Text: Liu Shuliang **Liu Shuliang Channel
Van Gogh's "Sunflowers", whether it is one or twelve are listed in the world's famous paintings, after a few years after he quietly bid farewell to the career he loved, it seems to have resounded in the painting world overnight, and then Van Gogh's fame has not faded, and even Chinese art textbooks are embarrassed not to include his works.
I don't understand the lofty significance and influence of Van Gogh's works, but almost unanimously "unanimous" evaluation of "unprecedented" has a deep memory.
Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" has become so famous that it has buried the genius of many painters, and the brush is reluctant to touch this ancient plant, as evidenced by the fact that it has disappeared from many criticisms.
The painter Tian Cheng is obviously an alternative, and he is the only well-known painter I know who dares to break into the forbidden land of the "sunflower" theme.
Ten years ago, Tian Cheng's sunflower works caught my attention. Because I had the opportunity, I have been studying Tian Cheng's works about sunflowers for a long time, looking for plots and stories that touch my heart.
Tian Cheng's sunflowers are not Van Gogh's sunflowers, they are the sunflowers that Tian Cheng watered with his heart spring, and they are the perfect expression of his personality.
This is in line with Tian Cheng's character, not cowardly or submissive, is sunny, positive, a kind of flower or attractive fruit that you want to go into the field and pick or bow your head or head, which makes him unique in the group of artists in Songzhuang, and no one imitates or surpasses the professional sunflower household.
Because of the outstanding works of sunflowers, Tian Cheng's other excellent works have been submerged in the good reputation of sunflowers, such as pomegranates, cockscombs and other flowers and birds are very popular works.
Tian Cheng is a native of Shandong and has inherited the focus and intentions of Shandong people. He resigned from the staff of the Tengzhou Cultural Center in Shandong, bid farewell to his idle affairs and entered Beijing, not to catch up with the rolling torrent of gold rush, but to attract him and infect him with the cultural atmosphere of Beijing, and he wanted to improve his painting ability and height in the tide of the times.
In the small town of Tengzhou, his art works are highly regarded, and he is respectfully invited to go home and frame them in the lobby from time to time, but he always feels that something is missing in his life.
Later, he said that what is lacking is passion, what is lacking is space to improve himself, and there is no fear of being buried by others. In the small town, there were too few people chasing him or after him, giving himself a reason to be lazy.
He had heard a rumor that had been circulating for a long time: "If you don't know if you don't go to Beijing, you don't know how to learn." "What he wants to do is challenge himself to swim in a sea of talent, and he believes that he will not drown in the raging waves, but will eventually climb to reason.
In Beijing, Tian Cheng first studied at the Beijing Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied under Guo Shifu, a freehand flower and bird painter, and then Zhan Gengxi, a painter at the National Academy of Painting.
In the guru, he saw his own shortcomings and inadequacies. The frog at the bottom of the well looks small, and the achievements of the small town are not worth discussing with others.
Under the guidance of his mentor, he tried to change Chinese painting in a variety of ways, but everything remained the same: inheritance and innovation. When he chose the difficult and challenging path of Chinese painting, Tian Cheng told himself to devote his life to going on, not to aspire to become a master, but to be a beacon on his way forward, guiding him not to be discouraged, not to retreat, and to forge ahead.
Tian Cheng really showed his talent for painting, and followed the footsteps of the masters with leaping steps, and a series of poetic and natural works were displayed in front of people.
His works are not limited to sunflowers, nor are they copies of his mentor's works, but he has found a better way of painting, integrating freehand techniques into gongbi techniques. From color to ink, from writing to lyricism, they are all expressions of inner thoughts. Each work seems to tell a beautiful, captivating story, floating in the heart and listening quietly to the viewer.
Tian Cheng cares about the role of sketching, there are trees in his eyes and forests in his heart, and the picture painted on paper is vivid and full of life.
Before Qi Baishi painted the dove of peace, he observed the living habits and posture of the dove, and pondered Picasso's pigeon works. Qi Baishi said that when he paints a pigeon flying, he can draw the vibration of the wings, while when I draw a pigeon flying, I have to see the vibration when the wings are not vibrating.
This gave Tian Cheng a great inspiration, excellent paintings ** life is higher than life, rather than the true record of thousands of scenes, which makes Tian Cheng's works natural, smart, fresh and through the paper and exude an attractive brilliance, we see the background color of the life of the work, and present the life force of the artistic conception of the work.
Painting ** song, painting dog jumping, painting landscape and hearing the murmuring of flowing water, painting Jiangnan wooden house can see the yellow warbler jumping and flying in the bamboo forest, to achieve the effect of shape, god and rhyme Tian Cheng's works are becoming more and more active, joined the Chinese Artists Association as a member, and went to various joint exhibitions, Tian Cheng and his works for collectors around the attention and favor.
Time is like a song, I don't dare to guarantee whether Tian Cheng in the future can become a master like Qi Baishi, but today's Tian Cheng is indeed walking on the road that the master has walked.
The author is a member of the Chinese Writers Association and a well-known reportage writer).