Wang Hui 汪辉 and Chinese XieYi Painting

In this article, Wang Hui 汪辉 tells us about Chinese XieYi and other painting styles.

Shexian, Huizhou, near Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) in Anhui province has long been recognised as one of the most important centres for Chinese painting, as well as home also to Old Hu Kai Wen Ink workshop and traditional inkstone workshop. We asked the Shexian painters to tell us about their techniques and materials.
Wang Hui is a representative of the Xin’an school of painting which originated here. He is specialises in painting trees, birds, plants and fish. In this article, he is going to tell us how to appreciate Chinese XieYi paintings. Click on the paintings to view/browse.

All these XieYi Chinese paintings are done with Chinese raw Xuan paper, and sometimes half-cooked Xuan Paper (see: Chinese Xuan 1,000 Year Old Truth Paper section on paper types.

画整棵树的也有，像这个有个粗壮的树干，茂密的树叶，两只小鸟，题的是乐园。就说明这个参天大树是小鸟的乐园，但是这棵大树又何尝不是我们人类的乐园呢？中国画展现的是想像和空间，你要理解隐含在中国画里的意思，只有你了解了画里的意思，了解了作者想表达的感情，你才能产生共鸣，否则这幅画对你来说没有什么冲击。它不像西方油画，一眼看到就能理解。这个是不一样的。

In fact, there are also paintings about the whole tree. For example, in this painting, I painted a very big tree trunk, with two birds resting in the tree leaves. The theme of this painting is ‘the garden of Eden’. It means this huge tree is paradise for the birds. In fact, this tree is also paradise for human beings, isn’t it? Chinese painting makes very good use of imagination and space. You have to understand the meanings expressed by the artist. Only you understand this, you could understand the feelings that the artist wants to transfer through the painting. Otherwise, you would not feel much impressed by the painting. This might not be like traditional west paintings.

这幅画，中国画很含蓄讲究诗意表达。比如这里表达春天，中国画就画两枝花在那里，因为万紫千红总是春，这样就把春天的味道表达出来了。是一个很有诗意的表达。
Chinese paintings are poetic. This painting is to express the beauty of spring by painting some flowers. Since spring means a lot of colors, painting some purple flowers in the painting expressed the spring touch. It is a very poetic expression.

Chinese painting makes very good use of imagination and space. You have to understand the meanings expressed by the artist. Only if you understand this, can you understand the feelings that the artist wants to transfer through the painting. Otherwise, you would not feel very impressed by the painting. This might not be like traditional western paintings.

    从小就爱画画，但一开始父辈没有这种意识，我也没有上过专门的艺术学校，都是自学。兴趣是最好的老师，我这样坚持了三十多年。基本上能者为师，向古人学，向书本学，向朋友学。这个与油画不一样，需要专门的培训。中国画，写意画，是老师教不出来的。因为老师没有办法把他的生活经历教给你，每个人的生活历练都不一样的，画出来的意境也不一样。油画可以复制，临摹；但是中国画不可以的，当时的心境、状况都不一样的，同一个人画的画也不一样。这也是中国画特殊的地方。中国画要在特殊的状况下一气呵成，只能作加法，不能作减法。油画如果出错可以之后修改，但中国画不可以的。

I loved painting when I was little. At that time, my parents were not aware of importance to cultivate children’s hobbies. I didn’t go to any special art school. I learned all on my own. Interest is the best teacher. I kept teaching myself for over 30 years. Generally, whoever is better than me, they are my teachers. I learn from artists in Chinese history, from books, from friends, etc. Chinese painting is not like oil painting in west, which need special trainings. Chinese painting, especially XieYi Chinese painting, can not be taught at school because these paintings are based on your life experience. Teacher cannot teach you life experience since everyone has different life experiences. Different life experiences lead to different paintings. Oil paintings can be copied while Chinese paintings cannot. Even the same people cannot repeat the same painting because his mindset and circumstances at that moment have changed. This is the unique place about Chinese painting. Chinese painting has to be done without any stop, and you can not reduce but add. Oil painting can tolerate errors, but Chinese painting cannot.

