"How to return to the traditional' ink painting' in China, absorb the nutrition of' pen and ink', keep the water-based characteristics of watercolor painting, and combine the characterization with the water rhyme characteristics to create works that meet the aesthetic taste of China people". This has always been Wang Hui's thinking on exploring watercolor paintings with oriental quality. He believes that art comes from a sincere understanding of life, and watercolor painting carries his inner feelings, all of which are his own experiences, feelings and imagination. Through understanding and cherishing life, he presents the mystery of human beings in his mind and depicts the spiritual direction and pursuit of self-creation.
Wang Hui, who came from a military family, didn't know what art was until he graduated from high school. 1978 or so, the college entrance examination has just resumed. Once released, students who have been imprisoned for ten years will have a particularly deep desire and desire, and so will Wang Hui. "My only wish at that time was to go to college, but it didn't go well. I didn't take part in the college entrance examination twice in a row, and my mood was very depressed. I accidentally saw the illustrations and Tang poems next to Li Bai's Farewell to Meng Haoran on the way to Yangzhou. I came down when I was bored. A workmate saw it and said that I painted very well, so he enthusiastically introduced me to his master who could paint Chinese paintings, because I was not influenced by art since I was a child and didn't know that paintings were classified. After seeing the master's painting, I found an eagle and began to copy it. It happened that the factory was going to hold an exhibition of workers' works of art, and I won the first prize as a result. Because of such an opportunity, I transferred from the workshop to the art studio in the factory. "In Wang Hui's view, this is the first experience of artistic enlightenment in his life.
If the previous enlightenment was a deep inspiration to the soul, then 1982' s trip to Lushan completely locked his artistic pursuit. Because he failed in the second college entrance examination, Wang Hui chose to travel to Lushan Mountain, where he met a teacher who graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts and made gouache sketches. In the next few days, he painted and created with his teacher until he arrived in Wuhan. The two talents bid farewell because of the different roads between the north and the south. Before leaving, the teacher also gave him some old brushes and a gouache box. This unconscious natural closeness and casual understanding is the simplest source of artistic ideas.
Back in Wang Hui, Jinhua, I attended a local art short training class, and I heard the news of enrollment for the first time in the normal department of Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts. But because of my own foundation, Wang Hui didn't feel that he had the ability to take the exam. "1984 During the Spring Festival, I returned to Jinhua after the New Year and found that several students in the art class were immersed in painting. I feel very curious. They told me that they wanted to enter the normal department of the Academy of Fine Arts. Two of them 1983 passed the exam and failed the culture class. I read his works at that time, and felt that as long as I worked hard for 2 months, I could catch up with that level in the exam, and I was more confident in the culture class because I had been teaching myself, so I decided to fight with several students for the last 2 months. " Throwing caution to the wind at this moment, Wang Hui finally got admitted to the Normal Department of Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts.
In this magnificent art hall of China Academy of Fine Arts, Wang Hui has been influenced by art, and the teachings of sages such as "taking Tao as the aim, relying on morality and acting on art" are still in his ears, guiding his artistic life and spiritual direction. Judging from the previous experience of my younger brother, his inner palace began to be clear and clean. "Our teacher's major has sketches and gouache every semester. Except sculpture, I have studied almost every subject, such as Chinese painting, meticulous painting, Italian painting, flowers and birds landscape, calligraphy, seal cutting, oil painting, printmaking and arts and crafts. The training object of this major is to train art teachers for schools, so the biggest feature is that it is comprehensive and has a wide range of knowledge. I think it is good for my future development. "
Wang Hui stayed in school, although he gave up the opportunity of teaching, but he gained a lot. In the long-term administrative post of the Academy of Fine Arts, he also got more academic exchange opportunities than other teachers. After work, you can really settle down, create some responsible art, and extract sincere, pure, romantic and poetic pictures in your heart. "Administrative post work is very busy. All the creations are done in my spare time. When there is a watercolor exhibition, I will concentrate on creating some works, but it is not very continuous. By 1999, I had determined the direction of watercolor creation, so I began to concentrate on watercolor creation in my spare time. "
Being in the south of the Yangtze River, we have a deep relationship with water. In China's aesthetic consciousness, water has a unique cultural significance. China people attach importance to water and have a natural knowledge and understanding of its utilization. The charm of watercolor in watercolor painting itself has a good aesthetic taste, giving people a formal aesthetic feeling. "Water is an extremely lively flowing liquid. You can use watercolors to penetrate each other, fade, render and other techniques to express ethereal and clever artistic conception, and you can also flow freely in watercolors to produce unpredictable artistic effects. The natural flow effect of water droplets splashing in watercolor painting is also unique. " Wang Hui has a deeper understanding of watercolor than ordinary people.
