The pen and ink "situation" of young painters

▲ Light of the Times (Chinese painting) 240×70 cm 2020 Liang Teng

Drive the situation with freehand brush and ink

If trained hard, a young Chinese painter may also have the brush and ink experience of an older person. However, this is not what everyone wants to see. Because for young people, the most valuable thing about a work should be the vigor and vitality in it.

History tells us that many great achievements were made in their youth. When Wang Ximeng of the Song Dynasty completed "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" and was not more than 20 years old, it can be imagined that the creation and imagination of young people are unlimited. Young people have boundless passion and the elderly have valuable experience. To some extent, the painter's experience can temper his pen and ink, but as he grows older, his passion will gradually fade. So how do you stay the best in this change? Drawing on the experience of the ancients to be self-aware is an effective way.

Undoubtedly, pen and ink have always been regarded as one of the elements for evaluating a Chinese painting work. Southern Qi Sheikh emphasized "bone method with pen", Zhao Mengfu of the Yuan Dynasty said to "stone like flying white wood like a stick", Dong Qichang of the Ming Dynasty believed that "those who have a pen without ink, see the pen in a strange path and less natural; there is no author in ink, go to the axe chisel marks and more perverted", modern Huang Binhong proposed the "five pens and seven inks" method ... It can be seen that the importance of brush and ink in the past generations, these elaborations of the experience method of pen and ink, also cover the hook and dyeing of Chinese painting, the purpose of which is how to borrow pen and ink to better realize the "situation" of the picture, cultivate the shape of mountains and rivers through ink, and overturn the power of mountains and rivers through pen.

As Feng Youlan believes, the key to whether a work of art conforms to its natural appearance depends on whether it makes people feel "situation" and whether it can arouse people's "feelings". And how to make the transition between "circumstance" and "emotion" fit seamlessly? The aesthetic core of Chinese painting and even traditional Chinese art can be summarized as a "writing" word. Philosophical paintings and poetic paintings all express abstract and metaphysical beauty in the way of "writing". In traditional Chinese painting, the "freehand" conveyed by brush and ink has become a bridge between the two.

Change is the driving force behind the development of pen and ink

When we talk about great civilizations, we first refer to the heritage of mankind, then to customs and folklore. How do we pass on the precious wealth left by our predecessors? In fact, "change" is the proper meaning of the inheritance problem, and continuous change is one of the ways to make it enduring. Tradition itself grows and changes, and the more so, the more art in the cultural realm develops.

It is true that nowadays, when people talk about pen and ink, most of them do not deviate from the traditional paradigm handed down by various types of paintings, and many Chinese painters write and ink for pen and ink, and their "situation" is lost. For example, it is tradition for a mother to pass on an unchanging craft to her children and to future generations. However, if it is only a transmission, and this inheritance is just a pure habit, then any change in the environment can lead to its loss. But if it is a necessity to sustain life, then the tradition will be re-adjusted or grown, adapting to the needs of the environment and producing self-change.

Pen and ink is like this craft, it is always developing continuously, even if the same model of cultural context, in the changing environment to maintain the same appearance, its meaning can still obtain new connotations, and even gradually, subtly reconstructed. Therefore, even if it is the same painting book, the same Chinese painting tools, it will inevitably look different when painting again. Then, when generations are loyal to this book, they need to be able to derive new insights into the score. As long as the tradition really exists, even if the environment such as the quality of materials and tools has changed, some painters find that the notation itself has improved, and when he tries, it is not abandoning the tradition, but allowing it to grow and develop to maintain vitality.

in a new language

Demonstrate the understanding and inheritance of history and culture

Fortunately, a group of young Chinese painters are interpreting the classic works of the ancients through their own thinking, and at the same time conveying the restoration and construction of traditional brush and ink and national painting with their own practice, so as to realize the contemporary "situation" and self-"situation".

For the author, the "Famous Cities and Ancient Pagodas" series is one of the "situations" that I have paid attention to in recent years, and it is also the thinking and practice of how to integrate ancient China and contemporary China through pen and ink in the picture. So far, among the large number of historical and cultural cities in the country, there are not a few ancient towers. Through the sketching of famous cities, combined with the local ancient pagodas, from the perspective of a young painter, he strives to create with innovative forms of artistic expression, which has become his exploration and practice in recent years. Among these famous cities, I chose a representative historical and cultural landscape and natural landscape, combined with the recognition of the new appearance of the times, and observed the famous cities on the mainland from the perspective of the young generation of painters, in order to show the understanding and watchful eye of China's historical and cultural spirit. For example, Zhengding County, Hebei Province, is a city built in accordance with traditional Chinese planning ideas and architectural styles, with its "nine floors, four towers and eight temples", "twenty-four gold medal squares" and "ancient city wall" as sketching content, combined with the "four towers of Zhengding" as the shape, which can not only reflect the historical and cultural characteristics of China around the 5th century to the 19th century AD, but also reflect the wisdom and perseverance of the working people.

Recalling the sages of the 20th century, in the torrent of the times, a large number of painters in the Chinese painting world began to walk out of the new era of calligraphy and ink, and the works they circulated witnessed the construction and development of an era. Among these outstanding works, there are many historical and cultural cities bred by China's 5,000 years of history. Some of them were once the capital of the dynasty, some were once political and economic towns at that time, some were the places where major historical events occurred, some were famous for having precious cultural relics, and some were famous for producing exquisite handicrafts. As a young generation of painters, what I want to do is to look back at the history of the former sages, use traditional brush and ink combined with new visual language to express the understanding and inheritance of culture, and open a window for people to review Chinese history and culture through the ancient pagodas that have been preserved.

In the "Orchid Pavilion Preface" of Wang Xizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it is said: "The future looks at the present, and the present looks at the past." "The towers that remain in our time will also become the "ancient towers" in the eyes of future generations. For example, Canton Tower, as the tallest tower mast building that has been built in the world, how do we record this great moment of development of the motherland with pen and ink? In this context, the work "Light of the Times" hopes to show the construction and development of the new era through the Canton Tower. Inspired by the ancient Mawangdui painting, the painting is divided into two scenes. Borrowing the Shape of the Canton Tower, the lower half of the tower depicts the Guangzhou Peasant Movement Training Institute, and the first half is today's bustling city, indicating that it is precisely because of the former heroes and martyrs who braved difficulties and dangers that we have created our happy and beautiful life today.

Whether it is "pen and ink" or "situation", change is the driving force for their development. The world does not stand still, and when urban life emerges, the momentum of traditional culture continues to increase, so that each stage of tradition shows the unique meaning and cultural innovation of generation after generation in response to the ever-changing needs of that era. Therefore, how to reflect the spirit of the times through traditional brush and ink and freehand, so that the world can better understand and study China, has become the responsibility and responsibility of our young generation of painters. How to integrate ancient China and contemporary China in the picture through pen and ink has also become one of the contents of our thinking and practice. Because, that's exactly the "situation" we're in.

May 8, 2022 China Culture Daily

Special reports were published on the 4th edition

"The Pen and Ink "Situation" of Young Painters"

Editor-in-charge: Chen Xiaoyue