Wu Daozi is regarded as the "Sage of Painting" by later generations. Most people may think that he must have profound children's painting skills! Not really. In his early years, Wu Daozi studied under an ordinary painter. When the painter found that his disciple's ability exceeded his own, he suggested that he choose another master and gave the disciple the motto "Don't stick to established methods and find new ways." After leaving his painting enlightenment teacher, Wu Daozi changed from the traditional way of learning painting and became a teacher of Zhang Xu, a master of Kuangcao.
Wu Daozi studied calligraphy with Zhang Xu. On the one hand, he absorbed nutrients from his majestic cursive script, and on the other hand, he learned Zhang Xu’s creative spirit. After continuous study, Wu Daozi realized that if he could integrate calligraphy into painting, he could change the painting style of the previous generation.
So, after further study, he finally created the "orchid leaf drawing" technique with abrupt changes in calligraphy, breaking the gossamer drawing method that was followed for a long time by Gu Kaizhi and Lu Tanwei. This "orchid leaf drawing" painting method can be seen in his "Picture of the Heavenly King Sending His Son": the brushstrokes are straightforward, the squandering is like water shield strips, the circles are converted, the squares and circles are concave and convex. The ups and downs of the brushwork, the majestic and relaxed posture, express the inner spiritual power. Wu Daozi's bold and creative spirit impressed Zhang Xu, who had always been creative without following ancient methods.
He had to admit: "He is extremely smart and crazy, and he is born with a Taoism that is unparalleled in the world!" After that, Wu Daozi continued to innovate on the road of "not sticking to established methods and finding new ways". In his more than 70 years of life, With his outstanding creativity, he has accumulated rich artistic experience for future generations. Summary:
Wu Daozi was famous for his paintings when he was young. When he was a boy, he studied calligraphy from Zhang Xu and He Zhizhang, but had no success in learning calligraphy. Later he switched to painting. His early works were written in a slender style, but after his middle age, his writing style became more and more open. His paintings of characters, gods and ghosts are all very vivid and lifelike.
The characteristic of Wu Daozi's paintings lies in his bold and innovative spirit. His paintings use the concave and convex method to give them a three-dimensional feel. Wu Daozi was good at painting, but he couldn't describe the romantic scenes; Kuai Wentong was good at discerning with his tongue, but he couldn't describe many spirits.