spiritual pleasure and spiritual washing.
2020.12.18
Dong Zhenhuai was born in 1962 in Cangzhou, Hebei Province, and graduated from the Department of Fine Arts of Hebei Normal University in 1989.1989 and was assigned to work in the Fine Arts Department of Cangzhou Normal University. He is currently the Head of the Department of Art and Design. associate professor. He is a member of the China Artists Association, the vice chairman of the Cangzhou Artists Association, the vice president of the Cangzhou Academy of Fine Arts of the China Democratic League, the special painter of the China Academy of Ethnic Painting, and the painter of the Xu Beihong Painting Institute of the China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese of the Ministry of Culture. He studied at the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts.