Cultural Characteristics of Oriental Traditional Painting

On the Characteristics of China's Traditional Painting

The artistic form of Chinese painting can occupy an extremely important position in the history of world painting because it represents the special artistic aesthetic concept of the oriental nation. Throughout the history of China's painting, we will clearly find that innovation is not a problem that has been raised only now. From Zhan Ziqian in Sui Dynasty to the "Four Monks" in Qing Dynasty to Huang, Qi Baishi and Xu Beihong in modern times, which one didn't rise, develop and grow through innovation?

Art is innovation. For this, China painters don't seem to have much disagreement. However, there are different opinions on how to grasp the relationship between tradition and innovation and how to innovate in Chinese painting, so it is necessary for us to discuss it. For tradition, most painters just regard the techniques and styles of several famous painting schools in the history of painting as the essence of tradition and inherit them. The techniques and styles of the painting school are important factors in the formation and development of tradition, and they are the concrete embodiment of tradition, but they can never replace tradition. The so-called tradition, in my opinion, refers to the generalization of artistic viewpoints, methods, forms and styles with national characteristics, which is essential. What is the tradition of Chinese painting? According to the characteristics of the development of Chinese painting, the author summarizes it as the following five points:

First, it is an important principle of Chinese painting to convey the spirit with form and have both form and spirit. Chinese painting pays attention to charm and pursues artistic conception. A painter should have the skill of "painting like an elephant". But if the work is intangible, even if it is painted like it again, it is not the purpose of Chinese painting. There are visible paintings without gods, and there are invisible paintings with gods. The purpose of writing is to convey the spirit and smooth the mind. The form can be between "similarity and difference". You know, the ultimate goal of "writing God in form" is to "convey God". Su Shi once said, "Writing can reach my heart, and painting can suit my liking." Without the support of "shape", "God" has nowhere to attach. According to legend, tens of thousands of books were sketched in the Song Dynasty in the Five Dynasties, so the pen can be "soft" and "flying", and the use of thread is not to win with simplicity or beauty, but to achieve the so-called "deification" situation. Chinese painting has always required the expression of "spirit" under the support of "shape". This "god" refers to the vitality, vivid charm and essential characteristics of objective things. "Form" is secondary and "God" is primary. Modern people Qi Baishi and Huang Dou put forward that "the beauty lies between similarity and dissimilarity" is a good painting. In other words, painting too much is too vulgar; It's not like painting at all, let alone Chinese painting. The so-called "image-building" is the truth. From the perspective of western painting history, paintings in ancient Greece and after the Renaissance paid attention to the realistic expression of form; When it developed into modernism, it went to the other extreme. Modernist painters claim that painting is the basis of "self-expression", so they can play with "form" at will. In that case, "God" is not to mention.

Second, Chinese painting is mainly line and ink, paying attention to brushwork, pursuing the artistic effect of "exquisite brushwork and Mo Miao" and paying attention to brushwork. These are all requirements for the connotation of pen and ink. "Bone method", also called "bone strength", refers to the pen power contained in writing stippling. It is the pillar of stippling and form, and also the basis of expression. The painter injects his feelings into the image with strong brushstrokes, making it more vital. In the process of modeling, the painter's feelings have been integrated with brushwork. Wherever the pen goes, it leaves traces of the painter's emotional activities.

The "bone technique" and "bone strength" in the pen are also important characteristics that distinguish Chinese painting from western painting. Although western painters also use lines and modernist paintings pursue the beauty of curves, the lines of western paintings are not as varied as those of Chinese paintings, and there are strict rules and methods for using pens. Huang summed up the pen in Chinese painting like this: "The pen must be flat, like a cone painting sand;" The pen must be round, like a broken hairpin, as soft as gold; Leave a pen, such as a leak; The pen must be heavy, such as falling rocks on the mountain. " This is a high generalization of the brushwork of Chinese painting. Although there is a "boneless method" in Chinese painting, this method still attaches great importance to brushwork in the process of coloring. You know, a point has a volume, a point is the accumulation of strength, and a line accumulated by strength also has an inner bone.

Third, Chinese painting is dominated by ink in color, emphasizing "ink is divided into five colors" and "pure rejection". Although Chinese painting also pays attention to color matching, the most important thing is the overall effect of the picture. For the needs of the whole, the color of the object can vary greatly. In Chinese painting, whether it is the heavy color of flat painting or the faint color, it is "advocating and refusing to refute" Ink and wash is an essential basic color in Chinese painting. Ink is divided into Jiao Mo, thick ink, heavy ink, light ink and clear ink. If each ink color is used skillfully and appropriately, it will show rich changes.

When creating Chinese paintings, how to inherit the tradition has always been our research topic. Inheritance is for better development, and the premise of innovation is to inherit the valuable experience of predecessors. Of course, the inheritance of traditional painting is not thoughtless, but selective and should adapt to the development of the times. In this regard, the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou" think that painting "can't be copied, stick to the ancient law", and we should "learn its meaning without showing its traces" for the paintings of predecessors; In other words, it is necessary to "learn half and leave half". This is also very important.

Fourth, Chinese painting composition pays attention to momentum and is not bound by perspective. When a painter takes a picture, he should walk step by step and look at it in all directions; We should make good use of the blank space of the paper to make it sparse, dense and not boring. "Picturesque" is the transmission of the painter's spiritual feelings. The concept of "painting meaning" is the beginning of creation. It is the unity of rationality and irrationality. "Picturesque" is not static after conception, but can be constantly adjusted in the process of painting as needed. Painters change their "painting meaning" while painting, and seek the pleasure of creation in gradually improving painting. Therefore, the "painting meaning" of the work is produced before painting and perfected in creation.

Composition is said to be perfect because of strength, and it changes because of the different strength you want. There are two kinds of composition and layout, one is folding. Zhang's power is outward diffusion and radiation, which can give people a feeling of painting outside the painting; The power of convergence is inward assembly, which can give people a feeling of painting in painting. One by one, seeking its potential for change. Song Wang Wei's "Painting Spectrum" said: "A painter says to be tolerant." The composition of western paintings has strict perspective rules and pays little attention to the expression of the painter's feelings.

5. The organic combination of poetry, calligraphy and seal is the characteristic that distinguishes Chinese painting from other paintings. The formation of tradition depends on a nation's unique historical experience, living habits and special aesthetic concepts. It evolved with the unremitting efforts of painters of past dynasties. In turn, this tradition has become an important aspect of the national spirit. The more national it is, the more cosmopolitan it is. It is precisely because of this that Chinese painting is loved by people in many countries.

If we look at various schools in the history of China painting with the above traditional spirit, we can find that all outstanding painting schools have inherited the traditional spirit and unique painting style in art, which is the so-called "opening their own lives according to the rules of the ancients". The old school mostly inherited the techniques of predecessors as traditions, rather than understanding and expressing the objective world, which made art lose its vitality. As the saying goes, "only learn the traces of the ancients, not the hearts of the ancients." This practice is not advisable.

Tradition is like the trunk of a tree, and all innovative schools are its numerous branches. On the one hand, these innovative branches get water and nutrients from the trunk, on the other hand, they get sunlight and air from the outside, which form richer nutrients for the trunk under photosynthesis, making it a lush and towering tree. Therefore, contemporary painters should not only innovate from traditional techniques and forms of expression, but also combine China's painting theory, keep up with the times and integrate into their own aesthetic pursuit.