Realism and freehand are both techniques of artistic creation, and the two are closely related. Realistic, emphasizing the sense of realism; freehand emphasizes the inner spiritual essence. It can be seen from the development process of traditional landscape painting that the ancients experienced a stage from rewriting reality to rewriting. The late Ming Dynasty painter Lan Ying used a set of antique four-screen landscape paintings to reproduce this process, which is very interesting to appreciate.
Strip screen refers to the fact that multiple vertical axis works jointly express the same theme, which can be enjoyed individually or together. The number of strip screens is mostly even, and four screens are the most common. Judging from the painting style, this set of "Four Screens of Antique Landscapes" is a work of Lan Ying's prime-age period, with strong traces of copying. He chose to create with the theme of ancient as a teacher, hoping to show the development process of landscape painting from realism to freehand.
Lan Ying imitates a huge landscape
The first creative peak of traditional landscape painting appeared during the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty, and the artistic concepts of Dong Yuan, Juran and others extended from the Five Dynasties to the Northern Song Dynasty, allowing painters to begin to think about the relationship between shape and god. Northern Song Painters liked to paint giant mountains, and one mountain could fill the entire picture.
When Lan Ying copied Juran, it was obvious that she did not create according to the pattern of Juling Landscape. As a junior in the painting world, when he copied it, he consciously added his own ideas. This proposition is to give the landscape in the painting the function of expressing emotions. That is to say, Lan Ying guides everyone to pay attention to the development process from realism to freehand, thus showing that his aesthetic is the same as that of literati painters.
Lan Ying imitates Zhao Ling rang landscape
Lan Ying is a folk professional painter, and he and the literati painter belong to a different group. The literati painters of the same era believed that Lan Ying's works were "craftsmanship", which classified him into the ranks of the Zhejiang school of painting. How Lan Ying views this division, there is no relevant record in the history of painting. However, as you can see from the painting, he feels a little bored. Literati painters emphasize inheritance and emphasize the taste of pen and ink, which are all in his paintings. Why did he become a Painter of the Zhejiang School, and he also followed the aesthetic taste of the times in his creation, why could he not become the mainstream!
It's a little helpless to say it, so let's prove his ability with his works. Through the imitation object selected by Lan Ying, it can also be seen that Ju Ran, Zhao Lingyong, Wu Zhen, wang Meng, the four of them can represent the process of landscape painting creation from realism to freehand, freehand is not equivalent to abandoning the requirements of shape.
Lan Ying imitates the landscape of Wuzhen
Lan Ying attaches great importance to technique, whether it is realistic or freehand, it needs accurate techniques to complete the creation. When he imitated Wu Zhen and imitated Wang Meng, he chose works with high difficulty to imitate. He was willing to show his piety in depicting his spiritual home. He uses delicate and realistic pen and ink modeling to show a delicate and elegant aesthetic taste.
According to research, Lan Ying lived until the early years of Shunzhi. In his later years, he lived in poverty and still insisted on studying "retro" in his creations. He understands the development law of artistic creation, and he also knows the world's evaluation of him, and he has not given up his pursuit. Such a painter is admirable, looking at his work, as if to hear him say, "I understand, but I will insist." ”
Lan Ying imitates Wang Mengshan Water
Nourished by traditional techniques, and Lan Ying's penchant for using decorative techniques, his paintings look beautiful and are beautiful on the inside. This is the great thing about Lan Ying, his works are in line with the aesthetic standards of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, even modern people will feel that the traditional style should be like his paintings.