Year of Chicken with Luck and Blessing
According to Chinese traditional culture, both gourd and chicken have auspicious meaning. Based on the Chinese pronunciation, both words “ji鸡 (chicken)” and “ji吉 (lucky)” are homophones, which symbolize good luck. Moreover, “hulu 葫芦 (Gourd)” and “fulu福禄(Happiness and Fortune)” are also similar in Chinese accent. The vines of gourd stretch extensively and its seeds are numerous, it is considered as a mascot of luck and happiness as well as having many descendants from generations to generations. 2017 is the year of chicken traditionally. I deliberately paint the gourd and chicken, intend to express a happy New Year's greeting and pass the full positive energy to the readers. I wish everyone all the best!
This picture is one of my recent creation of gourd and chicken oil painting series. In terms of composition, it's dense on the top and sparse on the bottom. Gourd on the top is verdant lush. There are more than ten gourds with different size and color, either hidden or revealed. Their positions have been arranged to a great extent that they are absolute dissimilar. The vines are curved and extended, and entangled like a dragon. At the bottom left, there is a vine swaying in the wind like a dancing ribbon out of the screen. This really makes the picture full of vitality and fun. Three chickens are depicted at the bottom and each of them has been shown with different postures, such as looking down for food, turning heads back, and even calling for companions, in order to form a more obvious contrast with the gourd above in terms of density and movement.
After viewing the painting of this series, some friends feel that the use of color is like that of three-color glazed pottery in the past. This may be just a coincidence. Perhaps it is my tendency in the subconscious. The organic combinations of yellow, green, blue, and even black always make people to have down-to-earth feeling. The essence of art is indeed to make people’s life better. Gourds are mainly painted in green and yellow, but it is different in the degree of shades. I expect to be able to vividly present the shape of the gourd in different growth stages. In order not to follow the old format, I have tried to boldly use black and blue color blocks to express vines, branches and leaves to show their exuberant vitality. On the other hand, three chickens, two in black and one in gray, are at the bottom section of the painting. In order to coordinate and unify the whole picture, I have put a green block on the front of the screen, which echoes the green gourd to create a unique visual effect.
As for the use of brush strokes, I have depicted gourds and their leaves especially with thick strokes to show its vitality. The chickens however are painted with more delicate brush stroke and staggered through different shades of color in order to display the texture of their feathers. I have always wanted to inject Chinese culture into Western oil paintings. This artistic pursuit has been fully experimented in this series. In the process of creation, I have tried my best to make the composition and even the connotation rich in Chinese culture. It has also been integrated with both nature and life. In this way, not only the beauty of Chinese traditional culture, but also the interest of life have been expressed. As seen in my works, I have not yet reached one in ten thousand of the ideals. I can only continue to work hard and seek advice from all the experts. I hope I can continue to improve and get closer to the goal day by day.丁酉吉福
葫芦与鸡在中国的传统文化中均具有吉祥的寓意。鸡与“吉”同音，象征着吉祥如意；葫芦与“福禄”谐音，且藤蔓绵延，结籽繁多，而“蔓”又与“万”同音，故而被视为祈求福禄双全、子孙万代的吉祥物。丁酉年为传统鸡年，我特意画此葫芦与鸡，意在表达对读者美好的新年祝福，传递满满的正能量。谨此恭祝诸位丁酉大吉！如意安康！
此图为我近期创作的葫芦和鸡系列油画之一。取上密下疏的构图，上方一架葫芦葱郁繁茂，十数个葫芦或藏或露，大小各异，颜色有别，其位置排布尽量讲究，使不雷同；葫芦藤蔓蜿蜒，如虬龙般纠缠盘绕，左下方有一根藤蔓在风中如舞动的彩带，已经逸出画面，以使画面益显勃勃生机，趣味盎然。下方描绘了三只鸡，或低头觅食，或转头回顾，或呼唤同伴，各具姿态，以便与上方的葫芦形成较明显的疏密、动静对比。
有朋友看了这系列的作品，觉得用色就像过去陶瓷的素三彩。这也许是巧合，也许是潜意识中就有此倾向。黄、绿、蓝，还有黑的有机组合，总令人有很生活化的感觉。艺术的本质就是应该令生活更美好。画中葫芦主要由绿、黄两色绘成，但却浓淡有别，期望能够较生动地刻划出葫芦在不同生长阶段的形态；为了不落俗套，我尝试大胆地采用黑色与蓝色的色块来表达藤蔓与枝叶，以呈现葫芦枝叶青翠欲滴的旺盛生命力；下方三只鸡的用色则是两黑一灰。为了整个画面的协调和统一，我在画面前方铺上了与绿色葫芦相呼应的绿色块面，以祈产生独特的视觉效果。
至于笔触的运用方面，我特别以粗笔触绘写出葫芦及其枝叶，以表现出葫芦的勃勃生机；而鸡则以较为细腻的笔触刻划出来，通过浓淡各异的颜色交错垒迭，以使鸡的毛羽具有质感。一直以来，我希望把中国文化注入西方油画当中，这种艺术追求在此系列中得到了充分的实验。我在创作过程中尽力使画面的构图乃至内涵等方面富有中国文化韵味，并将自然与生活融入其中，既表现中国传统文化之美，亦兼具生活意趣。作品所见，尚未达到理想中的万分之一，只能继续努力创作，并求教于方家。
