Zhang Hongyang has been engaged in screen painting for more than eight years. Coming from a Chinese painting major, she came to Beijing from Suzhou ten years ago. In the courtyard deep in the alley, she constructs an elegant poetic space.
Painting, tea tasting, teasing dogs, reading books... The quiet life in the middle of nowhere contrasts to her cheerful personality to a certain extent. Painting changed her personality, and Beijing changed her habits. What has always been clear and warm in the long years is the leisurely picture depicted by the heart on the screen, and her love for screen painting.
In the current Internet context, in this fast-paced era of emerging consumption dominated by Generation Z, she uses her own beliefs and concepts to pass on the long-standing art of screen painting.
In the depths of memory, the March wind and rain and April flowers and grasses in Jiangnan are like a strong flow of information that goes straight to the hands, inspiring Zhang Hongyang to pick up the paintbrush. On her newly completed 2-meter ×2-meter "Cherry Blossom Tea Room Map", she presents the scene on the mountain behind her hometown in Suzhou.
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"The temple near my house is liang dynasty, and there is a copper Guanyin under the tower of the Liang dynasty, so it is named Copper Guanyin Temple, and there is a cherry blossom forest inside the temple."
In the 1990s, when social software was in the ascendant and short video platforms were not yet on the rise, even in April, when cherry blossoms were in full bloom, there was no bustling mountain crowd. Zhang Hongyang played carefree in the forest, took pictures, and enjoyed the undisturbed early spring time.
Immersed in the closeness and romance of nature, Zhang Hongyang seems to be in a wonderland. In particular, when the cherry blossoms are blown by the wind, "there is a feeling of drifting zero, and the object is particularly beautiful."
After learning to paint, she decided to create a painting about cherry blossoms. After revisiting her hometown this spring, she spent several months immersed herself in this screen painting, and the memory finally shone into reality.
When she was a child, her parents sent Zhang Hongyang to the calligraphy class and flute class, but she did not mention much interest, so she gave up after less than half a year of study. Later, she fell in love with Japanese anime characters such as Sailor Moon and Ichigo, and drew them when she was fine.
"I kept telling my family that I liked to draw, and they wondered how my appeal was so strong. However, parents do not know that there will be anime and other classifications for drawing, but just inquire where they can learn to draw. ”
Perhaps it is the fate in the underworld, the teacher found by the parents is Gu Rongyuan, the inheritor of the Suzhou Wumen School. After visiting the teacher, Zhang Hongyang learned that there is a world of difference between Chinese painting and animation. Nevertheless, the experience of painting images such as horses and birds in Chinese painting gave her a lot of fun.
When her faith in learning to paint was shaken, her mother shocked her with majesty. Coupled with the honors brought by the gold and silver awards of the municipal and provincial art competitions, it proves that she is talented. Suddenly, one day, she found that she really liked Chinese painting.
In this way, it is also a natural thing to choose a Chinese painting major in college. In those years, Zhang Hongyang first came into contact with Song Dynasty sketch paintings, and when he flipped through the album, he saw the "Reading Map of the Mountain Pavilion" that made a huge change in her painting material.
The house in the painting resembles a house in her home village, with no door in the middle of the front and back doors, or only a decorative compartment. The image evoked her memories.
"When I was a kid playing in my hometown, I usually rushed from the front door to the back door, and after this was through, I rested there, and there would be a flow of wind. Once, I was sleeping there on my stomach and I had a cold. I thought that if something blocked the direction of the door, maybe the wind wouldn't blow directly on me. ”
The screen in "Reading Map of the Mountain Pavilion" made Zhang Hongyang move: "If there was such a big board screen at home at that time, wouldn't I have slept frozen that time?" ”
Her career in screen painting began between this collision of regret and longing.
In 2011, Zhang Hongyang graduated from university, and her family hoped that she would apply for a teacher's qualification certificate and civil servants to find a stable job "within the system". She obeyed her parents' wishes and went to teach at the Experimental School of Chinese In Haidian, Beijing. However, every day when she came home from class, she felt physically and mentally exhausted.
The repetitive and boring life lasted for about half a year, and she did not want to be trapped in one place for the rest of her life, Zhang Hongyang resolutely resigned and decided to regain the dream of painting screens.
The momentum of the newborn calf not being afraid of the tiger continued until Zhang Hongyang was looking for the first screen.
Because it was difficult to find a suitable screen, she fell directly into the ink as soon as she was excited.
"The gold leaf surface of the screen is completely different from the picture I expected, almost like painting on plastic, and it doesn't eat ink."
There are two reasons why this type of screen is not easy to deal with: one is that the gold leaf itself is difficult to paint; the other is that in the past hundred years, its surface changes have made the painting results difficult to predict.
