What's the difference between China's painting and foreign painting in expressing objective things?

First of all, the materials of Chinese and western painting tools are different, so Chinese painting uses line modeling and color as ink, while western painting uses block modeling and color as color. Secondly, Chinese and western ways of thinking are different, so Chinese painting pays attention to expression and freehand brushwork, using scattered perspective, while western painting pays attention to reproduction and realism, using focus perspective. It is precisely because of the above characteristics that Chinese and western paintings give people different feelings.

First of all, the tools and materials used in Chinese and western painting are different. The tools and materials used in China's painting are pen, ink, paper (silk, silk) and inkstone, commonly known as Four Treasures of the Study. Pen refers to an elaborate pointed brush, whose hair is carefully selected from small animals with good fur, such as wolf hair, wool and double-stranded brush. Paper refers to China's unique Xuan paper (there are two kinds of raw and cooked, of which red skin and five-star clean skin are the best), which is soft in texture and good in blooming effect; Ink refers to high-grade oil smoke ink, which is irreplaceable by ordinary ink or any pigment. Through water can be divided into several levels, there is a saying that ink is divided into five colors, that is, dry, wet, thick, light and burnt; Inkstone is made of a unique stone (of which bloodstone is the most precious) and is specially used for grinding ink. The tools and materials of western painting are pens, paper (cloth), colors, knives and so on. Pens are made of flat bristles, just like brushes. Paper (cloth) is rough and thick, including watercolor paper, gouache paper, oil painting paper and canvas, and painting is made on the treated sack cloth. Color is one of the main materials of various western paintings. It expresses the image of things through hue and lightness. Generally, there are gouache, watercolor, oil painting and other colors (different colors are used for different paintings, and oil painting is used for oil painting); Knife is a special tool for scraping special effects and dealing with dirty colors when painting oil paintings.

Because China's painting pen is sharp, he decided to use lines to shape it. However, China's paintings have high requirements for lines. They pay attention to the shape changes such as straight line, thickness, shade and density, and the unity of organization, as well as the sense of movement and rhythm formed by combining rigidity with softness and light brushwork, which embodies the artistic beauty of line modeling. For example, Wu Daozi's "A Picture of a Heavenly King Sending a Son" and other ancient figure paintings, especially Kai Liang's "A Picture of Li Baixing", put Li Bai's bold personality and brilliant demeanor on the paper through a few scribbled words; Western painting uses a flat-headed pen, and each pen is a piece, which determines that it is modeled with a piece. It uses hue and lightness of color and brightness of light to express an objective image, and pays attention to the real effect of three-dimensional space, such as the picture effect of Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper.

The color feature of Chinese painting is thick ink and light color. The color it uses is a special traditional Chinese painting color (divided into watercolor and stone color), and the water is thin and wet, so the effect is thin and transparent. For example, the description of geisha and dancers by Gu, a famous painter in the Southern Tang Dynasty in the Five Dynasties, is enough to illustrate this point, that is, the meticulous and heavy-colored paintings in the later period also pay attention to the effect of moistening nature; Colors used in western painting (including oil painting, water pink, watercolor, etc.). ) Pay attention to the thick color blocks in the early stage, delicate brushwork and bold brushwork in the later stage, pay attention to the true reproduction of the color of objective things, and emphasize the light color effect with rich color changes, such as giorgione's The Tempest.

Secondly, Chinese and western ways of thinking are different. China's perceptual tradition and monistic world outlook are diametrically opposed to western rationalism and dualism. China's monist worldview holds that man and nature are unified and harmonious, and man is a part of nature. Related to this, it created the unique perceptual thinking mode of China people. Western dualism, on the other hand, separates man from nature, opposes man and nature, pays attention to man and his potential, and thinks that man can know and transform the world. Therefore, westerners advocate rational spirit.

