Text / Picture Yang Lin
Every time I go out to sketch, it is a process of cleansing the soul, and in the large-scale creation of the scene sketching in nature, can we truly dialogue with nature, let go of the soul, and understand the mystery of sketching creation?
When such dialogues and associations are rich enough, art has room for sublimation, and this process will continue to be sublimated repeatedly, resulting in the throbbing of life and art, and the moving of the soul.
Shaoxing is rich in cultural heritage, and the natural mountains and rivers are also suitable for embrace, Anji Village, Wuyi Village, etc., seem to be small mountain villages that exist specifically for painters, a small but simple and natural, traditional ancient villages built by mountains, in some ways, compared with some ancient towns, I think they are more suitable for the sketching and creation of Chinese landscape painting.
I have sketched many ancient towns and ancient villages, and I obviously feel that the natural environment here is rich in layers, while most of the ancient towns lack such natural changes, because it has not been fully developed, but only part of the road has been slightly trimmed, which can relatively completely combine the construction of humanities with natural features.
As painters, it is difficult for us not to be moved by this kind of landscape that is both simple and natural, but also humanistic, and this kind of impact from nature can most stimulate the artist's soul and produce a strong desire to create. When observing such a natural village, sketching creation is not only to paint the superficial things that you see, but also to discover what others can't see, as well as the spiritual realm that coincides with your own heart.
These two villages, are built according to a naturally formed ravine, with the beauty of scattered mountain villages, especially in Anji Village, where there are many ancient trees, ancient bridges, ancient roads, ancient wells, and ancient Taimen, although there are many old houses deserted, but they are very picturesque, and the walls still retain the mottled natural washing of rainwater, and the traces of natural aging, which shows that this is a deep historical precipitation.
According to legend, the name of Anji Village is related to Zhao Gou of Song Gaozong. According to records, in the third year of Jianyan (1129), Zhao Gou of Song Gaozong was forced to be pursued by Jin soldiers, fled from Jiankang to Lin'an, and then to Yuezhou (Shaoxing), and arrived in Mingzhou by water. In the spring of the fourth year of Jianyan (1130), Han Shizhong and others fought hard against Jin, and the south bank of the Qiantang River gradually returned to calm.
Song Gaozong decided to return to Yuezhou, on the way Zhao Gou led the officers and soldiers to rest and live in this area of Anji, Zhao Gou saw that the mountains are surrounded here, the water source is sufficient, the land is fertile, so he said: "We will settle down here and settle down", so this place is called Anji Village, today we don't care whether this legend is true or not, we can imagine that in the past, the era of extremely underdeveloped transportation, in such a quiet mountain, there must be such a village, there must be a special reason.
At present, Anji Village does not have the same rules as many famous ancient cities and ancient towns, such as the ancient town of Keqiao in Shaoxing, which we went to this time, and there are many places of convergence. Anji Village, on the other hand, is completely different.
According to Mr. Zhang, who painted Jiangnan, he told me that in order to protect such an ancient village and not be homogenized into a modern new rural appearance, they have done a lot of work, such as not letting the old walls be whitewashed as a whole, maintaining the original natural state as much as possible, repairing and protecting the old stone roads and stone bridges as they are, and even the remaining stone foundations of some old houses are still preserved in their original state, etc., so that they have today's appearance, which makes me very appreciative and recognized.
Now is an important stage of China's beautiful rural construction, the state and local governments attach great importance to it, China has a lot of very local characteristics of the countryside, can no longer take the old road of China's urbanization, large-scale demolition and construction, but to pay more attention to the protection of the unique style of the countryside, China's land is vast, regional cultural differences are very large, the traditional local culture, is also an important part of Chinese culture, should be well preserved.
And these ancient villages, is the best carrier to carry these traditional culture, in the transformation of the focus on the integration of culture and traditional architecture, absolutely can not appear after the transformation, can not see the natural characteristics of the village, let alone some ancient villages, submerged in the dust of history.
There are ancient villages with history, there will always be some relatively old trees, because some ancient villages in China, will be planted in the village head and end of the village with some auspicious meaning of the big trees, such as camphor, ginkgo, red maple, osmanthus, etc., so that as soon as you step into this village, you will be deeply attracted by her, Anji Village, Wuyi Village in the village, there are several very old camphor trees, growing vigorously along the stream, making you feel the long history of the village.