At a loss, a friend suggested that she first take a thin layer of baby powder on the screen. Although this method solves the problem of coloring, the effect is still not the same as drawing on rice paper. So, she changed her habit of grinding ink to paint and switched to ink or black pigments.
■ Take water with a spoon and put it into the brick table, grind out the ink with the ink block, and use the water to adjust different ink colors
In a short-term creation, she encountered a little accident - at first, the ink was black and pleasant, who knew that in less than two minutes it would become gray. She tried to cover it with thick ink, and the result was the same. She had to ask the master of the framed painting shop for advice. Ultimately, they decided that the cause was most likely an alum leak.
Zhang Hongyang brushed the alum while painting, and where the alum water reached, the fresh and rich ink color was instantly restored. When she was finished, she happily chatted with her friends over tea, only to hear everyone exclaim, "What's going on?!" Looking back, the screen was all changed," it was originally a dot of a leaf, and now it looks like it was all a vague strip, and the ink seemed to explode. ”
After a day and a night of anxious waiting, the screen finally dried up. Zhang Hongyang treats the exploded gray pattern as a light ink layer, and uses thick ink to outline the second level. The superposition of the two levels makes the original single picture more thick.
"On the front side, it is a hierarchical tree; on the side, its leaves and trunk are lumpy. It will move with your movements and the displacement of your vision, from a blurry picture to a very clear picture, which is very interesting. ”
■ The table screen "Four Hours flower plot" shows the four kinds of flowers of peach, gardenia, cinnamon and plum in one picture, and see the painting as seen in the four seasons
Nowadays, she no longer has to worry about painting tools, because friends or friends of friends will help her introduce the right screen.
The screen is painted a lot, and she knows a lot of like-minded people. Through mutual introduction and recommendation, she also gradually accumulated some customers who liked her works, and sometimes some people directly brought screens to customize. She usually asks guests to prescribe a general direction, such as whether it is landscape or flowers and birds. But too specific subject matter restrictions, she is reluctant to accept.
For his own works, Zhang Hongyang adheres to the attitude of "affirming while denying".
"A painter can't always feel that he is painting well, in that case, I will feel that there is no progress."
Therefore, she usually puts her work for a year and a half and then takes it out to see, if she still feels like it, it is a completely good painting.
Some of the paintings were something she was pleasantly surprised at first, but later felt very uninteresting. In order to change this state, Zhang Hongyang will collect inspiration at various art exhibitions, or go to see what the painter's friends are currently painting, and chat with them. In this alternating communication, Zhang Hongyang found a place where he could improve.
At present, Zhang Hongyang is preparing for this year's exhibition, painting from 12 noon to 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning the next day. When she doesn't hold a painting exhibition, she goes to class during the day and paints at night, and when she wants to rest, she goes back to her hometown or goes out to play.
She used to be grinning and very outgoing. After taking painting as a profession, the more I accumulated and thought more, the whole person gradually quieted down, giving people a feeling of introversion.
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However, Zhang Hongyang can also be free and lively. She likes to chat with her little sisters or go to the nature to see the scenery and feel the vivid breath. The pictures, charms or moods captured during the trip may be presented by her on the screen, enhancing the temperament of the whole painting.
Zhang Hongyang's living environment and daily rhythm are quite a bit of a sense of returning to the field and living in seclusion, but she does not think that this way of life will make her disconnected from society.
On the one hand, she can use mobile phones, computers and other communication tools to communicate with the outside world anytime and anywhere to understand what is happening around her; on the other hand, "the aroma of wine is not afraid of deep alleys", as long as you have talent and ability, you will always be discovered by this era and society.
"I think this era is still an era where you are talented, everyone is willing to come to know you, and everyone is willing to dig into you."
Zhang Hongyang feels that truly talented people are generally not isolated.
This view seems to be equally true in the history of the development of the screen. According to records, the use of screens began in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, specially set behind the emperor's throne, framed in wood, eight feet high, framed with a drapery, embroidered with axe patterns, painted white at the near edge of the axe, and painted black for the rest. At first, the screen, as a special instrument for the Son of Heaven, was a symbol of imperial power.
During the Han and Tang Dynasties, the screen entered the homes of dignitaries and wealthy people, and its form also increased compared with before, from the original single fan screen to a multi-fan screen. It is worth mentioning that before the Han Dynasty, the screens were mostly painted on wooden boards and painted; after the invention of papermaking, the screens were mostly paper paste.
■ The six-panel screen "Youju Tu", created in 2021
The development of screens reached its peak during the Tang and Song dynasties, and gradually entered the homes of ordinary people and was loved by the wider public. Screens that have been used by celebrities, or depicted by painters, and inscribed by famous artists, have high artistic value.
