Today's Women's Daily/Fengwang reporter Chen Xueyan Photo courtesy of interviewee
Putting on wedding dresses, exchanging rings, wedding vows, throwing bouquets...... The wonderful moments at the wedding are recorded with a paintbrush, which looks cool.
In the past, at foreign weddings, many people would invite artists to the wedding scene to record the most romantic moments of their lives with paintings. Nowadays, this eco-friendly and innovative method is popular for young weddings.
Some people say that a happy wedding is an art in itself, but Liu Xiaorui, a painter at the wedding scene, said: "It is not so much about painting the wedding scene as it is about depicting the memory of love." In the eyes of this "post-90s" young painter, wedding scene painting is a language different from the lens, and under the brush, she records the love and stories behind the wedding......
Witness a wonderful phenomenon at a wedding
In the late spring morning, the sun gently shines on the sparkling lake, the mountains loom in the morning mist, and the open lawn is surrounded by lush trees and colorful flowers...... On April 24, at a wedding held on the shore of West Lake in Hangzhou, Liu Xiaorui spent four hours on the scene to draw this happy moment.
Liu Xiaorui is a passionate and delicate "post-90s" girl, graduated from the Department of Illustration of Sheridan College in Canada, and has had a strong interest in painting since she was a child, and is keen to capture the beautiful moments in life with a brush. Talking about her fate with the wedding scene painter, we have to start with her own wedding.
In the autumn of three years ago, Liu Xiaorui and his partner who had been running for eight years met and entered the palace of marriage. When preparing for the wedding, she wanted to invite a painter to record the wedding, because there were few professional wedding painters in China at that time, so she invited a friend who learned to paint to paint a picture for herself.
"At that time, there were not many people who did wedding painting in China, and most wedding photography still adopted a relatively fixed mode, simply recording the ceremony from an objective perspective, which was difficult to touch the most touching part of the wedding and could not provide more emotional value to the newlyweds. Liu Xiaorui told today's Women's Daily/Fengwang reporter.
Since then, the idea of working as a wedding scene painter has taken root in her heart.
Later, Liu Xiaorui was invited to attend many friends' weddings and paint on the spot. Gradually, she became a professional wedding scene painter, and everyone called her "Qiuqiu". From Hangzhou West Lake to Sanya Seaside, from Gusu Garden to Lijiang Snow Mountain...... Shuttling through countless wedding scenes, Liu Xiaorui's job is to record the happy moments of the newlyweds with a brush at the important moment of the wedding, so that each painting is full of vitality and temperature.
Once, Liu Xiaorui attended an outdoor wedding held in Fenyang Garden in Shanghai. The weather was exceptionally sunny that day, the sun was shining on the grass, and just as the couple was exchanging rings, a red dragonfly suddenly flew by and landed on the groom's shoulder, a scene that amazed everyone present. It turned out that long before they fell in love, on the way back from a visit to an architectural exhibition, a red dragonfly also silently stopped at the boy's hand, and it was on that day that they established a relationship. This red dragonfly is also seen by them as a symbol of the red thread of love.
"The reappearance of the red dragonfly at the wedding was truly a miracle of love, and I was fortunate to be a witness and recorder of this miracle. Liu Xiaorui was infected by this beautiful story, quickly picked up the paintbrush and recorded this brief moment on the canvas.
Help deceased relatives "attend" the wedding
After becoming a wedding scene painter, every wedding is a new journey for Liu Xiaorui.
In addition to his painting skills, Liu Xiaorui pays more attention to emotional communication and communication with newcomers.
"The painting of the theme of marriage and love is different from other subjects, and the expression of emotions is more important than the record. Liu Xiaorui told the reporter of Today's Women's Daily/Fengwang with a smile that in her opinion, the wedding is not only a witness to the love of two people, but also the intersection of emotions between families, relatives and friends, and one of the most beautiful moments in life.
Therefore, before each wedding, she will communicate with the couple in advance about the theme and style of the wedding, understand their preferences and expectations, and then adjust her creative style according to the atmosphere of the wedding scene and the mood of the newlyweds, so as to ensure that each painting can perfectly present the personality and emotions of the newlyweds.
