近十几年来，王来文潜心于写意花鸟创作，成果斐然，尤其是独具个性的大写意墨荷系列作品得到画界的广泛关注，熟不知他的白描艺术同样引人入胜。即将在厦门展出近期创作的六十余幅写意性白描，也将呈现王来文艺术探索道路上不为人知的另一面精彩。

　　其实，王来文长期以来从未间断过白描写生，他将其作为探索笔墨语言的重要途径，将写生与创作视为不可分割的整体。白描既是一门独立的画科，又是在中国哲学与审美体系观照之下，形成的一种独特绘画语言。中国文学借用“白描”一词，指用最少的笔墨语言,勾画出事物或人物的独特形态或动态,以传神写照地表现人物或事物的外貌特征和精神特征的文学表现手法，简洁和传神是文学中“白描”的本质特征。白描手法有如冯梦华云“其淡语皆有味, 浅语皆有致”，司空图亦说:“不着一字，尽得风流”，所谓言有尽而意无穷。因此，在中国艺术系统中，白描与写意其实是相互依存的整体，前者既是手段亦为形式，后者终为旨归。王来文认为深入生活，坚持白描写生，可以更加细致入微地观察对象，把握对象的自然属性和本质特征，为大写意创作提供客观依据，所以他的写意花鸟总能看到生动的细节，耐人寻味。另一方面，长期的写意笔墨实践又强化了王来文白描艺术的写意性特质，无论大胆取舍的构图、凝练简洁的造型，还是审美意趣表达、人文情怀的抒写，皆与其写意艺术一脉相承，相得益彰。他的写意花鸟向来以水墨为主，少有施色，笔墨凝练传神，可以视作另一种形式的“白描”。在他的笔下，二者并没有本质的不同，仅有形式的差异。

　　王来文是在本土成长起来的画家，其白描艺术根植于闽派传统。福建自古以来，就有白描写意的传统，如南宋笔下的飞天云龙，郑思贤的线描简笔幽兰;明代更是名家辈出，边景昭、李在、上官伯达、曾鲸、吴彬等人皆能工能写，其中吴彬以白描罗汉著称，被称为“夙世词客，前身画师”;而自清以降，出现了两位在美术教育史上有着深远影响的白描高手和两部堪称经典的白描范本。其一是清初的上官周及其《晚笑堂竹庄画传》，其二是现代的陈子奋及其《陈子奋白描花卉册》。上官周晚年创作的《晚笑堂竹庄画传》，集历代名家之大成，用白描的手法生动地刻画了秦汉至明初120位历史人物，该画集自乾隆八年(1743)刊行以来，至民国200多年间，多达10余种版本传世，成为“近一二百年来学习人物画的重要范本”(叶浅予语)。陈子奋以金石书法入白描花卉，俞剑华评其白描“是含有顾恺之、李龙眠而独成一格，成其所谓陈子奋的白描”。晚年创作的《陈子奋白描花卉册》于1959年在上海美术出版社出版印行，至今仍是许多艺术院校国画专业的指定范本。王来文1987年考入福建师大美术系主修中国人物画，当时正是85新潮高涨时期，王来文却没有随波逐流，从资料室借来《晚笑堂竹庄画传》、《陈子奋白描花卉册》等范本，书不离手，反复研习，认真揣摩，继而上溯唐宋诸家，又潜心研究陈老莲、任伯年的线描造型，深得传统白描艺术之精髓。

　　王来文是一位研究型的画家，他的笔墨语言建构，正源自于对传统的深刻理解与转换。纵观王来文中国画创作历程，无论是粗笔泼墨，还是细笔白描，都抓住了一个“写”字，强调笔墨语言的书写性。中国画是一种意象造型，依靠线条的结构组合来完成意象的表现，而线条的质量往往潜藏着画家对传统艺术的理解、修养。他始终认为，书法有如西方的素描，是中国传统造型艺术之母。早在东晋时期，顾恺之就强调“以形写神而空其时对”，强调“写”在绘画中的主导位置。唐张彦远云：“夫象物必在于形似，形似须全其骨气，皆本于立意而归乎于用笔，故工画者多善书”。唐六如亦云：“工画如楷书，写意如草圣，不过执笔婉转灵妙耳。”王来文学书早于学画，小学三年级开始习字，从颜体楷书入手，后学汉隶，行书习“二王”、米芾、苏东坡诸家，从艺二十余年从未间断对书法的研习。我们发现，王来文并未拘泥于传统工笔白描用笔，而是从书法的抽象美中吸取技巧和经验，将书法线条的肥瘦、筋骨、轻重、缓急、稳健、险峻等多样视觉形态和审美意蕴巧妙地融于笔墨之间，游刃于工写、形意之间，张弛有度、疏密有致。

