Many scholars in the past dynasties talked about fine painting. There are special chapters on painting in Ming Dynasty, Xie Zhou Painting Collection by Shen Zongqian in Qing Dynasty and Painting Quotations by Qing Shitao, which are systematically discussed. The topic of elegance and vulgarity is deep and wide, and the difference of theorist's reasoning is rare. How is painting made? The author tries not to talk about some learning experiences superficially.
First, in the way of learning, we should get rid of mediocre bad habits.
Mediocre, ordinary, not smart. The word "craftsman" means an axe in the sleeve. "Artisan" is to follow the trend, only circling in other people's rules, without their own will and innovation.
There are two kinds of people affected by this custom: the first is that they can't extricate themselves from their predecessors, learn from the ancient mud, learn from the ancient pseudo-ancient, and have no own opinions. As the mainstream orthodoxy of literati painting at that time, the "Four Kings" in Qing Dynasty were certainly outstanding figures in the mainstream of literati painting at that time. However, the overall painting style is inevitably the same, following the excessive stylization of the ancients and highlighting the craftsmanship. Scholars and painters in Song and Yuan Dynasties are not only different from painters as a group, but also have their own unique advantages, which are beyond the reach of the "Four Heavenly Kings". For example, Mi Fei's "Mi Jiashan Water" is deliberately innovative and original. Later, many scholars commented: "Being out of the country is beyond people's dreams"; Ni Zan, who pursues innovation strangely, takes "lightness" to the extreme and creates a delicate style far away from everyone.
The second category is to completely avoid learning the ancient law and get rid of the shackles of the ancient law. Shen Zongqian called it "vulgar": "If you don't like the ancients, you can't show yourself. I told them straight away and followed the same pattern. " To get rid of the vulgarity of craftsmanship, we must first know the "disadvantages of vulgarity." From the ancient law, we can reveal all kinds of disadvantages of custom: first, we will only learn custom if we don't learn the ancient; Second, learning ancient times only knows its shape, but not its god, so learning is useless; Third, learning ancient times is a miscellaneous study, and it is impossible to learn from others and become a miscellaneous study. Fourth, forget the past and learn from the future, only for the good of the world, grandstanding, hard work, disdain for basic skills, so you will always be incompetent and weak. Second, there must be methods. Shen Zongqian put it well: "Those who want elegance should calm their competitive heart before the day of peace and stop their ingenuity and convenience." Try to figure out that the ancients can be indifferent and smooth, really get rid of all disputes, look forward to glory and envy, and abandon the times and be poor and interesting. "
Secondly, in the form of technique, the custom of using ink and color with pen was abandoned.
The elegance and vulgarity of pen and ink and color are related to whether Chinese painting can show attractive formal beauty. Huang concluded that the elegant forms of pen and ink are heavy, big, tall, thick, solid, deep, moist, old, clumsy, clear, beautiful, harmonious and heroic, while the vulgar forms of pen and ink are dead, flat, engraved, turbid, fine, small, fluid, light, floating, sweet, slippery, floating, soft and gorgeous.
We should pay attention to getting rid of several customs when using ink and color with pens. First, there is no custom of using pens in calligraphy. Calligraphy and painting use the same brush method. When painting, such as writing, the pen should be flat, round and heavy, such as "painting sand with a cone", "breaking" and "leaking marks", such as stones falling from a mountain. Avoid painting, tracing and rubbing, no ups and downs at the end, no ink and no pen, and people are used by pens. The second is the custom of not showing pen power.
The brushwork is the characteristic of the beauty of calligraphy. "Bone-using pen", whether in the middle or front, or masculine or feminine, should have a strong sense of pen power and penetrating power. Third, there is no spiritual custom. Freehand brushwork, pen first, god first. Qi Zhi of Ming Dynasty and Tang Dynasty said in "On Painting": "It is vulgar to write with a pen without freehand brushwork. I dare not reach out before I put down my pen. It is better for God to reach out. " The fourth is the custom of dead ink. Mo Yun wants to be vivid, to live with ink but not die, to change wet and dry, and to use pen and color ink. The fifth is the vulgarity of color.