Early watercolor creation was mainly based on landscape sketching. The watercolor scenery in Wang Hui is delicate and fresh, with harmonious colors. Whether it is a temple pavilion, an idyllic farmhouse, a water town in the south of the Yangtze River, or a residential building with white walls and gray tiles, he has carefully sketched and described it, which not only has the artist's pure and clear state of mind, but also has a fresh and refined picture presentation effect, which can not help but evoke a lingering homesickness.
In 2007, Wang Hui went to Tibet to collect folk songs. The original life scenes in Tibetan areas and the simple feelings of Tibetans had a great influence on him, which not only provided rich materials for his watercolor figure painting creation, but also completed his mature transition from watercolor scenery to characters. At this stage, he created many works named after the "roof", such as: Roof Dam Festival, Roof under the Bodhi Tree, Piety of the Roof, Roof, Roof in the Sun, etc. The vivid image, expression, will and spirit of Tibetans are refined into the picture.
The watercolor painting of figures is the carrier of Wang Hui's inner feelings. "In watercolor painting" roof? Bazi Festival, Xiangxi? Fairness and other works, I use China's aesthetic concept to guide my picture consciousness, emotional gestation and spiritual orientation and pursuit of painting. When collecting life materials, when I find the object I am interested in, I often hide in a place that is not noticed by the object, "observe" the object with telephoto, and press the shutter when it appears at the most vivid moment. It is in this mode that the work Under the Bodhi Tree captures the picture. When creating ideas, I remember the moment that touched me the most at that time according to the material, determine the theme of creation and the emotion and artistic conception to be expressed, select those moving images and performance characteristics for reorganization and grafting, build the internal connection of the pictures, give them their respective meanings and symbols, and after repeated thinking and revision, create a "scene" presented in my heart.
"At the Bazi Festival in Linzhi, Tibet, a little Tibetan girl came into my sight. When she saw my camera facing her, her eyes flashed a little surprised and nervous. I quickly pressed the shutter and left her expression deeply in my memory. To this end, I created the roof? Bazi Festival ". In order to show the happy mental outlook of the Tibetan people and their yearning for a better life, I arranged a scene in which the Tibetan people watched performances in the distance and helped each other to dress up. I surrounded the little girl's green cotton-padded clothes with a Tibetan red robe, which formed a strong contrast between cold and warm, highlighted the little girl's surprised and nervous eyes, and symbolized that the simple and mellow Tibetan people were worried about the impact of modern civilized society on their lives. "When it comes to this work, Wang Hui's eyes can't restrain excitement.
Chernyshevski, a Russian literary theorist, said: "Art materials come from life, and life materials need to be screened and recreated by artists." In watercolor figure painting and Wang Hui, we can see an artist's perception and refining ability of life materials. Xiangxi? The characters in the market come from a market in western Hunan. The color of the whole picture is simple and elegant, and the main color is the blue-gray Tujia costumes of several women going to the market. However, the woman wearing it knew at a glance that she was from a remote mountain village, and the economic conditions were clear at a glance in the slightly white clothes. "I arrange the characters into a circular structure in the composition, which indicates a harmonious and peaceful atmosphere; In the main position of the picture, arrange a child with the help of grandma, holding a book in his hand, looking up at the distance, symbolizing hope; And combine the characters into a group of two or three people, communicate with each other in eyes and movements, express their vivid facial features, spiritual temperament and inner feelings through realistic methods, portray the most vivid and touching moments of the objects, and convey their inner feelings and sustenance for a harmonious and beautiful life. " The subtle changes in the expressions of these characters and the body language between them are all expressed in a very realistic way by the creators, and it is this moment when the true feelings are revealed that accurately conveys the emotions carried in the picture.
Recently, Wang Hui's creative thinking stayed on Debate Scripture, and he was deeply impressed by the Lama's debate in Lhasa Sera Temple. "The debate about scripture is still in the state of writing a draft. I have painted more than 30 lamas. This work also wants to try to make a long scroll of Chinese painting. I have painted many Lama themes before to prepare for this long scroll. " I believe this is another excellent fragrance production work, which deserves our sincere expectation.
In recent years, Wang Hui has been thinking more about the origin of art. With this kind of thinking, in 20 12, Wang Hui was admitted to the master's degree in watercolor creation and theoretical research by a professor from China Academy of Fine Arts, so as to improve his artistic accomplishment in watercolor technique and expression, and at the same time, he began to think more about the trend of China watercolor painting? "After more than one hundred years of development, the discussion and practice of watercolor painting in China has been very deep and extensive, and the performance level has reached a high level. Will it be more necessary to find and explore the national spirit from the history of our national culture and carry forward the culture and art with our national characteristics? " This is Wang Hui's rational thinking after his in-depth understanding of art. In his mind, culture and art with national characteristics have always been the direction he has been striving for.
Wang Hui is a pragmatist. He has a perceptual knowledge of art and a more rational exploration. His sensitivity to life and meticulous grasp of things guide the audience to feel life with him and enjoy the simple, cordial and quiet artistic charm.