This is a hill in Banan District, known locally as Ping Shan.
Courtyard dam in front of the studio
Walking up a rugged mountain road, you can see mottled cobblestone roads, moss-stained earthen walls, tall masson pines and thick bamboo, giving people the feeling of stepping into the depths of the mountains. All the way to the mountain, there are thick bushes, layers of tall trees, and some farmhouse vegetable fields and fruit trees are also looming. At this time, you can see a gray-walled and tiled farm in the middle of the jungle, next to loquat trees, vegetable gardens and several rows of bamboo hedges.
This courtyard is the studio of the Gongbi tiger painter Chang Ke, and from the outside, it is surrounded by green trees, bringing the unique tranquility and wildness of the mountain forest.
Looking out from the studio, you can see a valley winding along the mountain, hidden into the shade in the distance. That valley, in Chang Ke's eyes, was the Valley of the Tigers.
Uphill trail leading to the studio
The tiger is in the mountain forest, the pen is in the mountain forest, this is a sentence that Chang Ke said. This sentence actually shows the reason why he built the studio on the mountain, which means climbing the mountain to listen to the roar of the tiger, portraying the tiger under the forest, looking for that feeling, that is, to feel the breath of the tiger in the grass and shrubs in the mountains.
Chang Ke has been painting on the mountain and looking for the unique feeling of painting tigers in the dense forest for more than a decade. Under his brush, the king of the hundred beasts either roared in the deep valley, or looked back at the peak of the mountain, or lay still in the fountain, no matter what kind of composition, What Chang Ke hoped to show was a magnificent and fierce artistic conception, a generous and dusty majestic spirit.
In addition to having unique techniques, the brush animal on raw rice paper also needs to keep tranquility, immerse yourself in the pursuit of the heart, and find its agility and heroism in the solemnity of the mountains and forests.
Therefore, painting a tiger in the mountains seems to have a bit of Zen, which may be unique to Chang Ke.
Global Human Geography Magazine 2019.08 Cover.
Listening to Chang Ke chat, every time he looked at the mountains and dense grass, he could not help but think of the tiger, imagining the tiger's flashing stripes among the leaves, and the beautiful white velvet under the neck like a cloud. He might even think that not so long ago, or many years ago, there was a mighty tiger that walked calmly through the bushes and then mysteriously passed away.
Even painting tigers must be selected on the mountain, and it is also unique in the place near the dense forest.
Excerpt from the Global Journal of Human Geography
Friends and related people who have been to the studio are amazed by Chang Ke's paintings under the forest, thinking that the studio is on the mountain, which can produce a corresponding creative atmosphere, which is very magical and wild.
In August 2019, The Global Human Geography magazine sent reporter Jiang Yuehan up the mountain to the studio to interview Chang Ke, and later published a long article to introduce it, including the following paragraph: "He has a studio that grows on the mountain. Surrounded by dense forests, rugged mountain paths, grass and trees, in a trance, you will wonder if there is a tiger jumping out of the grass. In this land of mountains and forests where the tiger roars faintly, Chang Ke arbitrarily depicts dreams about life and tigers. ”
Outside the studio is a continuous mountain, whether it is day or night, when the wind blows, there is a sound outside the window, that feeling is really special. Chang Ke laughed and said that he was originally immersed in the atmosphere of painting tigers, and sometimes he would indeed subconsciously associate that in the jungle outside the window, it seemed that there was really a tiger still creeping up, and it could emit a low long roar at any time.
To create art in such a natural mountain environment, you get not only tranquility, but also a variety of thoughts. In Chang Ke's view, the high realm of painting a tiger is to go beyond the shape to discover the unique grand atmosphere in the tiger's nature, that kind of elegance and toughness, calm and decisive, majestic and graceful.
People involved watch the work in the studio
Chang Ke said that looking at the slow and thick gait of the tiger, you can read its sacred and inviolable king's weather; watching the fierce tiger look back at the cold gaze, you can think of its majesty and broad mind that has crossed thousands of mountains and rivers; listening to the fierce tiger's long roar in the sky, you will have a great shock and self-examination in your heart.
