Chen Zifan's freehand sketches

Author: Zhang Huailin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: Chen Zifeng called the lines of freehand line drawing "brush strips." As an artistic language, freehand line drawing conveys not only the modeling structure, growth patterns of flowers and plants, but more importantly, the information of the artist's spiritual interaction and emotional exchange with flowers and plants. This is what Chen Zifeng referred to as "the brush being an expression of the author's inner world." Therefore, brush strips, as an artistic form, have a great ability to express inner beauty and possess relatively independent artistic value. To a considerable extent, they determine the artistic style and taste, and naturally reveal the artist's skill, cultivation, temperament, and character. As a result, Chinese painters have always attached great importance to brushwork, and freehand line drawing artists emphasize lines. Pan Tianshou even hoped that every stroke would stand the test of thousands of years. Chen Zifeng placed particular emphasis on brushwork. He believed: "The brush is an expression of the author's inner world. Without good brush strips, one cannot paint a good picture. Without a unique brush strip of one's own, one cannot paint a picture that relies on others and yet possesses a unique style." Bu Gan said that Chen Zifeng's brush strips were extraordinary, not because of the lifelike modeling, rhythmic spacing, or subtle changes between hardness and softness that ordinary freehand line drawing artists could achieve, but mainly because of the unique taste and quality of brush strips achieved by incorporating calligraphy and stone carving into painting. In 1960, Yu Jianhua commented: "His lines are neither those of Gu Kaizhi nor those of Li Longmian, but rather contain elements of both Gu Kaizhi and Li Longmian, yet he creates a unique style—what he calls Chen Zifeng's freehand line drawing." The reason it is called "Chen Zifeng's freehand line drawing" mainly relies on the presence of calligraphy and stone carving in the brushstrokes, so Yu Jianhua sighed and said: "Wu Changshuo used calligraphy and stone carving to paint expressive flowers and plants, and Chen Master used calligraphy and stone carving to paint freehand line drawing flowers and plants—truly like spring orchids and autumn chrysanthemums, different tunes but the same artistry." Since the late Qing Dynasty, the school of calligraphy and stone carving flourished, and many expressive painters incorporated calligraphy and stone carving into their work. Zhao Ziqian, Wu Changshuo, Qi Baishi, and Pan Tianshou all benefited from the Northern Stele and calligraphy and stone carving studies, gaining a robust and rugged style. Among those who applied calligraphy and stone carving to fine-line freehand line drawing, only Chen Zifeng stood out with extraordinary talent. This was precisely Chen Zifeng's unique contribution.