Huo Xiaohui
"Look at the pine color through the rain, follow the mountains to the water source." (Tang Liu Changqing, "Seeking nanxi Changshan Daoist hermitage")
Reading Mr. Li Chengzhi's landscape paintings, I always think of this ancient poem. He searched for the magic and created the truth, with his hands to transport his heart, the mountains and rivers in the pen and ink, the wind and water; on the screen, there is the grandeur of the long song and song, there is the endless spiritual beauty, and there is also the happiness of the years.
There were two occasions to observe Mr. Li Chengzhi's on-site creation for a long time, and I had an intuitive feeling for his pen and ink. One time was in September 2018, Wang Bencheng, Ding Ningyuan, Li Chengzhi and Zhang Baozhu co-painted "Splendid Qilu"; the other time was in August 2020, Ding Ningyuan, Li Chengzhi and Liu Shujun jointly painted "Sweeping Green Mountains and Viewing the Sea". Mr. Li Chengzhi has a strong spirit of cooperation, while maintaining his artistic personality. He has a strong control of traditional pen and ink, when lifting the pen to paint, the force penetrates the back of the paper, walking on the paper, it is like spring encroaching on the sound of leaves, it can be said that the pen and ink skill has reached a higher realm. In the long-term painting practice, Mr. Li Chengzhi's pen and ink have reached the unity of cang and run, and each stroke goes down to the cang with moisture, just as Huang Binhong said, "dry cracking autumn wind, running with spring rain". In addition, in the creative process, he can always strategize, write directly and spontaneously, while maintaining an immediate feeling of the overall effect of the picture, randomly generating hair and adjusting at any time. Watching him paint on the spot, such as listening to the wind and watching the clouds rise, is a beautiful and calm enjoyment. He and pen and ink have reached a high degree of tacit understanding, and let the viewer also feel the pleasure of creation.
"Sweeping The Green Mountains and Watching the Canghai Sea" Ding Ningyuan Li Chengzhi Liu Shujun cooperation
The work is the externalization of the painter's experience and spirit, the expression of the state of mind, the transmission of personality. Mr. Li Chengzhi is calm and modest, indifferent and frank, and has the style of benevolence. He grew up in Zhangqiu, where the folk customs were simple, and was fond of painting, and later studied under Mr. Hei Bolong, painting and calligraphy. He is now the honorary president of Jinan Academy of Painting and one of the representative painters in the field of Chinese painting and landscape painting in our province. In his early years, he worked in an art factory, of which he spent more than ten years as the head of the art group, and his job was to copy ancient paintings from ancient times. The so-called "knowing a thousand swords and then recognizing the instrument, practicing a thousand songs and then knowing the sound", copying is the process of learning, borrowing, and regurgitating, seeing more and thinking more, reaching the "eye height", drawing more and practicing more, reaching the "hand height", thus entering the mystery of art. Mr. Li Chengzhi said that this stage is very important for his later creation, tempering his pen and ink, and speculating on the spirit of traditional painting, truly realizing that art comes from life and nature is an eternal teacher.
"If you take it from the mountain, then the meaning of the landscape is seen." Sketching on the basis of imitation is more flexible. Over the years, Mr. Li Chengzhi has walked through many places with great interest, climbing Dongyue, swimming in the Three Gorges, wandering dunhuang, feasting on food, breathing with nature, understanding its shape and spirit, the endless movement and change, integrating the feeling of nature into the pen, and constantly discovering new fields of aesthetics in landscape painting. He once sketched with Ding Ningyuan, Lu Xueqin and other painters in Jiaodong, creating "Spring Flood on Fishing Island", which was selected for the Sixth National Art Exhibition. In 1994, he created "Hometown Feelings", which was selected for the 8th National Art Exhibition. He swims in the Three Gorges, paints a series of works, mountains and rocks, clouds and smoke interspersed, meaning to be interesting, bringing people into the nature of continuous charm. As a Jinan native, of course, he can't forget the beautiful scenery around him, painting Baotu Spring, Daming Lake, Black Tiger Spring, Quancheng Park and other Jinan landscape group paintings, which are beautiful. Tarzan themes have also been repeatedly depicted by him.
