On The Freehand Brushwork

Nowadays, there are some worrying phenomenon that emerged in the field of modern Chinese painting with prosperity of creation in Chinese painting, which is the Claborate-style painting thrives, in the mean time, freehand painting declines. Look back in recent national art exhibitions, freehand painting accounted for only less than 30% of the Chinese painting, and the ratio continues to decrease. The flourishing Claborate-style painting develops toward a trend of complicacy, full composition, decoration, ultra reality, and artisan. The works are sophisticated or odd enough, which separate itself from spiritual connotation Chinese painting that emphasize the style of mixing brush, ink, link and aesthetic implications. The reason is that almost painters who are active in the forefront are young and middle aged people, they are energized with active thoughts, they have outstanding sense of discrimination with diligence and frugality. But most of them were taught to learn sketch drawing in the level of fundamental learning rather than line drawing. What they came into contact with is modern artistic form instead of traditional one. The artists’works are neatly realistic rather than showing rich aesthetic implications, considering that he is influenced by so many factors, for instance, knowledge and life experience. The following questions such as how to define the Claborate-style painting, how to appraise it, what direction will it develop and how will it achieve, are of the most valuation for us to deliberately think about and discuss. Now the aesthetic implications in sector of Claborate-style painting have been researched so much by Chinese scholars. Sadly, almost the researches are just surface without defining the concept clearly. In addition, some scholars are willing to prove the significant meaning for its aesthetic implications, ignoring the other values of it. This dissertation attempts to reveal the value orientation and drawbacks of modern Claborate-style painting, and then discuss the feasible way for it to development to a new high level.