"The unkempt-headed child learns to hang on, and sits on the side of the berry moss grass. Passers-by beckoned, afraid to be frightened. "This well-known poem vividly depicts a mischievous and cute child.
The childhood of the literati inker has always been a laughing song, Chinese painting must be born of love, and the paintings of children's themes are also depicting the joy and carefree and casual innocence of children's lives. Baby drama depictions of children's play scenes have become one of the most respected painting disciplines in the Song Dynasty, and Huang Binhong summed up the fashion of Song Dynasty painters' themes as follows: "One person, two babies, three mountains, four flowers, five beasts, six gods and Buddhas." ”
It can be seen that the baby play picture has been separated from the figure painting, and its status is second only to the figure painting. For thousands of years, Chinese painters have created many paintings that express children's lives. In contemporary times, the most representative painter is Wang Jiaxun.
Wang Jiaxun once said that when he painted children, he was actually painting himself, and he longed for this state of pure innocence. When drawing the expression of a child, I often can't help but make this expression. His love of life and the smile that pervades his face can make people feel that there is an "old naughty boy" living in his heart.
Since ancient times, children's theme paintings have always been loved by the public, but it is easy to appear without connotation and elegant. Wang Jiaxun's boy paintings are wonderful in both form and god, elegant and customary. His boy figure is mainly expressed in the form of lines, and the lines of clothing, clothing patterns and props are suppressed and relaxed.
He deliberately avoided the stylized color of the traditional Hundred Zitu, leaving the face of the character white, only the lips were red, the costumes were mostly gray tones, the picture appeared clean and simple, eliminating the noise of traditional folk paintings, and more leisurely.
Carefully tasting and observing the children's theme pictures created by Wang Jiaxun, you will find that the conception of the work is very clever, the character shapes are vivid and unique, and it fully shows the innocence and pure childlike heart of children, and the meaning is long.
In paintings such as "Poetry and Books", "Five Sons Win the Championship", "Ink Like a Child's Heart, Playing with Pen Love", "Good Night Yuyu, Childish Playing Lights", etc., when children play against each other, their eyes are fixed on the chessboard; when the fish are hooked, the kind of excitement and joy from the heart; and the caution and panic when catching birds and butterflies are all unbearable.
Wang Jiaxun integrates the details of life into the painting, and even the gesture of the child holding the brush has been deliberated. The innocent form of the lovely man is real, vivid, and ready to come out, which is heartfeltly loved.
Wang Jiaxun's children are innocent and simple, and they are harmonious and unified with nature. One of the states that Chinese scribes have been striving for is to grasp the qualities of innocence in childish behavior, to truly plunge into the embrace of nature, and to abandon the troubles of the world.
Wang Jiaxun's children's paintings inherit the spiritual connotation of Chinese painting, combine realism and exaggeration, integrate their own aesthetic tastes with the public, express their happiness and also infect the audience, and show a unique style.