The mountain stream meanders in the middle of the village, natural and full of change, water is the source of the growth of all things, but also the source of human survival, the houses built on both sides of the stream by the mountains, and other miscellaneous trees that grow naturally reflect each other, and the bamboo forest reflects the lush branches and leaves. From time to time, the creek is hidden in the thick shade, or is almost invisible by the wild grasses, and in my eyes, it is more suitable for painting than the naturally cultivated old town, and such a natural feeling can only be realized by the immersive painter.
When we came this time, although it was late autumn, but the temperature was higher, there was no cold sense of late autumn, because most of the branches and leaves had not turned yellow and scattered, some of the old trees and fruit trees that withered and barren prematurely could also make people feel the desolate cold of autumn, only in the second half of the sketch, the temperature suddenly dropped, only to feel the cold and bleakness of autumn, the autumn mountains under the sunset are golden, or can make people feel the intensity and richness of autumn colors, in such a season, such a mountain village is the most rare to sketch and create the scene.
Nowadays, the creation of Chinese painting in the style of scene is in the ascendant and flourishing, and we already have such creative conditions today, and it has become a real possibility to create scenes in nature, and many famous painters and theorists in ancient times have long been deeply aware of its importance.
For example, Jing Hao, a painter in the Five Dynasties period, put forward the term "Sou Miao Chuangzhen" in his "Brushwork Notes", which means that he has extensively collected wonderful materials in life, and after removing the rough and refined, inductive and generalized, and artistic processing, he has created a more wonderful artistic image than in natural life. Isn't this just emphasizing to us that art must enter life and nature?
If an artist does not have a love for nature, his works must be empty and boring, lacking the interest of life and the power of nature, and it is difficult to impress people, and without the "truth" of nature, let alone the "truth" of art, it will not be possible to complete the transformation and sublimation of the artistic self.
The real nature is wonderful and endless, ever-changing, copying the true expression of nature, is not the purpose of our artistic pursuit, not to mention the original intention of Jing Hao's "search for wonder and create truth", the brush and ink of Chinese painting itself is higher than the artistic crystallization of nature, and it is a unique artistic language summarized by Chinese artists after a long period of accumulation.
In order to use flexible and superb brush and ink language to vividly express nature, it is necessary to go through long-term and hard training, including composition and color, etc., and "Sou Miao Chuangzhen" also represents the artist's love for nature and life and the pursuit of art, emphasizing the importance of observing and understanding nature, which is a method and attitude of artistic creation, not an objective and true imitation and copying, and is an indispensable and important means to reach the other side of art.
For example, my painting "Xibo Shakes Biying Mountain Township" is from Wuyi Village, and the scene is actually very plain and a little messy, but it is very rich so it moved me, let me stop, want to express and express, it is the natural "wonder" that deeply attracted me, this "wonder" is simple, vivid, colorful, and can not be created out of thin air in the studio.
If the artist indulges in the studio, only in the paintings of the ancients, looking for the "wonderful understanding" of brush and ink, it is difficult to get out of the nest of the ancients, we should seriously and profoundly understand today, the first teacher Jing Hao's "search for the magic of creating the truth" of the law of the wonderful creation of nature, it is under the guidance of this concept, I completed the creation of this work.
Specifically, "Miao" represents the objective existence of the natural world, rich artistic elements, in this work, the nearby bamboo fence frame built at will, the vines that climb freely, although it has dried up and withered, but can show the moistness and vigor of the brush and ink, in the performance of this piece of close-up material, there must be both moist brush and ink to form a block surface, but also have vigorous lines interspersed, increase the interest of pen and ink changes.
"Searching" for such feelings is the painter's subjective feeling and practice process, and nature gives us this or that feeling, which is exactly what we need to search in nature, the architecture, form and location in this work, if not processed and processed by art, will not be included in the painting, but it is a very important theme in this work.
Therefore, I have made a bold move, the exaggeration and change of the modeling structure, of course, these are all from the feeling that nature gives me, it is a new artistic image created by the "wonderful" understanding of nature, the large bamboo forest next to it, so that it is unified in the overall block surface, and the several big trees above are also painting eyes, we should pay attention to the richness of the posture and the change of brush and ink, to have the charm of the Chinese painting written, the distant mountains are rich in light ink treatment, and the stream in the middle is bent and lucrative, which vividly shows the life scene of a natural mountain village.
In this way, through this kind of search and truth, the artist can create an artistic image that is both real and has inner vitality, so that the image is vivid and down-to-earth, has the breath of life, and moves the viewer.