Different ways of thinking between China and the West determine the internal differences between Chinese and Western arts. China's paintings pay attention to expression and freehand brushwork, that is, emphasize sensibility; Western painting emphasizes reproduction and realism, that is, it emphasizes rationality. This determines that Chinese and western paintings have different expressions. Chinese painting is not fixed on a foothold, nor is it limited by a fixed vision. Instead, according to the painter's feelings and needs, he moved his foothold to painting and absorbed all the visible and invisible scenery into his own picture, that is, he used the scattered perspective method. For example, Fan Kuan's The Journey to the West and Huang's Fuchun can't accurately reproduce the real scene, but they are lifelike and can bring people a kind of artistic beauty. Western painters use scientific perspective and chromatics to express the perspective of near, far and small focus and the spatial change of color. The image has a strong three-dimensional sense and is vivid and typical. Such as Raphael's Academy of Athens in the Renaissance and the Portrait of Pope Innocent X by the famous Spanish painter velazquez.

Therefore, Chinese and western traditional paintings make people feel that they are two different systems, giving people different feelings. China's landscape paintings fully show the beauty of nature, show personalized nature, and make people blend into the landscape, making people feel happy and natural. For example, You Chuntu by Zhan Ziqian is a green landscape painting depicting natural scenery, showing people's outing in spring. With proper management, meticulous brushwork and gorgeous colors, the painter painted a beautiful spring scenery with green mountains and green waters, lush flowers and trees, beautiful mountains and clear waters, and gorgeous high-rise yachts rippling with the waves on the sparkling lake. The three women on board looked around, intoxicated by the beautiful lakes and mountains, and lingered. A few people by the lake are riding horses, strolling along mountain paths, or standing on the shore with their hands outstretched, full of interest. Through vivid descriptions of various natural scenery and people's activities, the painter successfully embodies the theme of Youchun. China's flower-and-bird paintings have both form and spirit, which not only shows the beauty of flowers and birds, but also endows the painter with thoughts, feelings and vivid images. Chickens Waiting for Feeding depicts two lovely chickens lying upright. Through their open mouths and the pattern of looking in the same direction, we seem to hear their urgent "Ji Ji" call for the hens outside the picture. This cry may be the expression of joy when they see the hen, or it may be their unbearable hunger. Although the two chicks in the picture look in the same direction, the dynamics are completely different. One is to look forward, and the other is to look backward sideways, giving people a feeling of moving forward silently. This painting is very simple, without any scenery, but it is not rich in meaning. Although China's figure paintings can't clearly show people's appearance, the movements of the characters are very real. The Ode to Luoshen is based on Cao Zhi's literary work "The Ode to Luoshen", which depicts the poet Cao Zhi meeting his old lover who has become the Ode to Luoshen in Luoshui. In this painting, the painter skillfully reproduces the spiritual essence of literary works. The Luo God he portrayed seems to come and go, erratic, walking gracefully and emotionally on the water. However, Cao Zhi, who is in a state of indecision and trance, is far away from Luoshen on the shore of Luoshui, lingering, out of reach, and very vivid, showing infinite melancholy and sadness. As for western traditional painting, due to the development of anatomy and perspective, the reproducibility of western traditional painting reached its peak in the Renaissance. For example, in Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna among the Rocks, the Madonna occupies the center of the picture. She holds the infant St. John in her right hand, sits the infant Jesus in her left hand, and is followed by an angel, forming a triangle composition and responding to each other with gestures. The background is a deep cave dotted with flowers and plants, and the cave is completely exposed. The exquisite depiction of characters and backgrounds, the use of smoky brushwork, scientific realism, perspective and restoration in the painting show his superb level in dealing with the dialectical relationship between realistic realism and artistic treatment.

Finally, I want to explain that although China's paintings emphasize expression, they are never divorced from objective reality. For example, Qi Baishi's Shrimp is "between similarity and dissimilarity". Although western traditional painting emphasizes reproduction, it can be seen from the works of representative painters in various periods, especially in the Renaissance and later painters, artists always try to pour their emotions and consciousness into them. Both Chinese painting and western traditional painting can cultivate and appreciate people's beauty.