Once, when Liu Xiaorui was communicating with a bride-to-be about wedding preparations, she learned that she always had regrets in this wedding. It turned out that the mother of the bride-to-be had passed away when she was a child, and there was no way to witness the happiest moment of her life.
After learning of this situation, Liu Xiaorui decided to restore the image of this deceased relative with a paintbrush, and let her "attend" her daughter's wedding in another way.
"I asked the bride's family for some photos of her mother from different angles and expressions during her lifetime, and observed every detail on the photos, hoping to restore the characters more accurately and realistically. At the wedding scene, Liu Xiaorui "restored" his mother with delicate brushstrokes, and in the picture, the mother was full of relief and happiness when she participated in her daughter's wedding.
After the painting was completed, the bride saw the mother in the painting, and tears instantly welled up in her eyes. She caressed the painting, as if she could feel her mother's presence, and the warmth and kindness made her feel extremely comforted. The relatives and friends at the scene were touched by this affection and sent blessings and hugs to the bride.
Liu Xiaorui stood quietly aside, witnessing this grand ceremony of love with her brush, making up for the regrets in the heart of the couple, and also giving her a deeper feeling and understanding of the profession of wedding scene painter.
In many wedding scenes, Liu Xiaorui can always be seen busy and orderly shuttling through the crowd. Sometimes she crouches in front of the newcomers, carefully observing their expressions and movements, capturing the sincere emotions that are inadvertently revealed, and sometimes she stands aside and quickly sketches the outline of the canvas with her brush.
Sometimes, she sees the groom nervously holding the bride's hand, or sees tears of emotion in the eyes of her elderly parents...... These images have deeply touched her heartstrings and inspired her creations.
Let the invisible snow-capped mountains be "seen"
In addition to some romantic moments, there are many difficulties and challenges that can sometimes be faced with wedding scene painting.
"First of all, the challenge is the urgency of time. Liu Xiaorui told today's women's newspaper/Fengwang reporter that the wedding scene is ever-changing, and every moment may be unique, and sometimes, in order to capture a special expression or action, she needs to complete a painting in a very short time, which is a great test of her painting ability and psychological quality. "This intense and exciting experience has greatly improved my drawing skills. ”
In addition, Liu Xiaorui also had to deal with the complexity of the on-site environment. Weddings are often noisy and the lighting and angles often change, so she needs to stay focused in a noisy environment while constantly adjusting her position and angle according to the weather and lighting conditions of the day to find the best perspective for painting.
Once, Liu Xiaorui attended a wedding, which was set in Lijiang Snow Mountain, the destination where the bride and groom traveled together for the first time.
"I was looking forward to this snowy mountain wedding, but I didn't expect that the night before the wedding, Lijiang would cool down a little, and it would rain and hail the next morning. Liu Xiaorui recalled that fortunately, at the beginning of the ceremony, the rain gradually stopped, but in the clouds and mist, the original wedding planning of the sunshine Jinshan could not appear.
In order not to let the newlyweds have regrets, Liu Xiaorui tried to use a brush to restore the invisible snow-capped mountains, but did not expect that in the humid environment of the scene, the speed of paint solidification was also greatly affected.
Over the years, Liu Xiaorui has continued to hone his painting skills and improve his emotional understanding and expression skills, in order to perfectly record those beautiful moments at every wedding scene. For her, being a wedding scene painter is not only a career choice, but also a lifestyle and life experience.
In the live paintings, she witnessed the process of the newlyweds from acquaintance to love, and also witnessed the hard work of the family for this wedding. She deeply felt that a wedding is not just a ceremony, but also a meeting point for family and community emotions.
"Once, I attended a Sino-German transnational wedding, and the groom invited many of his German friends to attend the ceremony, and also set up a guzheng and tea ceremony performance at the wedding, which was like a large-scale cultural exchange event between China and foreign countries. Liu Xiaorui recalls that as a wedding scene painter, she has experienced many such interesting and memorable moments in her career.
At the wedding scene, Liu Xiaorui is not only a painter, but also a recorder of emotions.
She hopes to convey the power of love through her brush, so that more people can feel the beauty of love and the sacredness of weddings. She believes that with her efforts, the profession of wedding scene painter will be recognized and respected by more people, leaving more precious memories and commemorations for people, and becoming an indispensable part of the wedding culture.
Editor: Yiren