　　清人方薰批评时人指出：“世以画蔬果花草随手点簇者谓之写意，细笔勾染者谓之写生，以为意乃意为之，生乃像生肖物。不知古人写生即写物之生意，初非两称之也。工细、点簇，画法虽殊，物理一也。”当下的境况何尝不是如此?方薰告诫我们，无论工笔还是写意，都不能脱离意象观物本质。状物象形固然重要，但写物之生意，抒胸中丘壑才是艺术的旨归，就这个层面而言，王来文的白描艺术在当下更彰显示范性的意义和价值。他笔下的白描取材于日常生活，水仙、荷花、芭蕉、兰梅、紫藤等具有文人气质的花草一直都是他的描写对象，本次展览又增加了家乡的特产螃蟹。直接对景写就，花卉虫草跃然于纸面;因为忠实于生活与个人体验，不事雕琢, 胜似雕琢,却能从饱含情感的线条中感受兰花的清气、荷池的温度、蟹爪的利器; 无意渲染, 胜似渲染,却能以少胜多, 以简驭繁，别开生面。

　　雨果说：“有一种比海更大的景象，是天空; 还有一种比天空更大的景象，那就是人的内心世界。” 如果说古代文人常以“绚烂之极, 归于平淡”表达人生理想，我却从王来文的白描作品中分明感受到“淡极始知花更艳”的意象，于平凡中呈现生物的灵性与生命力。枯而不涩、虚而不空的线条洋溢着一股积极入世的正气与雄浑。

　　(罗礼平  美术学博士;福建师范大学美术学院教授、硕士研究生导师;福建省美术家协会理论委员会委员)

　　Elegance and Connotation with Simple Lines— Freehand Style in Wang Laiwen’s Line Drawing Art

 Luo Liping ( Professor and doctor of fine arts of School of Fine Arts, Fujian Normal University )

　　In the past decade, Wang Laiwen has been involved in the creation of freehand paintings of birds and flowers and remarkable achievements have been made, among which the unique ink lotus series by means of vigorous freehand brushwork has drawn extensive attention in the painting circle. However, his line drawing is also attractive. More than sixty line drawings of the freehand style recently created by Wang Laiwen will be on exhibition in Xiamen. They demonstrate the unknown glamour during Wang Laiwen’s artistic exploration.

　　In fact, Wang Laiwen has never stopped practicing line drawing. He regards it as an important way to explore the language of brush and ink and considers landscape painting and creation as an integral whole. Line drawing is an independent branch of painting as well as a special painting language formed in the light of the Chinese philosophical and aesthetic systems. In Chinese literature, the term “line drawing” is defined as a literary technique of expression which is used to depict the unique form or motion of objects or figures with the simplest and minimum amount of ink, and to vividly present the appearance and spirit characteristics of objects and figures. Concision and vividness are the essential features of line drawing in literature. Feng Menghua described the technique as “Profound meaning arises from brief description and elegance lies in simple language”. Si Kongtu also said, “Romance is incisive without a word”. There's an end to the words, but not to their message. Therefore, line drawing and freehand brushworks are interdependent, of which the former is both the means and form and the latter is the ultimate purpose. In Wang Laiwen’s opinion, continuous practice in line drawing in real life is helpful for the careful observation of objects and understanding their nature and essential features, providing objective basis for the creation of great freehand brushworks. Therefore, his flower and bird paintings always demonstrate vivid details and are meaningful and thought-provoking. On the other hand, the practice in freehand brushworks for a long time reinforced the freehand brushwork characteristics of his line drawings. The bold composition of paintings, concise shapes, expression of aesthetic interest, and description of humanistic feelings are in consistency with his art of freehand brushworks, each improved through the association with the other. His flower and bird paintings are mainly made by ink. Colors are seldom used. The shapes are concise and vivid and the drawings can be regarded as another form of “line drawing”. In his paintings, the two are the same in nature but different in forms.

　　Wang Laiwen is a native painter whose art of line drawing is rooted in the tradition of Min School. Fujian has the tradition of freehand brushworks by means of line drawing since the ancient times, illustrated by the Flying Dragon of the Southern Song Dynasty (A.D. 1127 – A.D. 1279) and orchids drawn by Zheng Sixian by means of line drawing. In the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1368 - A.D.1644), famous figures came forth in large numbers. Bian Jingzhao, Li Zai, Shangguan Boda, Zeng Jing, Wu Bin, etc. were skillful in both painting and writing, among whom Wu Bin was famous for line-drawing Arhat and was known as “a natural born writer and painter”. Two masters of line drawing and two classical line drawing works with far-reaching influence on the history of fine art education appeared since the Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1644 – A.D. 1911). One is Shangguan Zhou of the early Qing Dynasty and his Wanxiaotang Bamboo Village Painting Album and the other is Chen Zifen in the contemporary age and his Album of Line-Drawing Flower Paintings of Chen Zifen. Wanxiaotang Bamboo Village Painting Album created by Shangguan Zhou in his twilight years is an agglomeration of masters in the past dynasties. In the album, he vividly portrayed 120 historical figures from the Qin (B.C. 221 – B.C. 206) and Han (B.C. 202 – A.D. 220) Dynasties. More than 10 versions of the album have been published during over 200 years form its first publication in the eighth year of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1743) to the Republic of China (A.D. 1912 – A.D. 1949). The album is “an important model for learning figure paintings for over 200 years” (by Ye Qianyu). Chen Zifen drew line-drawing flowers by means of Jinshi Calligraphy (inscriptions on ancient bronzes and stone tablets), and Yu Jianhua commented that his paintings “have a style of his own while inherit the style of Gu Kaizhi and Li Longmian; this is called the line drawing of Chen Zifen”. Album of Line-Drawing Flower Paintings of Chen Zifen created in his twilight years was published in 1959 by Shanghai People’s Fine Arts Publishing House. Today, the album is still the prescribed textbook for the major of traditional Chinese painting in many art academies. Wang Laiwen was admitted to Department of Fine Arts, Fujian Normal University and majored in Chinese figure painting in 1987. That period was just the time of 1985 Fine Arts Reform. Wang Laiwen didn’t go with the stream. He borrowed model paintings such as Wanxiaotang Bamboo Village Painting Album and Album of Line-Drawing Flower Paintings of Chen Zifen. He always took the books with him and carefully studied them again and again. He studied famous figures in the Tang (A.D. 618 – A.D. 907) and Song (A.D. 960 – A.D. 1279) Dynasties and the line drawing modeling of Chen Laolian and Ren Bonian, so he got a deep understanding of the quintessence of the traditional art of line drawing.

