The Versatile Master Artist

In terms of anatomy,

the human pupil can dilate or contract 6 to 7 times within tens of milliseconds under intense mood changes like ecstasy, excitement, or sadness.

This is the organ most closely linked to mood in the human physiological structure, and it does not change according to subjective human will.

Even those who have undergone professional anti-interrogation training and can control subtle facial muscles to achieve a state of ”thunder in the chest, but a calm lake on the surface” in micro-expression management.

Their pupil changes can still clearly reflect the fluctuations of their inner emotions.

Eyes are the windows to the soul,

and the Western painting school has always valued people’s eyes highly.

The eyes that can express a character’s state of mind, the mirror that can portray complex merging of spatial structures, and the light and candlelight that can depict color and shadows.

These three points are the difficult and key points that teachers repeatedly emphasize in oil painting classes when imitating works of master artists.

The Eastern painting school, on the other hand, has pushed the level of depiction of characters’ eyes to an almost pathological level of demand.

When painting people, focus on the eyes; when painting dragons, the dot on the eye.

Zhang Yanyuan, a renowned minister of the Golden Tang Dynasty who reached the rank of Junior Minister of the Ministry of Justice, mentioned in his work ”Six Principles of Painting”, which comments on the merits and demerits of Painting Sect masters throughout the ages, that ”there are laws in painting and spirituality in observing eyes”.

He believed that if viewers could see spirit and charm in the eyes of characters in Chinese Painting, then the painting followed certain principles.

Understanding the different glances of models and restoring them on paper with a brush has been the eternal pursuit of Eastern artisans throughout history.

In Eastern artistic works,

from various schools of Chinese Painting to the Gandhara Buddhist art influenced by the Dongxia cultural sphere, Central Asian artistic styles, and even some Greek murals and sculptures, this feature is distinctly visible.

Gu Weijing once read relevant art theory books and consulted with Professor Lin Tao on this matter.

Professor Lin Tao believes.

That whether it is the early Gandhara Buddhist art or the portraits painted by Dongxia for princes and generals, they both place great emphasis on the dignity and majesty of characters.

The painter wants the viewer to feel awe and not dare to profane.

To convey solemnity, these schools sometimes habitually flatten or simplify portraits and even sculptures.

Whether it’s a Buddha statue with divinity, or the imperial portraits and famous ministers’ portraits commonly seen in the Qing Palace, they are almost all stern and dignified front-face portraits for this reason.

In unofficial Qing Palace histories,

the Italian Lang Shining once presented Emperor Kangxi with a Western-style side-seated portrait oil painting.

He focused on spatial perspective, painting ”lifelike with every hair and feature”, hoping to please this ruler of the Eastern land.

As a result, Emperor Kangxi flew into a rage,

saying the sitter’s posture was floaty, unclear in light and shadow, having no dignity, with form but no spirit, utterly vulgar! He ordered the destruction of this painting, which defamed the sacred visage.

Lord Lang then accepted his fate and turned to studying New Style Painting.

Characters in Chinese Painting often don’t have ever-changing facial features, nor do they use broad areas of shadow or perspective to represent a realistic sense of space like Western oil paintings.

This further tests the painter’s skill,

too much solemnity will appear rigid, lacking human touch.

Therefore, all the essence, spirit, and graceful demeanor of the character need to be articulated by the painter with superior technique, in a pair of eyes.

From looking at the eyes to understanding the heart, then to understanding the person.

This is what Eastern painters call prioritizing intention over form, the ”mental image”.

Gu Weijing understood the principle, but specifically how to paint it, he always lingered between understanding and not understanding.

It’s like knowing the physics formula but not knowing how to solve the problem.

Ultimately, what kind of eye expression reveals inner emotions?

He can’t possibly scan the model’s pupils onto paper bit by bit like an electronic scanner, can he?

Professor Lin Tao helplessly told him that a teacher can lead you to the door, but practice lies with the individual.

The principle has been taught to him, but the rest he could only let Gu Weijing comprehend on his own.

If it were a painting master like Mr. Cao Xuan,

naturally, he could, with nearly a century of painting experience and the air cultivated by changes of time and affairs of the world, point out eyes that shock the viewer in frescoes out of thin air.

Elder Cao is not far from a hundred years old.

A century of honing is enough to bring an art master to the point where technique borders on truth, even if casually drawn, the brow and eyes are still vivid.

But a little child like Gu Weijing,

in terms of both technique and life experience, is far too unripe.

Forget about painting the crucial detail on the dragon’s eye.

Even painting people, forcibly endowing a blank dummy with a portrait, bringing it alive in spirit, and forcing it with a soul, is still too far off.

To paint truly moving eyes,

he at least needs to find a suitable model.

Professor Lin Tao said this depends on fate.

When someday Gu Weijing actually finds a pair of eyes brimming with rich emotional changes, he will understand without a teacher’s guidance.

Excellent models are hard to find.

Painting, especially in realistic style subjects, is like a photographer wanting to win an award in a news competition; great works are the result of excellent creators and excellent models achieving each other.

Not only does it take effort to find, but also luck to encounter.

Artistic models,

if the painter’s requirement is only about appearance, then it’s too simple.

Tall, short, fat, skinny, pretty-looking, ugly, or oddly shaped.