Evaluation of Sui Qiang’s works by painter Sui Qiang

Bobo Art Network Author: Du Ziling

As early as the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Gu Kaizhi, a painter with far-reaching influence in my country, proposed "writing the spirit with form". For thousands of years, "writing spirit with form" and combining form and spirit have become the tenets of traditional Chinese painting creation. In the Qing Dynasty, the great painter Shi Tao was well versed in the relationship and evolution of Chinese poetry and painting. He pointed out in "Poems and Postscripts on Paintings by Dadizi" that "pen and ink should follow the times, just like the trend of poetry and prose." This had a great influence on the development of Chinese painting in later generations. The impact is far-reaching. In fact, the painting style and conception must also keep pace with the times. The realism style of Chinese painting should be one of its eternal themes. Sui Qiang, a contemporary ink figure painter, has a profound understanding of Taoism. Although there is no lack of romantic interpretation in his diligent pursuit of art, he also expresses the above-mentioned ideas in his ink figures, and his unique style has been fully formed. Sui Qiang's creation is contemporary ink figure painting represented by realism, which requires a high level of modeling ability of the painter. Not only must he master the general rules and techniques of painting modeling, he must also study the human body structure, movement posture, clothing, etc. Performance, studying people's thoughts and expressions, facial features, personality characteristics and professional life characteristics, etc. The creation of figure paintings should be vivid in the details, and show the spirit in the profound. The revelation of the inner world is the soul of charm. Sui Qiang's works "Mountain Man" series, "Sunshine of the Soul", "Warm Winter", "Whistle", etc. all highlight his touching expressive ability and attainments in figure painting.

Sui Qiang has been engaged in the study and research of ink figure painting for nearly 40 years. For a long time, he has not sought to be heard by the world, but has devoted himself to enlightenment in a humble room. He has been willing to be lonely, concentrate on research, and write without stopping, repeatedly deliberation and careful study. It is a profound experience to appreciate the brushwork techniques and styles of masters of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign art. At the same time, he realized that the skill of painting is actually more outside the painting. "I don't know the true face of Mount Lu, just because I am in this mountain." So I extensively dabbled in poetry, calligraphy and even music, using stones from other mountains to attack the rough jade of figure painting, and gained a lot of insights. , and gained a lot. From his "the charm of ink and wash extends across a wide area, thousands of scenery condense into one drop." We can see his persistence in panning for gold in the sand and the hardships of accumulation.

He has drawn a large number of character sketches and life drawings. His sketches are fast and expressive, slow and effective. He observes keenly and feels the details. He has both rational generalization and improvisation. Figure sketching is very important to realistic figure painting, and Sui Qiang firmly grasped this point. His character sketches are accurate and in-depth, focusing on line expressions. While mastering the traditional brush and ink, he skillfully uses some Western painting expression languages, but the expression form breaks through the light and dark relationship and sketch components of Western paintings, in terms of structural form and virtual reality. He has a unique approach to relationships, which often makes the viewer’s eyes shine. He pays attention to the depiction of characters' expressions. The characters' vivid expressions are not a pile-up on the body but the natural flow of inner feelings. The form and spirit are integrated and thought-provoking.

He has absorbed rich nutrition from his long-term in-depth life. He is especially fond of the life style of Tibetans on the snow-covered plateau and the customs of Yimeng Mountain. He has collected a large amount of creative materials, carefully observed and savored them. . Therefore, his works have a strong sense of life, obvious regional characteristics, distinctive characters, and vivid spiritual outlook. In particular, his grasp of the inner world of the characters is accurate and appropriate. In his works, characters with different personalities and styles can always attract the viewers' attention and capture their hearts. His pen and ink language is harmonious and vivid, with bones and flesh, flexible combination of lines, accumulated ink and splashed ink. The ink color is rich in layers and rich in changes. The harmony is full of rhythm and the atmosphere is full of agility. It is like a cup of fragrant tea, worth sipping slowly. Savor carefully.

In short, I am very pleased to see Sui Qiang’s figure paintings, and I have high expectations for him.

(Du Ziling: Member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, director of the Chinese Artists Association, doctoral tutor of the China Academy of Arts, vice chairman of the Tianjin Artists Association)

Qin Guodong/Text

< p>Source: People's Daily Online - Calligraphy and Painting Collection Channel

Where is God?

