Wu Chao's painting of the Year of the Tiger. Courtesy of Wu Chao
Wu Chao's painting stone work "One Lotus (Year) Lotus (and) Qi". Nan Bao Rong media reporter Tian Shiyu photographed
Wu Chao's painting stone work "Crouching Tiger Arhat". Nan Bao Rong media reporter Tian Shiyu photographed
Tiger to Buddha (Blessing) to the meaning of crouching tiger Luohan exquisite cuteness; a lotus flower (year) and (lotus) qi of the lotus flower are colorful; all kinds of tiger postures are different, tiger tigers are powerful... Yesterday, the reporter saw in the home of Wu Chao, a non-hereditary inheritor of Nanjing Painting Stone, that the reception room and small study were filled with all kinds of painting stone works, and works related to the Year of the Tiger and the Spring Festival could be seen everywhere.
The stubborn stone is not pure, and the catch is like a fist. This year is the Year of the Tiger, and Wu Chao has also made many works related to the Year of the Tiger. Among them, Crouching Tiger Luohan is Wu Chao's first work in the Year of the Tiger. "Crouching Tiger Arhat also means tiger to Buddha." Wu Chao displays this stone painting, above which is a round-headed Arhat, using the unique outline of the stone, depicting the forehead and figure of the Arhat, and below it lies a fierce tiger, vivid.
Tigers are broad and strong, and generally choose stones with relatively smooth lines to paint. The production process of painting stones is very exquisite, and the first step is to "find stones". Seeing the first side of the stone, Wu Chao will conceive in his mind what kind of pattern this stone can be used to draw. The first thing to look at is the texture and color of the stone. "Painting stones is easy to convey." Wu Chao introduced that the best stone painting works are "seven points of natural, three points of artificial". After picking the stone, it is followed by cleaning, polishing, and processing the rough surface of the stone to facilitate the later hooking. Wu Chao has studied arts and crafts, and the hook lines mostly use traditional Chinese lines, and then use traditional gouache pigments for coloring, rendering and other processes.
"Although gouache paint cannot be rendered as easily on stone as rice paper, it can be used with delicate brushstrokes and special craftsmanship to create three-dimensional, relief or chiaroscuro effects." Wu Chao talked about his craft work and was very insightful. When the vivid painting is completed, after the last "glazing" process, a painting stone work is completely completed.
In Wu Chao's hands, dipping gouache to outline the lines, leaving white space in the bumps and crevices of the stone, after color grading, every natural hole in the stone can become a different "scenery". In addition to the works related to "Tiger", another painting of "One Lotus (Year) and (Lotus) Qi" painted on Wada Yu is also very happy.
"This piece of jade was originally used to make bracelets, and when I saw that his unpolished section was uneven and brightly colored, I did not hesitate to accept it." Wu Chao said that the white line is outlined at the concave and convex of the section, showing the uneven appearance of the lotus leaf, and the pink and open lotus flower blooms freely on the lotus leaf, taking the lotus as "nian" and the lotus as "he", which means happiness and happiness, and is also a blessing for the Spring Festival.
The reporter learned that Wu Chao is currently the only non-hereditary inheritor of Nanjing painting stones in Nanjing, and now he is taking seven or eight apprentices to study. More recently, he has worked on 3D-effected stone paintings. "In terms of works, I pay more attention to innovation, and the works are not expensive." Wu Chao said with a smile that painting stones is a skill that turns "immortality" into magic, and by depicting different stones, it re-gives life and meaning to stones, and can also spread better traditional Chinese culture through painting stones.
Correspondent Zhang Jiangxin
Source: Nanjing Daily