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Title: Shirley's Art Works 1564 & Sketch 159 - Jan 24, 2023
Artist: Shirley Yiping Zhang
Size: 38cm x 38cm (14.96 inches x 14.96 inches) Chinese Ink on Paper
Completed Time: Feb 4, 2023
Remarks:
This is my 1564th Chinese painting since 2003,and the159th Sketch and Creation from the Nature .

This is my 8th sketch of Lamei in Wuxi in January 2023, written on January 24th (the third day of the Lunar New Year) and organized from February 4th to 6th.

Taking such a long time to organize, with the aim of understanding, adjusting, correcting, and solving problems in sketching:

Firstly, in response to some problems to combine past learning from ancient people with today's real-life sketching. Therefore, I have read as many famous plum blossom works as possible from the Song(960 -1279), Yuan(1271 - 1368), Ming(1368 - 1644), and Qing(1616 - 1912) dynasties, paying special attention to their structure and brushwork.

The second is to study the differences in natural properties between Lamei (winter sweet, chimonanthus fragrans; Japan allspice; calycanthus praecox) and general plum blossoms: such as the former blossoms earlier; its flowers face left, right or downward; branches're mostly opposite and angles often between 45 or even 90 degrees; and also its flower shape, flower center color, and stamen morphology are all different from general plum blossoms.

It is interesting that when I read Yun Nantian(1633 - 1690) 's (winter sweet, chimonanthus fragrans; Japan allspice; calycanthus praecox), I found that his flower center color was deep rouge, while I saw a light red color. With the doubts about the printing color, I bought some different Lamei (winter sweet, chimonanthus fragrans; Japan allspice; calycanthus praecox)online from Henan province and Jiangsu Province. Then I saw a rouge colored flower center that was exactly the same as Yun Nantian's painting from the mail from Henan.

From this, I thought: learning is probably endless not only in terms of techniques, but also in expanding my horizons and constantly adjusting my knowledge structure? In the cycle of learning, researching, questioning, confirming, and constantly copying ancient people, sketching, and researching?

The process of gaining something every day has made me increasingly interested in sketching. From January 10th to Chinese New Year's Day Holiday, I kept going out for 17 days of sketching, except for 10 days of rain or no parking space, to experience the beauty and inspiration of nature.

At the end of the first day of sketching, a cute golden bellied black feathered bird landed on a tree in front of me, so I wrote it into my painting; The next day when I saw many magpies, I thought of the ancient saying "Joy on the Plum Blossom Shoots"; Then I saw the red billed bluebird, and a small gray bellied green bird four times came to the tree where I was sketching... surprised to see butterflies and bees in January...

I often feel that this may be God's grace, reminding the me to take care of these elfins in nature?

What's even more interesting is that on February 5th, a medium-sized black bird (not sure if it's a magpie or an octopus?) was seen, completely unaffected by the bustling crowds of people in the park. It sat quietly on a tall branch from a distance, so that I couldn't help but think of "bird's-eye view of life... "

And every time when I was waiting in the turning lane, I could see a tall willow tree across the street, with its branches facing upwards and its leaves facing downwards. It's like an elderly man holding his arms high and confiding to the sky, or like a young girl with long hair fluttering, holding a veil in her hand and dancing lightly... The same object, but different feelings vary depending on the person's mood.

Based on the above insights, I have tried to organize this sketch, and I am not sure if it is too childish.

I sincerely hope to receive your comments and guidance.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, welcome to write to shirley@ebridge.cn. :-)

这是我2023年1月在无锡的第8张腊梅写生,作于1月24日(大年初三) ,整理于2月4-6日。

用这么长的时间整理,旨在认识解决如下问题:

一是拟将自己过往学习古人与今日实地写生结合起来,尽可能多地拜读了宋元明清的著名梅花作品,特别关注了其结构与笔墨。

二是研究腊梅与一般梅花自然属性上的区别,例如其开花比腊梅更早,花朵朝向左右或向下,枝条多对生,角度多在45甚至90度之间,以及花朵形状、花心色泽、花蕊形态均与一般梅花不同及其原因等等。

有趣的是:在拜读恽南田的腊梅时,发现其花心颜色是胭脂色的,很深,而我看到的却是曙红色的,颇浅。在对印刷色彩存疑的同时,邮购了中原(河南)与江苏的腊梅,于是在来自河南的邮件中看到了与恽南田画作完全相同的胭脂色花心。由此想到:学无止境恐怕不仅在技法上,或亦也在视野的拓展与知识结构的不断调整上?在对古人的学习、研究、质疑、确认与不断临摹,写生,研究的循环中?

这种每天都有点滴收获的过程,令我对写生越来越感兴趣。1月10日写生腊梅至春节放假期间,27天里除了10天或下雨或无车位,其余17天都会外出写生,感受大自然的美好与启示。

如第一天写生结束时,一只萌萌的金腹黑羽小鸟落到了我面前的树上,于是将其写入画中;次日看到许多喜鹊,想到古人的“喜上梅梢”;然后看到红嘴蓝雀,而一只小小灰腹绿鸟四次来到学生正在写生的腊梅树上……为1月份就能看到蝴蝶,蜜蜂而惊讶……经常感到这或许就是上帝的恩惠,提醒我应关照这些大自然中的小精灵?

更有意思的是: 2月5日看到的一只中型黑鸟(不知是喜鹊还是八哥?),完全不为梅园里熙熙攘攘的人头攒动所影响,就那麽远远地坐在高高的树枝上静静地看着,不禁令学生想到“鸟瞰人生”……而每每在掉头车道等待时,都会看到马路对面一棵高大的柳树,其枝干向上,枝叶向下,好像一位耆耆老人高举着双臂在向苍天倾诉,又好似一位长发飘飘的少女,手举面纱在轻盈地起舞……同样的标的,却因人之心境不同而感受不同。

基于上述感悟,我试着整理了这张写生,不知是否太幼稚,真诚希望得到您的评论与指点。

--Shirley Yiping Zhang
Edited on Dec 25, 2023; written on Feb 4, 2023