Yang Huiwen, a picture book writer, graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts with a bachelor's degree, studied at the Central American Picture Book Creation Studio for two years, and graduated from the University of the Arts London with a master's degree. His graduation design work "A Rabbit's Little Porcelain Bowl" in CENTRAL America was shortlisted for the first Zhang Leping Picture Book Award in 2016, the 2017 Golden Windmill International Young Illustrator Competition, and was officially published in 2019, and was selected as a picture book for young children recommended by the Ministry of Education in 2021. Recently, his new work "A Rabbit's Journey" was published by CITIC Publishing Group, and his work won the bronze medal of the "Best Picture Book Award" of the 18th China Animation Golden Dragon Awards and the Excellence Award of the 2021 ICAD International Contemporary Youth Art Design Competition. In this new work, she continues to focus on traditional ceramic craftsmanship using rock painting to unfold picture book stories, and the surging news (www.thepaper.cn) interviews Yang Huiwen on topics such as the creation of her picture books and the development of original picture books.
Yang Huiwen
The Surging News: "A Rabbit's Little Porcelain Bowl" is your graduation work, it is said that at that time, in order to prepare, I went to Jingdezhen several times, I am more curious, why did you choose the curium porcelain process, which is actually not in the standard ceramic production process but focuses on repairing the process to create?
Yang Huiwen: The traditional porcelain-making process in Jingdezhen consists of seventy-two steps, and the carrying capacity of picture books is limited, so in the story, I chose five representative steps, that is, the five workshops visited by the little rabbit to express. The very important curium porcelain master in the story also comes from my real experience, when I went to Jingdezhen for the third time, I met a curium porcelain master like a small rabbit. At that time, he was repairing a small statue of Guanyin, spelling, knocking, drilling, cutting, etc., and every small movement was not out of the palm-sized range, which was really the art on the knee. Like a doctor of ceramics, he heals the wounds of broken porcelain, and from the treasure chest he carries with him, he can conjure up all magical tools to repair the broken porcelain intact. His knees were his workbench, and his shoulders carried the entire workshop. This is also the most important turning point in the story of the small porcelain bowl, which allows me to present several important porcelain-making processes in the process of the little rabbit's search for a way to repair the bowl, and finally bring the small porcelain bowl back to life with the help of the curium porcelain master.
The Paper: This time I got "A Rabbit's Journey" I feel familiar, but also a cute little rabbit, but also about the story of ceramics, but the focus from the point to the surface, is a cross-East and Western ceramic history narrative, how can you think of creating such a story?
Yang Huiwen: If "Ah Tu's Little Porcelain Bowl" is telling the art of porcelain in the country, then "Ah Tu's Journey" tells the story of a porcelain that goes out of China and goes to the world. The opportunity to create this story is also related to my trip to the University of the Arts London for postgraduate studies. Everyone knows that the English "china" in China also means porcelain, which shows the profound impact of the great invention of Chinese porcelain on the world. When I came to the United Kingdom to study, I found that there was a small town like The "porcelain capital" of China, Jingdezhen, Stoke(Stoke-on-Trent), and the former town was also the same as Jingdezhen. And at the end of the 18th century, the British also invented the "bone china", bone china added cattle, sheep and other herbivores bone meal, its carcass is thin, the glaze is smooth, the color is natural bone meal unique natural milk white, there is a kind of noble atmosphere.
Since then, I have become more curious about how Chinese porcelain went from the East to the West, and after research, I found another country that is very important in the spread of porcelain: Germany. Before the eighteenth century, there was no porcelain produced in Europe. As a result, Chinese porcelain that arrived in Europe became a treasure that the nobles competed to buy. It is said that the Elector of Saxony exchanged 600 dragoons for 151 large Chinese blue and white porcelain jars. Today, in the Zwinger Palace in Germany, some of the "dragoon tanks" of that time are still on display. The aristocrat was so obsessed with porcelain that he sought alchemists and scientists to model it on Chinese Dehua white porcelain, and finally in 1709 it was fired into a truly hard white porcelain, and the first white porcelain made in Europe was born. The charm of "white gold" porcelain can be seen.
Inside page of "A Rabbit's Journey"
The Paper: "The Journey of A Rabbit" took several years to create, what do you think are the main difficulties in the creation? In the process of creating this picture book, do you think that your understanding of ceramic culture has changed from the previous stage of "Little Porcelain Bowl"?
Yang Huiwen: The biggest difficulty in the creation of "A Rabbit's Journey" is the collection and examination of historical materials on the road of porcelain dissemination, for which I have personally gone to Stoke-on-Trent in the United Kingdom and Dresden in Germany to conduct field research, visit the town's museums and ceramic workshops, interview local ceramicsmiths, in order to integrate more real characters into the fantasy imaginary story of "A Rabbit's Journey". For example, the alchemists and mathematicians in the story, such as the bone china invented by the British, is made of what material? Some materials have said that by experimenting with 4 bone china cups, they can withstand the weight of a truck, and these interesting stories have surprised me. In the process of research and creation, I also learned about ceramic culture with a broader vision, a great invention from a country to the world, by more people obsessed with love, and even reproduce new creations, in order to be so endless.
The Paper: I feel that you have a very conscious and enthusiastic communication intention for traditional ceramic culture, can you talk about your experience on how to balance the intention of disseminating traditional ceramic culture in your creation with the story and readability of the picture book itself?
