Xu Wei's "Ink Grapes" is a large freehand painting.
Freehand painting already existed in the Song Dynasty, but the real maturity was in the Ming Dynasty.
The representative figures of the Ming Dynasty are "Qingteng" and "Baiyang". Qingteng is Xu Wei, another painter in Baiyang, Chen Chun.
From Xu Wei's historical position in the history of painting, it is enough to know how important he should be.
Qi Baishi, a master of modern Chinese painting, also lamented that he could not go to Qingteng Baiyang to be a primary school apprentice!
"Ink Grape Map" is one of Xu Wei's representative works in his later years. A collection of poems, calligraphy and painting in one.
So, let's enjoy this masterpiece from several aspects.
Inky bighand
Since the beginning of the times, Chinese painting has attached great importance to the expression of personal feelings, rather than conscientiously depicting the superficial phenomena of things.
Xu Wei's paintings take such a path.
Freehand painting, the pursuit of the effect of the picture is smooth, if you work diligently to paint, there will be no such effect.
When painting, the pen and ink moisture is relatively large, the pen is fast, and a painting sometimes comes out in a few minutes.
Xu Wei's "Ink Grapes", I estimate that it is only ten minutes.
The steps to draw are:
1. Draw the leaves with not too thick ink first, spread out the layout, two minutes is enough.
2. One minute from the branches, a few grapes, because to be careful, about two or three minutes.
3. Finally, re-ink to supplement the branches and leaves with insufficient ink, add some rattan, about three or five minutes.
4. Clean up a little more with the pen is not around, and the work is complete.
5. The last inscription poem. It's hard to say how much time it takes.
However, we look at it according to the layout of the work. Xu Wei's "Ink Grapes" is a work that he already knows in his heart and leaves the position of the inscription on the picture, so I estimate that it is also a poem with confidence, and it is written in three or five minutes.
So, in total, the painting is only ten minutes.
Because the pen is fast, the pen and ink moisture is grasped just right, so there is an artistic effect of ink dripping and spitting out.
If you use the method of realism with a pen, this painting will take at least two days to draw!
Do you think about it, the feeling of the moment, two days later, will it be so exciting?
Therefore, freehand painting has one of the biggest advantages, that is, it can be spit out quickly and painted in an instant, so we can still see how Xu Wei's pulse beat at that time.
This is the characteristic of freehand painting. Xu Wei also plays very vividly in his works, so the works have a sense of happiness. It's the overall feeling.
The spatial tension of the big opening and closing
The composition of Xu Wei's "Ink Grape Diagram" gives people the best explanation of "airtight and loose horse".
The leaves on the right are dense and dense, and the leaves on the left are comfortable and flowing, and the blank space flows out in the middle, which pulls the rhythm of the picture apart at once.
And about one-third of the blank space in the work, even if there is no inscription, there will be a reasonable sense of space.
This is a tension in which the layout is wide open and closed.
The quintessential inscription poem is a masterpiece of calligraphy
Chinese freehand painting, from the Song and Yuan dynasties, has been very popular inscription poems.
The inscription poems on the paintings are also a kind of Yaxing that the literati yashi enjoy tirelessly.
Other skills are good or not, the inscription poem should say, the text does not add points, a wave, for Xu Wei is not exaggerated at all. And his calligraphy is also a master of the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, the inscription of poetry and calligraphy on the "Ink Grape Map" is also an artistic extension worth playing with.
He inscribed a poem on this painting: "Half a life has become a man, and the independent book is roaring in the evening wind." The pearl at the bottom of the pen has nowhere to sell, and it is idle and thrown in the wild vine. ”
His poem says that most of his life is not happy that he is now old, and can only sigh in the study of old age. Unfortunately, I am like a pearl grape, which can only hang lonely on the wild vine.
The poem reveals the poet's unsatisfactory sighs and sorrows.
Xu Wei was a very talented Ming Dynasty figure. He was a writer, a poet, and also had a practical talent, but it should be said that his fate was not good, so he had neither an official and a half-job, nor a peaceful life.
Looking back on my own life, I can only scream for my own unfairness. This is definitely not a moan without illness but a feeling.
I sometimes think that it is likely that Xu Wei already had this poem in his heart before he raised his pen to paint, or if he drew it, the poem also became.
Xu Wei belongs to the literati painters, and one of the characteristics of literati painting is the integration of poetry, calligraphy and painting. They have enough literary calligraphy to add some unfinished extensions to this kind of entertaining painting, which is the reason for learning to paint and develop inscriptions.
Therefore, those who appreciated painting in ancient times were all readers, they did not have the obstacle of reading poetry, on the contrary, they also liked to read the painter's inscription poems on painting works to increase their appreciation of paintings.
This is the reason why there are inscriptions and poems on Chinese paintings.
However, the inscription of poems on paintings is a problem that increases the difficulty of culture. Not all people are suitable for inscription poems on paintings, and not all people can skillfully integrate inscriptions and paintings.
Xu Wei's inscription poem on "Ink Grape Map" is very artistic.
First look at the first line, instead of going down vertically, it's crooked to the left. The second line is also crooked with the first line, but when the third and fourth lines are written, they are adjusted to the vertical state.
This inscription is really not arbitrary, but carefully arranged.
If the first row is vertically down, then with the main branch of the grape, it will form a very stiff angle, and the blankness of the upper half will be too close to the square and dull.
Therefore, Xu Wei took the method of cutting the vertical line obliquely and created a curvature.
Then, if the four lines are crooked to the left in this way, there will be a wide space on the left and a narrow space below, which is not conducive to the unified law of the overall composition.
Therefore, the last two lines of Xu Wei's inscription correct the inertia of the left side.
The final result is that it is in harmony with the overall composition of the painting and is an independent interest of calligraphy.
Xu Wei's calligraphy is relatively old and spicy, but the inscription poem on this "Ink Grape Diagram", soft and elegant, is it not to be consistent with the work? Only Xu Wei knew about this.