The story of Qi Baishi, a master of Chinese painting, learning to paint.

One of his poems said: "There is no reason to hang a book, and it is too late. In the 27 th century, there are many teachers and no oil, so it's okay to read Tang poetry. " It's about studying hard since childhood. Because of the difficult life at home, Qi Baishi only studied with his grandfather for less than a year. His knowledge and skills were acquired by self-study.

Self-study also needs to learn from teachers. The first teacher is Hu Qinyuan, who can use meticulous brushwork, write Han Li and write poems. Hu's teacher, who is also willing to teach Qi Zi to read. "I am old, I am afraid it is too late." At that time, Qi Baishi thought he was 27 years old, and I'm afraid he couldn't learn anything. Hu Qinyuan smiled and said to him, "You have read the three-character classic: Su, 27 years old, was angry and studied. You are 27 years old. Why not learn from Sue? "

Learn from Sue, be determined and be strong. This is Qi Zishi's wish. By the time he was thirty, his paintings were very good, and he began to become famous in his hometown.

Not only did he study painting and writing poems, but Qi Baishi was also interested in calligraphy and seal cutting. Once, at the home of the person who asked him to paint, he met a "master" of seal cutting and asked him to carve a seal.

A few days later, he went to ask if the stone carving was finished, and the "famous artist" reached out and returned it to him, saying that he would go to smooth it again. When he saw the stone, it was quite smooth, but since the "master" said so, let's grind it. Grinding and sending, dragging on for several days. When asked again, the "master" threw the stone to him and said, "If it is not smooth, take it back and grind it." In fact, the problem is not that the stone is not smooth, but that the "master" looks down on the carpenter.

Qi Baishi, in a fit of pique, took the stone back and carved it with pedicure knife himself. He carved a seal that night, which was childish. This is the beginning of his study of printing. At that time, there was no money to buy inkpad J. Stone. Instead of inkpad, he used castor oil to mix stone yellow and Zhangdan powder, made lithographs with stones from his hometown, polished and carved them, and tried to create his own style regardless of the past ink string. He recalled the feeling of lettering in those days and said, "After school, print it, grind it, and then publish it. If you want, you can move it to the east and then to the west ... "

In his persistent efforts, he boldly created with the goal of "taking people for fun". At that time, someone praised: "The stone carving is self-printed, and its knife can be one inch long and half a meter deep. If the stone is not hard, it will crack immediately, and the wind will go quickly, and it will take shape soon. "

Qi Baishi's paintings have their own characteristics in material selection, composition and pen and ink, but they lacked their own style from the beginning. After the age of forty, Qi Baishi traveled to the north and south five times, leaving his footprints in the five mountains of Mingchuan, Dongting in Wuxia, Pearl River and Yellow River. This has played a great role in broadening his horizons and mind.

At the age of fifty, Qi Baishi moved to Beijing. At the age of 57, Qi Baishi, who was hale and hearty, announced that he wanted to "reform": "I painted for decades and didn't say what I wanted. From then on, I decided to make a big change. I don't want people to know that I starved to death in Beijing, and I don't want to be pitied by the public. I can ask myself, am I fast? " Qi Baishi has extraordinary courage. He respected his former teacher, but he didn't follow his example. The more perfect the technique, the more limited the feeling of pain.

Qi Baishi "cross the rubicon"! The essence of his political reform is to liberate himself from the ideological bondage that only talks about the shape but not the vividness.

Change is bound to encounter resistance. Secular prejudice and conservative comments began to attack him, saying that he was barren. Qi Baishi believes that "there is a public opinion after a hundred years", so there is no need to waste your breath. He also drew a little hibiscus fish by painting Zhi Ming: a red hibiscus flower hung upside down on the water, far away from the flower branches, a small fish was swimming, and the beautiful flowers shone on the water and swam in the shadow. The lotus is charming and solemn, standing confidently, and sometimes lowering its head to steal those picky fish-Mr. Conservative. Today, when we appreciate the masterpiece of the old man Baishi, how can we not sincerely admire his valuable reform spirit?

Qi Baishi's outstanding artistic creation has won high praise from people in China and the world. He was a deputy to the National People's Congress, chairman of China Artists Association, honorary professor of China Painting Academy and Central Academy of Fine Arts. 1955, he won the international peace prize.

These achievements have been shaken by his decades of efforts. Throughout his life, his hand kept holding the pen and kept waving it. He only has a few times in his life. He is seriously ill and doesn't paint when he is in a bad mood.

Once, his mother died, and he was so sad. On another occasion, I stopped painting because I was in a bad mood. The next day, I wrote an inscription: "It was windy yesterday and I didn't paint. Now I made up for it. This day is not easy. " At the same time, a seal was engraved, and moire said, "Think of the long rope as the sun."

Qi Baishi often said: "Heaven rewards diligence". He also likes to quote a sentence from Han Yu: "Industry is good at diligence". When talking about his growth history, Qi Baishi also said: "From carpenters to masons to painters. Until now, he made a living by selling paintings. In short, he has made some achievements. "

There are many anecdotes about Qi Zishi's diligent painting: when he was 9 1 year-old, the writer Lao She asked him to draw a picture to show the meaning of "the sound of a baby in a mountain spring". "Frog sound" is not well expressed on the screen, and "Frog sound ten miles" is even worse, so he made a fuss about "Mountain Spring".

After thinking for several days, he finally came up with a masterpiece: on a four-foot vertical shaft, a torrent flowed down from a rocky mountain stream, and there were a group of moths in the water, painting with pens at the height of the mountain. What a great idea! The audience seemed to hear croaking frogs, happy flowing water and lively black wax images coming from distant mountains. Wonderful pen and sound, which makes people daydream!

Innovation depends on diligence, and innovation depends more on diligence. It is a very hard thing to turn an ordinary rural carpenter into a generation of Chinese painting masters.

Master qi Baishi