Vitality of body chalk drawings

Author: Ding Pin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-11-01
Features: The overall impression of contemporary Chinese human figure art is that it has long been dominated by academic-style paintings of military family members posing as models. The works lack multidimensional creative concepts and a variety of outstanding styles. Opening a collection of contemporary Chinese human figure paintings can be quite tedious, as it consists solely of similar delicate life-drawing exercises. Most of the human-themed artworks depict standing or lying poses of models on a stage, and such repetitive paintings frequently appear in other publications or exhibitions. These works are primarily created by students and faculty of art academies. Although the artists claim to follow a realistic creative mindset, objectively, these works expose the common flaws of contemporary Chinese human figure art. The reason for this phenomenon lies in the fact that these painters have long adhered to a single method of observation and drawing cultivated during their student years, relying on a mechanical "look and draw" approach to life drawing. They struggle to paint human figures without a model. It is difficult to find a theoretical basis for these paintings that does not treat the human body as a still life, and they rarely inspire viewers to generate more associations through the images. In my opinion, life drawing of human models is merely a foundational course in art education and cannot fully replace the creation of human figure paintings. However, a good human figure painting is not solely defined by the delicate depiction of skin tones. Due to the continued market demand for such works, their artistic style has been imitated endlessly, making it hard to escape a trend toward commercialization. The goal of this book is to re-examine the creative prospects of Chinese human figure art. I have contributed over a hundred of my own created chalk drawings of the human form to this book, providing a preliminary exploration of the factors that constitute the transition from life drawing to creative human figure paintings. I hope to engage with readers and fellow artists in discussing these issues and welcome valuable feedback.