Yang Huiwen: The storyline of "A Rabbit's Journey" is relatively more fantastical and adventurous, the content involves more countries and historical backgrounds, ceramic culture may be a topic that is more distant in the eyes of most people, so in the creation stage of the story is also a great effort, hoping to use a more imaginative plot to connect the mysterious porcelain to spread the story, so that our little protagonist A Rabbit with the kiln god grandmother's tips under the guidance of the small wind chimes through ancient and modern, Personally come to those important moments and important places in history about porcelain, and witness the birth of miracles from the perspective of a child.
The Paper: As I just said, these two works are based on rabbits, but the image of the rabbit, including the techniques and media for creating the whole picture book, are very different, especially the new work uses the way of rock color painting, can you give us a little introduction in this regard?
Yang Huiwen painting "The Journey of A Rabbit"
Yang Huiwen: "A Rabbit's Little Porcelain Bowl" uses pencil drawing to assist computer processing, and the picture strives to be created with hazy and elegant colors, which is also the deepest impression I left on me in Jingdezhen in April in the field collection, which is the kind of smoke and rain in the poem. "The Journey of Ah Tu" adopts the method of rock painting, which is a reviving genre in contemporary China, and it uses the same painting material as the historical Dunhuang murals. This material is mined from natural ore, first ground into a powder of different thicknesses, screened, purified, and then blended with animal glue. Rock paintings need to be drawn on very tough hemp paper, and the color remains unchanged for many years after completion, and it is not easy to fall off. Not only that, the ore in the petroglyph painting will show a brilliant light in the sun, and the picture is like a shimmering galaxy. It is this rich color and unique texture that give "A Rabbit's Journey" a more fantastic color. Some precious porcelain will also add ore during the firing process to seek brilliance. In this way, the rock color and the porcelain meet in the story.
The Paper: I especially like the "Little Porcelain Bowl" book, the front and back rings lined with the porcelain process steps of the little rabbit image you sketched with a pencil, it feels particularly simple and evocative, and at the end of "A Rabbit's Journey" you used four pages of color pull pages to draw these 72 traditional porcelain-making processes, I want to ask you which version you prefer? In terms of creation, which version is more laborious?
Yang Huiwen: First of all, for the creators, I have put a lot of effort and effort into the pictures of the traditional porcelain-making process, and my editors have also given a lot of help and advice. Secondly, the two versions of the traditional porcelain craftsmanship are displayed in a very different position in the book, the front and back rings of the book as a corridor before entering the door of the story, determining its visual impact and drawing effect need to pave the way for the formal storyline behind, so in "A Rabbit's Little Porcelain Bowl", it is a simple pencil outline that buries surprises for readers. In "A Rabbit's Journey", the 72 porcelain-making process is presented at the end of the story with a large pull page of four pages, which also echoes the end of the story, looking forward to the revival of the ceramic town, with a complete ceramic workshop scene and cute rabbit craftsmen to restore the 72-way porcelain-making process, the huge large pull page in a strong visual impact at the same time can also narrate more delicate process steps, so that readers can feel as if in the real scene to see the bustling ceramic town.
72 porcelain-making crafts drawn in "The Journey of A Rabbit"
The Paper: Will you still create picture books related to ceramics in the future? What are the new ideas in terms of techniques and media? You are so obsessed with ceramic craftsmanship, I wonder if you have ever considered using porcelain plate paintings to create picture books like Xi Yuke (Liu Hangyu) "A Whale Fell from the Sky"?
Yang Huiwen: I may continue to focus on the theme of porcelain in my subsequent creations, but there may also be new stories born, but our little protagonist Ah Tu will always be the protagonist of the story, accompanying me and accompanying everyone. I will continue to use rock painting in the materials I paint, not only because of my love for rock painting, but also because I hope that this Chinese art that once shone brightly in the Dunhuang murals can be known by more people through picture books.
The Paper: The Picture Book Creation Studio of the Central Academy of Fine Arts has sent many outstanding young creators to our original picture books over the years, can you talk about the influence of the picture book studio and later overseas study experience on your picture book creation?
Yang Huiwen: Learning in the Picture Book Creation Studio of the Central Academy of Fine Arts has opened the door to the picture book world, the Picture Book Studio is like a warm big family, my mentors Yang Zhong, Xiang Hua, Feng Ye, Feng Xu and Tian Yu will teach every student as their children, teach each other, to be able to become a member of the picture book studio is the happiest and luckiest thing on the road of picture book creation, learning here not only makes me understand what picture books are, It also made me know how to create a good picture book. Later, the study experience of the London University of the Arts in the United Kingdom not only broadened my horizons, but also enriched my creative techniques, and during my study abroad, I also taught British children to make porcelain at the 1A Art Centre in London, which allowed me to better understand the world in the eyes of children and learn to use their perspective to create picture book stories.
The Paper: In recent years, China's original picture books have been very impressive in terms of variety, sales, awards, and international attention, as a creator in it, what do you think of the creative environment, development status and prospects of China's original picture books?
Yang Huiwen: In recent years, the mainland's social living standards and parents' education level have doubled, the needs of children's growth, and the expansion of educational resources have put forward urgent needs and expectations for high-quality children's picture books, and many high-quality works have sprung up like mushrooms, showing a thriving scene. In such an era, it is an excellent time for the creators of China's original picture books, but at the same time, it is also a requirement for the responsibility of creators, how to create high-quality Chinese original picture books based on children, and not rush to draw assembly line works, which is a problem that every creator should recognize. I also hope that I can always not forget my original intention and contribute to China's original picture book.