The bridge is full of pedestrians, bustling, pushing carts, lifting cars, morning glory... Lifelike; the water under the bridge is babbling, the boats are swimming, and the houses on both sides of the river are scattered, uniform, and exquisite...
Recently, Sun Jianzhen, a villager in Erdaoguan Village, Jiuduhe Town, Huairou District, hand-painted a 10-meter-long "Qingming River Map". The delicate lines, rigorous composition, and vivid and realistic images in the painting make it difficult to imagine that it was written by a disabled woman in her 60s.
Sun Jianzhen was born in 1957, and her left leg was shorter than her right leg at birth, which was a fourth-degree disability. After marrying into Erdaoguan Village in her 20s from Chicheng County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, she often painted insoles for the villagers. The peony flowers she painted are particularly full and fresh, and the villagers love to paint her. She also pastes paper for the elderly for many years, because of her skillful mind, she is better than others.
Sun Jianzhen likes to paint, and every day in addition to doing housework and farm work, the rest of the time is spent painting. She did not receive any education and training in painting and was self-taught. In 2018, the village asked her to submit a peony flower work to participate in the town's competition, she asked a teacher in the village for advice, and after more than a week of study, she painted a painting and handed it in, but she did not expect to win the special prize. Before that, the village committee asked her to hand over a painting to participate in the competition of the Huairou District Disabled Persons' Federation, and she drew a picture of the Great Wall with her hand and won the third prize.
Sun Jianzhen has two sons, the eldest of whom is married and has children. There is no income for painting, and the family only has daughter-in-law to support Sun Jianzhen to paint. When her husband came back from farm work to eat, she could only put down her paintbrush and cook for her husband first. Usually, it is also necessary to clean up and collect apricots, chestnuts and walnuts. "The drawing table, pen, ink and paper were all bought for my daughter-in-law. I heard that "Qingming on the River" is particularly long and beautiful, so I asked my daughter-in-law if she could buy one back. After my daughter-in-law bought it for me, I began to draw "Qingming On the River Map". Sun Jianzhen said.
Sun Jianzhen began to paint "Qingming River Map" at the age of 62, and has now painted it 8 times in its entirety. "The first time, I looked at the densely packed ones on it, and some places didn't know what was painted, so I blindly painted. By the third time, it is a little clearer. Later, I drew it 5th and 6th time. At first, I drew on a small piece of paper, and some places were not skilled, and I needed to modify it, and then I could finish it in one go when I drew it smoothly. From the 7th time I drew on long rolls of paper, the 7th time I drew for three and a half months, and the 8th time I drew in three months, each time more skillfully than the next, the time was shorter. Sun Jianzhen said.
Sun Jianzhen's paintings belong to the white strokes of gongbi painting, which mainly use the changes of lines and ink colors to express vivid and realistic images. The main drawing tools are fine brushes and inks. In order not to waste money, she rarely colored her paintings, and the colored "Ji xing gaozhao" framed at home was still the color she painted with a children's watercolor pen. Ink is the most common ink used. This year, when the 7th "Qingming River Map" was not yet completed, she handed over her works to participate in the painting competition for the disabled to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party, and she did not expect to win the first prize. In addition, he also won a special prize in the theme calligraphy and painting competition of "Striving for a Hundred Years of Road and Setting Sail for a New Journey" at the municipal level to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.
In addition to the "Qingming River Map", Sun Jianzhen also painted many fairies, eighteen arhats, Dream of the Red Chamber and other figures and flowers in the album, and has now painted five or six books and nearly 300 pictures.
"Painting requires two and a half hours in the morning and two and a half hours in the afternoon every day when the sun is shining. Painting is my hobby, I usually don't like to talk to people on the street, I like to paint at home. When I paint, I am full of energy and dedication, which can make me self-cultivation and feel comfortable. Sun Jianzhen said.
"Mom, tell me if you're missing paper, I'll buy it back and send it back to you" "Mom, you paint, I'll cook for you"... Seeing that Sun Jianzhen has won many awards, her family has gradually stopped opposing her painting. The two sons cared more about their mother, in order to make their mother feel at ease to paint, the second son offered to help her cook, and the eldest son Zhang Luo wanted to buy her painting supplies. Her husband used to do nothing at home, but now he is helping her take out the garbage and do housework.
Photograph: Gaulle