At the same time, Chinese landscape painting on the scene, not only to deal with the relationship between the language of brush and ink and nature in the sketch, but also to pay attention to the poetry of the work, this is the connotation of Chinese landscape painting, why we say that Chinese landscape painting is a poetic painting, the poetry of painting, is to emphasize the importance of poetry, and I want to express a quiet natural mountain village in this work, quietly flowing a kind of poetic beauty of quiet life, so that the shaping of emotional pictures, how to master and understand, is a process that requires long-term training.
This is also in line with Lao Tzu's philosophical thought of "Taoism and Nature", which also emphasizes taking nature as a teacher, grasping the internal laws of all things, and "materializing" nature.
This reminds me of Huang Binhong's 1952 answer to the editor's question about what it means to be "between the similar and the unlike", saying: "There are three kinds of paintings: first, those who absolutely resemble objects, this painting that deceives the world and steals fame; 2. Those who do not resemble objects often use their names and deceive the world to steal their names;
From this point of view, nature has a special meaning for art, not only the object of art, but also the sustenance and dependence of the artist's soul, facing nature, observing nature, so Chinese landscape painting never pursues true realism, the essence is the freehand form of "leaving away the skills, the meaning of the mystery", which is the root of Chinese painting.
Zong Bing of the Southern Dynasty also has a witty saying in the "Preface to Painting Landscapes" that "the eyes should understand the heart, and the gods are beyond reason", which refers to the "gods" that the eyes see and the heart perceives, all of which are synesthetically manifested by the natural landscapes. Such a "god" is also the "truth" and "god" of nature, and the spirit of the painter and the viewer can be transcended from the turbidity, and the "reason" will also be obtained.
In the same way, when I painted this work, I also tried my best to sort out the disorderly and scattered images in nature, and to sort out and dissolve the nature I saw in my eyes through the perception of my soul, so that nature could be transformed into a moving picture, so that both the painter and the audience could be educated and inspired by the infection of painting, and get great spiritual enjoyment in the soul.
Nowadays, with the continuous progress of science and technology, almost everyone has a digital camera, and taking photos has become a substitute for many painting creators to sketch, Lao Tzu's "Tao of Nature", Jing Hao's "Search for Wonder and Truth", Zong Bing's "should be seen and understood, and God is superordinated" and other painting theories, are gradually alienated.
The kind of pen and ink games and the mercy of various space symbols in the studio, it is less than the piety of the ancients to nature and art, so in order to complete a good sketch of the scene, the accumulation of profound culture and knowledge, the training of professional skills is essential, and finally into the nature to complete the artistic realm of "searching for the truth and creating the truth".
Finally, I attach an inscription poem I created for the scene this time to encourage my colleagues, "The fallen leaves carry the autumn swing a few times, and the winding paths in the mountains are looking for the hometown." The spring smoke is barking in Washexi Village, and the old branches are dyed red by frost over the years".
2024.1 Yang Lin, Wuhu
Yang Lin's other works
Yang Lin
He is a member of the Chinese Artists Association, an associate professor of Anhui Polytechnic University, the president of Anhui Huangyue Painting Institute, the director of Huizhou Beilin Art Museum, and the vice president of Zhu Ling Landscape Painting Research Association. He has won the first prize of the first Yangzhou Eight Monsters Cup Calligraphy and Painting Grand Prix, the highest award of Shangyi 2017 National Art Exhibition (China Artists Association), the highest award of the 2018 China Fuzhou Maritime Silk Road Chinese Painting Exhibition (China Artists Association), the 2017 Jingshang Danqing National Art Exhibition (China Artists Association), the 2018 Shanshui Yandu Colorful Zhaoqing National Art Exhibition (China Artists Association), the 2019 Langchao Cup National Chinese Painting Competition Excellence Award (sponsored by Xileng Printing Society), 2019 Second Prize of the First Wu Changshuo International Art Grand Prix (sponsored by Xileng Printing Society), 2020 "Chinese Art World Tour" Achievement Report Exhibition Highest Award (China Artists Association), Excellence Award of Anhui Provincial Art Competition for the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China (sponsored by Anhui Artists Association), 2017 Anhui Provincial Art Competition, Highest Award, Second Prize of the 4th "Tide Cup" Qiantang River Jinshibamboo Wood Rubbing Exhibition (Xilang Printing Society), etc.