There was a period when Mr. Li Chengzhi was deeply influenced by Zhang Daqian's "splashing color" and Li Ke dyeing's "accumulation color", he adopted the method of accumulation and splashing, and different methods of piling and brushwork were used interchangeably, layer by layer, showing the volume, space, light and shade and atmosphere of mountain stones, forming their own characteristics of heavy color painting techniques, and realizing the aesthetic requirements of innovative self. This creative stage lasted for more than 20 years, the most impressive is "Frost Leaves Dye Red Autumn Mountains", "Mountains Red All Over", "Three Gorges Poetry", "A Piece of Spiritual Light Between Heaven and Earth" and other works, the composition modeling pays attention to the overall rhythm of the picture, the breath is full, the colors are bright, and there is a blank space, the clouds in the painting are steaming like dragons and snakes, and the pen is exquisite and the ink is exquisite. These fine paintings are included in the "Da Hong Pao" painting collection "Chinese Contemporary Masters Painting Collection - Li Chengzhi" published by the People's Fine Arts Publishing House.
In Mr. Li Chengzhi's memory, there is a timeless picture, that is, his mentor Mr. Hei Bolong painted the "Ten Thousand Miles of The Rivers and Mountains", pure ink painting method, scattered perspective, small scale, writing out the breath of the vast mountains, the flying of the clouds, the song of the mighty autumn water. Thousands of miles away, this is the charm of Chinese painting "freehand". Mr. Li Chengzhi said that painting landscapes is not to write scenery, but to write about life, freehand fun, write about life, contemporary painters should learn from the older generation of painters, must not be limited to the pursuit of technology, the pursuit of large-scale pictures, must be cultivated, skill, and strive to achieve "cultivation and expansion", "familiar with the view", "through many" and "taken essence". There is no cultivation, no delicate feelings, even if the beauty is around, it cannot be felt.
In the eyes of Mr. Lee Seung Chi, natural mountains and rivers also have spirituality and character. He emphasizes the modal structure of the picture and strives to paint the personified beauty of the landscape. More than ten years ago, he participated in the "Sea Frontier Miles" large-scale sketching activity, which is a dividing line of his artistic concept - all the way to creation and thinking, so that he is no longer attached to the color of pen and ink, and even does not deliberately pursue personality, the focus of creation returns from heavy color to the traditional green landscape, showing the beauty of mountains and rivers and hills, emphasizing the ability to experience nature with the heart, creating a spiritual nature that melts his own feelings and mentality. He said that whether it is fresh and elegant, simple and strange, art is always to express the meaning of nature and life in a harmonious form. He does not care about any masterpieces, because each of his works is painted with feeling, painted with his heart, and written about natural spirituality, in fact, it is also the spirituality of the lyrics of the self, so each painting is a work that represents his own state of mind. Creation is the improvement of the quality of one's own life, if you can express your lyricism and bring others beautiful energy, then painting is a valuable and happy cause.
In a corner of the city, Mr. Li Chengzhi's studio "Gulong Mountain House" is elegant and clean, and Mohai farming makes his heart full and rich. Faced with the painting, he concentrated on the thought, and then raised his pen and waved it. With art, the world in the heart is vast and boundless, and the journey of life is never lonely. He said that being a person and painting is loyal to his heart, people are also comfortable, painting is also comfortable, love to send landscapes, and there is no regret in this life.
Li Chengzhi was born in 1945 in Zhangqiu, Shandong. He is currently a member of the Chinese Artists Association, vice president of the Shandong Academy of Chinese Painting, librarian of the Shandong Museum of Culture and History, honorary president of the Jinan Academy of Painting, and a national first-class artist. He studied painting as a child, studied under Mr. Heberon in the 1960s, and has been working in ink fields for more than 40 years.
One-point drawing talk