An artist who truly loves painting, just like a devout believer pursuing a god, worships and unswervingly seeks the true meaning of art through the hardships of life and spiritual journey. Their sincerity is more precious than fame and fortune, and their deeds are more touching than art. Their spirits also seem to move the gods, so the gods live in their art and release beauty.

I think artists have such moving deified worlds and stories in their hearts, because what they hope is that their paintings can create a realm of life and spiritual activity, like a realm created by gods, where the leap of the spirit transforms into something magical and infinite. Above, the beauty blooming in the form reflects the light of human nature. These dreams and pursuits of artists are the care and insight given to us by their sincere hearts and the beauty of art. At the same time, it is also their own spiritual sublimation and freedom. I think we should understand and appreciate art and sincerity with a heart of admiration, and understand the artist's heart.

The artistic creation and practice of contemporary ink figure painter Sui Qiang allow us to see his persistence and tempering. Sui Qiang's passion for painting art has been a pursuit since he was a child. His natural liking and subconscious existence make him obsessed like a god. In his early years, he was immersed in the hard study of art. As his artistic life grows day by day, the perseverance, exploration and interest in it have become comfortable. After his thirties, in order to broaden his horizons, he set his sights on the United States on the other side of the Atlantic. He traveled across the ocean and began an artistic journey, personally experiencing Western civilization and art, and understanding their humanistic concepts and temperament. Five years of living overseas made him understand many of the similarities and specialities of human beings, the existence of universals in the pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty, and the differences between regional cultures. His artistic thinking has changed, adding compatibility and contemporaneity. After returning to his motherland, he has been committed to the experimental creation of new artistic ideas, trying to combine the laws of Western painting and expression techniques on the basis of traditional painting, and to create art in line with the times. In order to further improve his artistic attainments, he entered the Du Ziling Figure Painting Studio of the China Academy of Art in 2006 for further study and completed the postgraduate course.

In terms of artistic modeling, Sui Qiang is based on the construction of style in the form of Chinese painting, appropriately absorbs some modeling rules of Western painting, and establishes a contemporary style of painting modeling.

In terms of character modeling, he adheres to the path of focusing on realism and expressing intentionalism. It reconstructs the traditional flatness, pursues the expression of spatial structure, works hard on the exaggeration of imagery, and deeply depicts the vividness of character expressions. With traditional brushwork as the main tone, the lines pursue vigorousness, a combination of calmness and flexibility, juxtaposition of sparseness and density, and well-organized combinations. He uses ink techniques such as accumulated ink, broken ink, and splashed ink to achieve thickness and change, showing the richness and majesty of ink and ink. The brush and ink exudes charm in order. The coloring is simple and simple, with subtle changes. It not only inherits the traditional high-dyeing techniques, but also flexibly carries out spatial dyeing. When dealing with the relationship between characters and the environment, pay attention to and emphasize the subject consciousness of the characters. The environment should be described in a general way as much as possible. The description is relatively simple and concise, and more is left blank. There are many contemporary elements and styles in the composition. One character's head often occupies the entire picture, and he likes to fill the picture with group figures to demonstrate the charm of power and momentum. The characters are mostly arranged in a centered manner, striving to enhance the solemnity and majesty of the characters. As for the shaping of spiritual outlook, he still takes the combination of tradition and contemporary times as the basis, and has new creativity on the basis of inheriting traditional humanities. China's humanistic temperament has the vastness and depth of looking up at the universe, observing categories, wandering in all things, and feeling the heaven and earth. The fragrance of the humanistic soul exudes a lingering and leisurely fragrance, and the light of the mind shines brightly in the chest like a holy lamp. The breadth, depth and attraction of traditional humanities make people have an innocent heart and a desire to seek and absorb. Sui Qiang pays attention to the spiritual connotation of the characters, expresses the inner desires, strives to make the expressions vivid and expressive, and creates the beauty of the situation. Static thinking contrasts with the steadiness of body language, and emotional calmness reflects sincere relaxation. His creations not only rejuvenate the traditional humanistic spiritual temperament, but also condense some contemporary and Western style elements, showing the integrated spiritual construction. The momentum is calm and high-spirited, the spirit is uplifting, the expression is concentrated, the lightness is diluted, and the strength is increased.

The progress and harvest of art are the result of sincerity and exploration, the encounter of insights and the development of spirituality. However, the charm of artistic creation will always shine and smile in the future, and the road is long and long. Artists are constantly pursuing the sacredness of art. There is no limit to art, and there are no boundaries to travel. I wish Sui Qiang and his art a better future, and my heartfelt blessings!