In the Ming Dynasty, the emergence of hanging screens marked that the use of screens had gone beyond the practical scope and became pure ornaments. Nowadays, there are many types of screens, generally divided by shape, theme, material and process.
Zhang Hongyang told COSMO that in contemporary times, there is no clear genre of screen painting, "Basically, what you paint on paper, you use what method to draw screens." "The screen is just a carrier, and what content is specifically painted and what style is used lies in the individual painter."
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Engaged in screen painting for more than eight years, Zhang Hongyang has felt the changes in the general environment.
"The people around me know more about screens. When I talked to them about screens before, they needed to react to the vagueness of the word 'screen', or the cognition of this thing. Now when it comes to screens, they can contact or recognize more types, styles and pictures than I do. ”
Zhang Hongyang observed that the presence of screens in contemporary people's lives is getting stronger and stronger.
In the past, people rarely considered screens when decorating or furnishings; now, even if it is just for aesthetic purposes, they will use screens. With the addition of domestic mounting stores and furniture stores, the style of screens, brackets, decorative materials, etc. have also become increasingly rich.
From the perspective of painting, there are two main differences between screen painting and Chinese painting. First, the screen is often different from the rice paper; second, the Chinese painting is painted on the horizontal surface, and the screen is painted on the vertical surface, which puts forward more requirements for the creator.
First of all, the creator needs to have a certain knowledge of materials science and chemistry; secondly, the creator must have a solid foundation in painting. As Zhang Hongyang said: "After mastering the painting skills on paper, painting on the screen is relatively skilled, and you will not be suddenly helpless." ”
More and more people are learning Chinese painting, and more and more people love screens, which means that screen paintings can get better and better inheritance. In the current era background, the creator's flexible use of all media will certainly help the development of screen painting.
"I think painters can't be particularly independent, can't close themselves off, should be bold and let the public understand your art." Let more people watch, understand what you are doing, pay attention to your painting school, your screen, and so on. Therefore, it may be necessary to promote traditional media and new media, such as douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu. ”
After seeing the cherry blossoms back to Beijing on the high-speed train, the passengers in the neighboring seats asked about Zhang Hongyang's profession. "I paint." This answer instantly aroused the man's curiosity, and he then asked, "What is your dream?" Zhang Hongyang was asked.
Once upon a time, like many people who studied painting, she dreamed of being a painter out of reach. And now, she may reply like this: "Under the premise of being able to support herself, we should carry forward the art and aesthetic education and continue to pass on the lineage of our Wumen school." It would be even better if it could be further developed. ”
When it comes to screens, laypeople often think that this is a big thing in the home and dare not start. In fact, the types of screens are diverse and diverse in size, and can be used as a finishing touch in different areas of the home.
Interstitial
Interstitial screen belongs to a kind of screen with seat, generally a single fan, so it is alias "one word screen". Generally refers to a single fan inserted in the special base of the screen, can be loaded and unloaded, the volume is large and small, in the Ming and Qing dynasties of the boom, often appeared in the Qing Palace emperor and concubines in the palace. In addition to painting, the single fan of the interstitial screen can also be made of jade, which is extremely high in play and ornamentation.
Fold the screen
From the name, it can be roughly known that folding screen refers to the screen that can be folded, and the number of single fans of folding screen is generally four, six, eight or twelve pieces. Folding screens generally do not have a screen seat, and when placed, they will zigzag into a jagged shape. Generally larger, it will be displayed in a prominent position in the home, which can not only play a decorative role, but also usually has the hard function of separating space and blocking the wind.
Hang the screen
Hanging screens, in short, are screens that can be hung on the wall. Hanging screens began to appear in the early Qing Dynasty, usually used in pairs or sets, and were popular in the courts of the Yong and Qian dynasties. Compared with ordinary screens, the advantage of hanging screens is that they do not occupy space and play a decorative role at the same time.
Table screen
The table screen is the screen placed on the table, which is small and easy to move. Some interstitial screens can also be called table screens, but table screens are not all interstitial screens, and there are also non-removable table screens. In ancient times, table screens were used as an outdoor wind shield to prevent the wind from blowing off the contents of the table. However, in modern times, the functionality of the table screen is greatly weakened, usually for the sake of elegance.
The original article was published in the January 2022 issue of Fashion COSMO
Editor: He Zhiyang
Photographed: Yang Chuan
Author: Dong Zhao, He Zhiyang
Makeup: Yang Kaichun
Hairstyle: Sanshui
Vision: Yuqing
Filming Location Acknowledgements: U+ Living Aesthetics Pavilion
Image source
Fashion COSMO / Respondents offer
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