Appreciation of Ancient Costume Character Paintings Series -- Xie Zhi'ao: Xie Zhi'ao

Author: Xie Zhigao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: A series of appreciations of the ancient costume figure paintings by Xie Zhigao, a contemporary Chinese master painter. The collection includes 20 of his ancient costume figure paintings for everyone to admire. The Chinese nation has a long history, with ups and downs, dynastic changes, and over thousands of years, many heroes, famous scholars, and outstanding figures have emerged, like vast stars shining brightly in the sky. They are revered, celebrated, sung, and remembered by later generations. Today, the ancient costume figure paintings depicted by modern painters are a way for the present to express the art of the past, using the people and stories of the ancients to convey emotions: either to promote their spirit, to communicate their ideals, to praise their virtues, or to admire their talents. However, for Chinese painters, especially those who specialize in freehand ink wash painting, ancient costume figures often appear in small-scale paintings, becoming a common theme for learning tradition, refining form and brushwork. They do not necessarily carry significant thematic ideas, with more lightness than seriousness, more joy than moralizing, and when emotions are sincere, they take up the brush directly, pouring out their inspiration freely, pursuing lively figures, natural and flowing brushwork and ink charm, the inheritance of traditional language, the exploration of artistic forms, the pursuit of aesthetic taste, and the revelation of personal emotions. I have been engaged in Chinese figure painting for decades. In addition to dedicating myself to modern figure painting, I also paint ancient costume figures, which serve as a and supplement to my serious thematic works. I believe that the ebb and flow of this artistic practice, the change and balance of this rhythm, align with the logic and principles of artistic practice and creation. Since the subject matter of ancient costume figure paintings is generally light in content and not large in scale, they mostly fall into the category of small-scale paintings. According to my habit, I often skip the sketching process, without preliminary sketches, only forming a rough outline in my mind before laying out the paper and taking up the brush directly. I focus on the "writing" aspect of calligraphy. Without mental burden, my brushwork becomes relaxed and unrestrained, light and lively. Over time, it seems to help improve my skills in modeling, composition, and brushwork. In recent years, I have unintentionally accumulated many works. Now, coinciding with the Western Garden Publishing House's plan to compile and publish them, I have selected some for everyone's criticism and correction. Xie Zhigao, October 2003