"mexico Road" That While The New Theory

Artworks in "splash ink" took off as a new genre in China in the 1980s, taking over large territories of the pictorial space previously dominated by lines alone. Their impact on the viewers' psychics was overwhelming and they have hunted me throughout my ink-brush painting practice during the past few decades.Due to my sensitivity to the ink-brush media, and also based on my experiments with ink brush techniques and personal experience in other painting practices during my residence abroad for more than a decade, I have subconsciously singled out "ink rendition" as a preferred concept to work with, a concept that for me has departed gradually from the traditional definitions of ink and brushwork.Since the 1990s, a series of debates concerning ink and brush has been heard in the Chinese art circles and high profile evaluations representing differing views on whether or not "experimental ink brush works" should be encouraged prompted the formation of two different biomes in the landscape of ink brush painting:the traditionalists and non-traditionalists. All these discussions have attracted my attention.Ink plays a definite but different rule in both of the above mentioned "biomes," therefore, its respective functions in each elicit greater curiosity. To explore, I have researched and read many relevant papers. The deeper I went into research however, the more I found out that most discussions and comments on the two biomes tend to be more or less at the theoretical level instead of approaching the issues from a practical standpoint of the art of painting itself. As a result, many of these comments and critiques failed as in-depth studies on the subject.These theories unsupported by practical evidence tend to be empty, especially when it comes to topics on "experimental ink-brush painting." "Preferences and favorites" from art critics and commentators have made it harder for the healthy exploration into "experimental ink brush painting" as an option. Such words as "successful conversion," "superseded" or "cultural metamorphosis" have been used to define and describe experimental ink brush painting as a form of modern art already at its high level of sophistication, when in reality it just came into existence roughly around thirty years ago. More often than not, such comments only bring us into perplexity.It is in this background that I feel the necessity to review the respective attributes of ink and brushwork from a new perspective, based on my own practical experience over the years, and to reevaluate the significance of "ink rendition" as it appears in traditional art and in modern art. Redefining the rule ink has played in the past and present can bring personal revelations and new vocabulary into the study and practice of ink brush expressions for both "biomes(?) which may benefit future explorations in the field of ink brush painting.In this paper, the author attempts to make his arguments by presenting the following points:1. In traditional theories on ink brush painting, ink exists only as a subordinate to brushwork. Its rule as a guest to brushwork or the host remains explicit. To expound their relationship, the author proposes a new sequence for approaching the critique of an artwork by evaluating its ink rendition first instead of its brushwork. The author goes on with the observation of the fact that "expressions of the brush" can only be manifested through traces of ink; and that "ink and brushwork" does not necessarily equal tradition, but exist merely as independent entities that function as "expressive language" using the ink and brush media, which is as applicable to classical styles of painting as it is to modern art.2. When regarded as an element "having chromatic possibilities," ink carries with it an enormous amount of visual weight in a piece or work, hence its direct impact on regulating the balance of the composition as well as its effect on the tones and mood of the entire piece. "Composition through ink arrangement" is a conclusion the author has reached after years of practice. The creation of the "品" character layout in pyramid structure is an effective supplement to the rich array of compositional principles found in traditional ink brush paintings, and also to the "design" theory in modern artworks in ink and wash. Such practices have extended the potential for the expressive power of ink.3. The traditional rule of ink changed with the emergence of modern ink-brush paintings in the early 1980s. With the help of illustrations, the attributes of "ink traces" and "ink images" are expounded and their rule as independent entities "having expressive qualities of a language" established. In so doing, the author has substantiated the need for more in-depth study and continued development of ink brush painting with theoretical support based on practical experience in this art form.4. In artistic critique and discussions on "experimental ink brush painting" the author always approaches his judgment of the success or failure of a piece from a practical standpoint, and conducts his evaluation of works done in ink and wash using the criteria for ink and wash. The author further stresses that any proclaimed conceptual achievement in a piece has to be substantiated by a matching level of its physical ink traces and images before it can be called or labeled "perfect."5. The author has been a staunch advocate for the modernization of traditional ink brush painting, and for the release of great potentials in expressive power that ink brush art holds. To help provide resources in a timely manner for the progress of this art form, the author has designed special courses for experimentation in the art of ink brush painting, which can be used as a reference for either the core classes or elective classes offered to the Chinese painting major or other majors.