Tsz Mei Wong
Land scape
CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
imperial examination . During Sung dynasty emperor Hui-tsung ( reigned1101-1126 ) was noted for his artistic temperament and his patronage of painting . In order to stretch the painters ’ vision , the candidates were asked to depict pictures according to the given poem . There was a poem said that : After the horse galloping the wild flower-covered meadow , there was fragrance attaching to the hooves . Nearly all the candidates depicted as many flowers as they could , nevertheless the imaginative painter drew no flower ; he just put a flying butterfly trying to land on the hoof . In China , the great masters were those who learned a lot , therefore the literati painting is the orthodox traditional painting . As implied by the name , this kind of painting is created by the persons who are widely-read . Literally , the meticulous paintings might not fall in the category of literati painting , but they are by no mean rigid and void of life for the artists are cultivated and full of imagination . Viewing the classic meticulous paintings , one will feel that there can be liveliness in the colors and lines only if the pertinent perceptual qualities are brought out with precision . Such quality is what I really want to put in my freehand painting . So my paintings are also methodically transpose geometric schemes from my mind to canvas , to take course . They had to learn diverse subjects , including poem and literature . Examinations were held to recruit the best artists into the court , and some brilliant artists could even get official titles through the
Nevertheless we should keep in mind to make sure that the use of the extraordinary Chinese brush of capturing instantaneously the vital life force of nature is the mission of a particular culture , which is the charm of a free-hand painting . Otherwise there is no difference with the water color painting . With the careful observation of the subject and the distinctive technique to coalesce the traditional expressive power of brush of Chinese painting with the westernized aspect of depicting volume , light shadow and texture , my painting style is established .