      用纸的话，写意画要生纸，工笔画要用熟纸。比如像这种画就要用熟纸；这种要生纸，最好是刚生产的宣纸放一两年再画，宣纸的火气退掉了，画画的效果好。纸的区别非常微妙，画家需要掌握纸本身的微妙之处，古法制作的纸有其优势，现代的纸也有其优势。檀皮一定要有。四川的竹子也有用来做纸，大部分画家很难掌握它，张大千就很爱用这种纸。张大千是四川内江人，他能驾驭掌握，画起来得心应手。很多地方都产纸，经过对比，泾县的宣纸很好。

Regarding the painting papers, XieYi paintings need to use uncooked Xuan paper while Gong Bi Hua cooked Xuan paper. For example, this type of painting needs to be done on uncooked Xuan paper. Xuan paper needs to be stocked for one to two years before being used when the Xuan paper has been oxidized enough. The differences between papers are very subtle. You have to master different kinds of papers in order to paint well. Traditionally-made Xuan papers are very good and modern-made Xuan papers also have their own advantages. Tree barks are crucial materials for making Xuan paper. In Sichuan, bamboo leaves are also used to make paper. For most artists, it is very difficult to master bamboo papers. Zhang Daqian, a very famous contemporary Chinese painter, liked using bamboo leaves paper very much. He is from Neijinag, Sichuan. He can master this paper and make the most of it when painting. Many places produce Xuan papers but the best Xuan paper is made in Jing Xian, which is also called Xuan city.

     在这里我也要讲讲印章，很多人都不太了解。印章要有两个，一个阴文，一个阳文。印章的大小不能超过题字的大小。这个是要非常注意的。

Speaking of seals, many people do not understand it. It is necessary to have a set of seals, one “Ying” and one ‘Yang’. The size should be no bigger than the size of characters on the painting. It is important to pay attention to these details.

Painting Fish

今天我来演示一下，不作为创作，只是演示中国画的基本步骤。中国画分山水、人物、花鸟，这是简单的划分。但是细分的话，就很复杂了，尤其是花鸟，分为飞禽、走兽，等。今天我画画鱼。中国画意在笔先，在画之前，你就是对形状有所确定了解，但是在画的过程中，可以用自己的笔法来体现枯湿浓淡的笔墨的丰富性。我的用笔过程中有中分侧分，有枯湿浓淡的变化，有笔肚与笔尖的变化，有墨色的变化。刚才是用色彩画的，现在我换成墨来画。
Today I am going to show you how to do a Chinese style painting. It is not creating an artistic piece. I am just showing you the basic steps. Chinese paintings have different categories, such as landscape, profile, flowers & birds, etc. This is a very simplified way to categorize Chinese paintings. Today, I am going to show you how to paint fish. When doing Chinese painting, you have to know clearly on what you are going to paint. You have to know the shape of the things you are going to paint. When you are painting, you can use your methods of using brushes and inks to express the deep meaning of the painting. I use the middle and side part of the brush. The inks can be light, strong, dry, and wet. You can use the point of the brush, the body, and the bottom of the brush to create different images. I used colors to paint, now I am going to use some ink.

我想通过画鱼来表现庄子逍遥游的自由自在。这里点墨，代表眼睛。然后用藏青画水草。水草要有浓有淡，有聚有散，因此这边少一点这边要多一点。中国画讲究对比，黑白、多少、浓淡、枯湿、聚散等等，因此中国画是非常丰富的。比如现在的点胎，点的多少，位置，轻重都是有讲究的。
I want to express Zhuang Zi’s idea about freedom. This is ‘dip ink’, which mean eye. Then, I use some dark green ink to draw water grasses. Some plants are gathered while others are scattered. This side has more grass, while the other side less. Chinese paintings pay a lot of attention to the comparison, black and white, abundance and few, strong and light, dry and wet, gathered and scattered, etc. Therefore, we think there are many ways to interpret Chinese paintings. For example, now I am ‘Dian Tai’. During this process, I should be careful about how much of ink I can use, where, and how much strength I should use on brushes.