Coloring "color by category" seems to be color by color, but it is not the pursuit of "color similarity", but the color from nature and gravity. Color is not measured by simplicity, but by vividness. Sixth, there is no custom of comparison. The laws of art are often complementary to each other, and there is only one factor. Without contrast, it does not constitute beauty. For example, the pen combines rigidity with softness, and the pen and ink are "autumn wind withered and cracked, spring rain moistened", with distinct dots, shades of colors, shades of elegance, and so on. Only when the contrasting parties live in harmony can artistic expression get rid of singleness, richness and vividness. Seventh, there is no custom of inner beauty. China's paintings emphasize inner beauty, advocate expressive spirit and oppose formalism. Pen, ink and color should be under the control of the painter's thoughts and feelings. Beauty without inner beauty cannot be elegant art.
Third, in the cultivation of interest, break the custom of fame and fortune.
The desire for fame and fortune has always been dismissed by scholars as secular and market-oriented. Scholars despise painters the most, are bound by fame and fortune, and have no independent personality and integrity. For example, Zhao Mengfu, as a big official in the Song Dynasty, fell out of favor when he was an official in the Yuan Dynasty, and was criticized by later generations, thinking that he was reduced to a secular mediocrity in pursuit of market interests. Therefore, the character of his paintings and calligraphy is also considered to be "flattering" and vulgar.
Desire is the root of vulgarity. Desire disturbs the mind. Ancient and modern Chinese and foreign aestheticians agree that true artistic beauty should be far from desire. In Song Dynasty, Yan Yanzhi said in "Imperial Court Letters": "Those who desire are disturbed by nature, and the Artemisia of qi is steamed. Therefore, if they are harmed, they will smoke their hearts, consume their true feelings, harm others and commit crimes." Zhuangzi thinks that desire makes people uneasy. Especially when desires are not satisfied, people's lives will be damaged. Hegel, a German philosopher, excluded desire from art, saying: "The relationship between man and works of art is not such a desire relationship.
It allows a work of art to exist freely and independently as an object, has no desire for it, and only regards it as an object of spiritual understanding. Cousin, a French aesthetician, believes that the emotion and desire of beauty are far apart, even mutually exclusive. The characteristic of beauty is not to stimulate or ignite desire, but to make it pure and noble. Similarly, real artists are good at plucking people's heartstrings, not flattering their senses.
In life, people tend to haggle over material gains and losses, which often leads to physical and mental exhaustion. If the mind is bound by the secular world, painting will be greatly restricted, and it will be impossible to enter a carefree state of mind, and pen and ink will not flow freely.
Fourth, paint with your heart and get rid of vulgarity without true feelings.
Qing Yun Ge said: "Pen and ink are ruthless, and pen and ink people should not be ruthless. Painting is to have feelings, and you must not make the painter feel uncomfortable. " Painting creation is the result of the interaction between mind and things. The realm, character and interest appreciated by the creative subject will lead to the difference between conception and realization. Yun Ge used anthropomorphic methods to describe the scenery of the four seasons: "Spring mountain is like laughter, summer mountain is like anger, autumn mountain is like makeup, and winter mountain is like sleep. The meaning of four mountains, mountains can not be said, people can speak. " Various forms of landscape are the reflection of painter's emotion.
Zhu Guangqian said in Psychology of Literature and Art: "The most infinite and free thing is the mind, so the highest beauty is the expression of the mind. Imitating nature will never produce the highest beauty ... images should only convey emotions, which is superior. Images can be copied, but emotions cannot be disguised. The beautiful images emitted by the predecessors from the true feelings have become vulgar and extravagant after being used by future generations. This is because there are images but no emotions. " Chinese painting has always emphasized the word "heart". Emotional expression from the heart makes any work original. It's just an imitation of the reproduction object, which is a vulgar pen. Only creative works that reveal true feelings can achieve elegant works.
"Biography of Mustard Seed Orchard" said: "There is no other way except vulgarity. If you read more books, your bookishness will rise, and your secular spirit will go down. " This language tells the fundamental law of being free from vulgarity. A "painter" who does not read or write is actually a "craftsman". The key to "elegance" lies not in the traces of his copying, but in the painter's own subjective cultivation and spiritual temperament. The level of knowledge and accomplishment is always in direct proportion to the exquisiteness of the works.