　　Wang Laiwen is a research-based painter. The construction of his ink language is derived from the deep understanding and conversion of the tradition. Throughout Wang Laiwen’s process of Chinese painting creation, “calligraphy” has always been the core of both thick-line splash-ink paintings and fine-line line-drawing paintings; calligraphy of the ink language is stressed. Chinese paintings are a kind of imagery modeling. The image is expressed by combination of lines, while the quality of lines usually reflects the painter’s understanding and accomplishment of the traditional art. He believes that calligraphy is just like the sketch of the West; it’s the mother of traditional Chinese modeling. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty (A.D. 317 – A.D. 420), Gu Kaizhi said that “the appearance shall be based on spirit”, stressing the leading role of “calligraphy” in painting. Zhang Yanyuan of the Tang Dynasty said, “Painted objects should be similar to the actual objects in appearance. To be similar in appearance, the likeness in spirit is necessary. The formation of conception and the technique of drawing are critical. Therefore, elaborate-style painters are usually good at calligraphy”. Tang Yin also said, “Elaborate-style painting is like the regular script and freehand brushwork is like the cursive script; the technique of drawing is tactful and ethereal.” Wang Laiwen learned calligraphy before learning painting. He learned calligraphy since the third year of his primary school. He first learned the Yan-style regular script and then the official script, an ancient style of calligraphy current in the Han Dynasty (B.C. 202 - A.D. 220). He learned the running script of two Wangs (Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi), Mi Fu and Su Shi. He never stopped studying calligraphy during his artistic career of over 30 years. We find that Wang Laiwen doesn’t rigidly adhere to the technique of traditional line drawing; instead he draws skills and experience from the abstract beauty in calligraphy, skillfully incorporating various visual forms and aesthetic connotations such as fineness, toughness, lightness and heaviness, relaxation and tension, firmness and steepness into drawing. He excels in both painting and writing. The coordination between appearance and spirit is just at the right level.

　　Fang Xun, critic in the Qing Dynasty, indicated that: “People consider painting vegetables, fruits, flowers and grass at will by point clusters as freehand brushwork, hooking and dyeing by fine brushes as painting from lie. They think that freehand brushwork emphasizes one’s will while painting from life emphasizing its similarity with the real objects. I wonder if the ancient people initially distinguished painting from life from object painting. Though different in fineness, point clusters and other techniques of painting, they are essentially the same.” That is also true in current circumstances. Fang Xun warned us that either fine brushwork or freehand brushwork cannot be separated from seeing through the appearance to perceive the essence. Though the shape, image and appearance are important, painting the vitality of objects and expressing intricate thoughts in mind are the fundamental aim of art. For that matter, the demonstrative significance and value of Wang Laiwen’s line drawing art are fully revealed at present. His line drawings are based on daily life. Narcissus, lotus, plantain, orchid, plum blossom, wisteria and other flowers and plants with literati temperament have been the objects he paints. In this exhibition, a new object has been added – crab, specialty of his hometown. He directly paints the scenery so flowers, plants, insects and grass appear vividly on his paintings; he is faithful to his life and personal experience so his paintings are not polished but better than those polished ones and we can feel the fragrance of orchid, temperature of lotus pond and sharp crab claws; he has no intention to render his painting but he does better than that, and he uses few colors to defeat colorful ones, handle complexity by simplicity and open up a fresh outlook.

　　Hugo said, “There is a prospect greater than the sea, and it is the sky; there is a prospect greater than the sky, and it is the human soul.” If we say the ancient literati often used a saying that “the extreme perfection is simplicity” to express their worldly ideal, from Wang Laiwen’s line drawings, I clearly feel the image that “the extreme gorgeousness of flowers is lightness in color” and the spirituality and vitality of creatures are present in ordinary. His plain but not dull, modest but not empty lines are filled with streams of uprightness, vigor, vitality and firmness positive to go into the society.