Skin-like delicacy, jewel-like luster... Unveiling the Intangible Cultural Heritage Edition "Painted Skin"

Have you ever seen an intangible cultural heritage "painted skin"? It requires a sheepskin that has undergone hundreds of processes, some natural mineral pigments added to the gem powder, a pair of skillful hands that have been practiced for many years, and the patience of "one bead in ten days, one skin in five days".

Thousands of years of parchment paintings have also joined the exhibit family of the WorldSkills Museum!

What skills do you need to unlock for the birth of a sheepskin painting?

Today, let us follow the donor and creator of the exhibits, Ji Ying, a master of arts and crafts in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the representative inheritor of the autonomous region-level intangible cultural heritage "Ji's sheepskin painting", to reveal the "skill factor" contained in the sheepskin painting.

The sheepskin painting exhibit collected by the WorldSkills Museum is "Looking at Yourself", which won the gold medal of the China Domestic and Foreign Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition in 2006.

("Contemplation of Self")

At 93.5cm in height and 71cm in width, "Guan Zi" is the first to reveal the specialness of this work with its graceful color and irregular natural edges.

Creating a sheepskin painting involves three major aspects of skills, the first of which is the production of sheepskin. A sheepskin painting is a painting on a sheepskin. It is not a random piece of sheepskin that can be used to paint, but the sheepskin used in sheepskin painting must be processed through hundreds of processes before it can be used. ——Ji Ying

According to Ji Ying, "Ji's sheepskin painting" is preferably superior to the sheepskin, "to choose no insect bite, no scars of the leather material", after soaking light tanning, adding insect-proof and anti-moth Chinese medicine preparations, stereotyping and other hundreds of processes, in order to produce sheepskin painting materials for painting.

The treated sheepskin retains the natural edge of the whole sheepskin, the surface is flat and smooth, the touch is delicate, the absorption color effect is good, the flexibility is also excellent, it can be rolled and folded, and it can also be stored for a long time.

(Painting on sheepskin)

However, the question arises: why go to such great lengths to make sheepskin and paint on it, but not directly on paper? What are the characteristics of sheepskin paintings?

"Because of the natural texture and texture of sheepskin, it has a unique innate advantage in expressing the natural beauty of the character's skin, the lustrous texture of the fur and the luster of the pearlesque."

Looking at the exhibit "Guan Zi", the jewels on it are indeed shiny, especially pearls, which are simply exquisite; the skin of the characters is also lustrous and natural, lifelike.

"Of course, the reason why there is such a realistic effect is also because the paint used in sheepskin painting is very exquisite. All of our pigments are sourced from precious natural minerals, such as the pearls in "Seeing Yourself", which uses pearl powder. ”

According to Ji Ying, the preparation of natural mineral pigments with traditional secret recipes is the second skill.

The natural mineral pigments for sheepskin painting, including precious cinnabar, pearl, male yellow, female yellow, coral, turquoise, lapis lazuli, agate, Buddha green, tantric monk, gold and silver, etc., are finely ground these natural raw materials, and then modulated by Ji's secret recipe, and the pigments made are simple and natural in color and long-lasting. ——Ji Ying

(Buryatia – The Buryatia tribe of the 28 mongol tribes)

The third skill involved in sheepskin painting is the sheepskin painting technique.

The creation of sheepskin painting has the saying of "one pearl in ten days, one skin in five days", which not only shows that the production cycle of sheepskin painting is long and time-consuming, but also reveals the indispensable "repeated, timed and layered" techniques in sheepskin painting.

Because it takes time for a sheepskin painting to absorb paint, it takes a while for a second time to apply the color after one color. "Ten days and a pearl" refers to the fact that after the first day of coloring the jewelry, the next day also has to color the jewelry, so that for 10 consecutive days, at least more than 10 times of color on the jewelry, in order to achieve the ideal color effect; "five days a skin" is also like this, the skin to achieve a natural effect, at least 5 days of color, repeated rendering. ——Ji Ying

("Lord of the Mongol Shire" - The Khalkha tribe of the 28 tribes of the Mongols)

As you can imagine, creating a sheepskin painting is definitely a "patient work". According to Ji Ying, the donation of "Guan Zi" to the World Skills Museum took her almost 8 months before and after.

Fortunately, Ji Ying, who has loved to draw since childhood, is a quiet and deep-hearted person. After dealing with sheepskin painting for more than 20 years, Ji Ying has never felt bitter, and has always enjoyed it and devoted herself to creation. His paintings have won many national international gold medals, and his works have been collected by Johns Hopkins University in the United States, the Arab Dubai Cultural Activity Center, the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, the Cross-Strait Cultural Exchange Foundation and other institutions.

Ji Ying also spread her love for sheepskin painting.

(Sheepskin painting "Going Out")

Starting from Ji Ying, the "Ji's sheepskin painting", which was once only passed down within the family, began to "go out". Now, Ji Ying has recruited 5 apprentices.

"However, the apprentice is not easy to recruit." To learn sheepskin painting, it takes at least 2-3 years to produce a work, and it takes several months to produce a work. Now, many young people can't calm down and do such a slow thing. ”

In order to make "sheepskin painting" more in line with this era and more popular, Ji Ying embarked on the road of shouzheng innovation.

"Without special paints and techniques, the average person can't draw on it when they get sheepskin. So we thought of making sheepskin 'paper'. ”

("Butterfly Love Flower" Flower and Bird Series)

("Flower Dance" Flower and Bird Series)

On the basis of the century-old Ji's sheepskin painting leather process, Ji Ying led the research and development of "parchment calligraphy and painting paper", and won the reputation of "rice paper in the south and leather paper in the north". Speaking of paper, it is actually leather, but the texture is very thin and light, and the technical parameters reach ≤ 0.3mm thickness.

Compared with ordinary paper, "parchment calligraphy and painting paper" has better toughness and bending resistance, better pigment absorption effect, and can also be stored for a long time. In October 2017, "Parchment Calligraphy and Painting Paper" passed the audit of the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China, was awarded the invention patent right and was awarded a certificate.

Parchment calligraphy and painting paper can be calligraphed, cut, and even embroidered, and the invention of this material technology has filled the gap in leather calligraphy and painting paper at home and abroad. ——Ji Ying's exhibits provided a message from someone

Expect to offer exhibits to teenagers...

Let young people intuitively and vividly understand and understand the excellent traditional Chinese culture, and feel the charm of the non-heritage sheepskin painting at zero distance. I hope that young people will understand the inheritance of a skill, do a good job is the fundamental, we must uphold the spirit of ingenuity, carry forward the national culture, so that the excellent traditional Chinese culture and art with a thousand years of history can approach the public and go to the world! Let the historical context be better passed on. ——Ji Ying

A message to the WorldSkills Museum is...

The World Skills Museum brings together the world's skills and condenses the essence of human wisdom! I wish the WorldSkills Competition a complete success! Bless the Opening of the World Skills Museum! ——Ji Ying