For Chang Ke, the process of drawing a tiger is actually a soul cultivation. The tiger is in the mountains, the pen is in the mountains, in the final analysis, it is about the dimension of thought, how much capacity you have, how much arrogance you can get.
Chang Ke explains tigers to primary school students who love tigers in the studio
When everything is silent, the mountains under the night appear mysterious and deep. Many times, Chang Ke descends the mountain in the middle of the night, passing through winding forest paths, flanked by black tree shadows and shrublands, except for the high and low farmhouses. There have been friends who accompanied Chang Ke several times, and they all said that the black lights around them were blind, as if they were going around in circles in the deep mountains and old forests, and they were really a little afraid, but they were not afraid of encountering bad people, but they were worried about a tiger jumping out of the grass.
Chang Ke listened and laughed, in the mountains, what you want is this feeling.
Of course, it is impossible to meet a tiger, but just out of the studio, there are so many shadows around, it is inevitable to think of it, although exaggerated, it is also a funny time.
The picture shows the mountain forest next to the studio
In order to facilitate the mountain road at night, Chang Ke specially bought a high-power ultra-bright and strong photoelectric cylinder. Turn on the flashlight, a strong beam of light is as far and wide as a car headlight, and there is a bright in front of you. No matter whether it is windy or rainy, with a strong photoelectric cylinder, it is not a problem to say that the sky is dark or late.
Countless mountains and mountains go back and forth, Chang Ke not only passes through the mountains and forests, but also worships heroism in his heart.
Late evening outside the studio window
In traditional Chinese culture, the tiger is a symbol of bravery and strength, representing the image of a hero, and folk customs put the tiger's anti-evil exorcism in a supreme position.
"The tiger dives deep into the mountains, and the long roar is self-generating." Young people prefer the colorful and beautiful fur of the tiger, middle age admires the invincible majesty of the tiger, often respects the tiger and draws the tiger, constantly sublimates the perception of the tiger in the long years, and improves the realm in the interpretation of tiger culture.
Chang Ke liked to doodle when he was young, imitating comic strips to learn to draw mountains and rivers, and when he was fifteen or sixteen years old, he became fascinated with drawing tigers, and later his main energy was used to draw tigers, and he was famous in the local area. At the age of 18, he joined the army and became a dream SOLDIER in the People's Liberation Army. Friends who are familiar with Chang Ke know that when he was a teenager, he had three dreams, wanted to become a People's Liberation Army, a writer, and a painter, and one of the most eager at that time was to become a People's Liberation Army soldier wearing a green uniform. After his dream came true and he enlisted in the army, in the military camp in the distant Gobi Desert of Xinjiang, he drew tigers for his comrades-in-arms in his free time, and it was a good story in the camp.
Speaking of which, Chang Ke also had a small episode before joining the army: when he signed up for the army, he deliberately brought his various paintings, mainly painted tigers, a total of about 20 pieces, to the head of the receiving unit to see, and at that time it was well received and attracted attention. At that time, the army attached great importance to the training of special soldiers, as long as the physical examination and political examination were passed, the possibility of enlistment was relatively large. Perhaps Chang Ke himself did not expect that decades later, he would become a Gongbi Tiger painter and become the "Southwest Tiger King" reported by the media.
Calling himself the "master of the Tiger Valley", Chang Ke's Jaiguan number also has a reason, it is reminiscent of a sentence by Zheng Banqiao, called "each suitable for the day, each with its own nature", Chang Ke often lamented with friends the philosophy and mind contained in this sentence. In a sense, the image of the "master of the tiger valley" is to convey a feeling, meaning that the tiger is a god that he worships, and he only wishes to let the tiger return to the mountain and be the true king of the forest.
Chang Ke also has a party press angle idle chapter, engraved with the words "The tiger is coming", which is easy to understand and quite interesting. (Photo/Text Forest)