外國人學習中國畫：一層一層畫上去得多難啊
越來越多的外國人開始學習中國文化，前幾天我們提到有個瑞典妹子翻譯了《射鵰英雄傳》，最近就有個外國小夥伴給我們投稿，講了講他的學國畫之路。
國畫是中國傳統的繪畫形式。一般用毛筆蘸水、墨、彩作在絹或紙上作畫。
題材比較廣泛，有人物、花鳥、山水等等。畫的技法既有具象，也有寫意。
學習中國畫，不僅可以了解繪畫技巧，還會從中領悟到中國的哲學思想。
給我們投稿的這位歪果仁就在學習國畫的過程中了解了一些中國的文化和哲學思想。
來看看他艱苦卓絕卻樂在其中的學國畫之路吧：
Ryan Thorpe， the US
My teacher took me up to his studio and handed me a brush. I held it like a pen. No. That was wrong; I needed to hold it vertically, perpendicular to the paper.I spent a few moments trying to hold the brush correctly. My hand started to hurt.This was my introduction to traditional Chinese painting.
我的中國畫老師把我叫去他的工作室，遞給了我一隻毛筆。剛開始，我像拿鋼筆一樣拿在手裡。但這其實是不對的。我得豎著著拿，使筆和紙之間保持垂直。花了幾分鐘學會正確的握筆姿勢後，我的手就開始疼了。這就是我的中國畫入門課。
We spent our first lesson working on brushstrokes. He wanted me to practice with ink, seeing how the black and water worked together to create shades, and the shades of black created depth. I was cautious, making small dabs with my brush, but he urged me on.
第一節課的時候，我們練慣用毛筆一划一划地練。老師讓我沾著墨水練，感受墨和水是如何一起創造出陰影，而墨的陰影如何營造深度。 我一開始非常小心翼翼，拿著毛筆一點一點地蘸著畫，老師就催我快一點。
"Be brave," he said as he moved his brush across the page, creating a large arc of paint.Painting starts with being brave. I made a mental note of that.
「勇敢一點，」他邊鼓勵我邊用毛筆在紙上划過，畫出一個大的圓弧。畫畫是需要鼓足勇氣的，我記住了。
We practiced rolling the brush as we made our arcs of paint with the vague goal of creating a tree"s branches. The branches could go anywhere. They"re wild. Branches flow in great arcs. I needed to be more brave. I needed to arc.
我們練慣用毛筆刷著畫，想著把這些圓弧最終畫成樹枝。樹枝可以往任何方向生長。他們是狂野的，在巨大的弧線中流動。我必須再勇敢一點，更柔軟一點。
Rolling the brush creates micro streaks of white in the black lines, imperfections that are essential to Chinese painting that my teacher told me are called "flying white." This flying white needed to be in my strokes. Solid lines are bad.My painting didn"t need to exist. It needed to fly.
刷著畫就會在黑色的線條上留下一些細微的白色條紋，老師告訴我說，這是中國畫當中一種必需的瑕疵，叫做「飛白」。我的筆畫里需要包含這種飛白，實心的線是不行的。我的畫不需要看起來實實在在存在，而是需要飛翔。
We practiced this several times on rice paper, a special medium that lets the ink bleed into it. Sometimes you dry out the brush and coat your brush in paint for thick, straight lines, but often times, he encouraged me to saturate my brush with water when painting distant mountains or tree branches.
我們這樣在米紙上練過幾次。這種特殊的紙能夠讓墨浸透其中。有時候需要把毛筆弄乾，蘸上顏料來畫寬和直的線條，但是老師經常鼓勵我，在畫遠山或者樹枝的時候，給毛筆蘸滿水。
Something random and chaotic about letting the colors bleed a little on the rice paper made it look more natural and less manufactured.As we continued to paint, I found myself constantly checking how much water was on my brush. I wanted my painting to bleed a bit, not gush.
讓顏色一點一點隨意而凌亂地落在紙上，會讓它看起來更自然，不那麼矯揉造作。畫多了以後，我發現我自己會不斷地查看毛筆上還有多少水。我想讓我的畫看起來安靜含蓄，而不是噴涌而出。
After several attempts on branches, twirling my brush to maximize my flying white, I got a chance to start my tree branches. I have to try several times before he gives me a"feichanghao" and I know that my work is good. I paint too slow. I want it to look good, but I am not sure what good is yet.
嘗試畫了幾次枝子，通過轉筆來增大留白之後， 我終於有機會嘗試畫自己的樹枝了。總得試個幾次，老師才會說「非常好」，我也就知道我的確畫的不錯。我畫得很慢。我想畫好一點，但是不確定怎麼樣才算好。
After a few branches, we paint a few in gray to make them look farther away. After the branches, we paint flowers that are faintly red. We mix the red with the black ink before applying it, though.We don"t want it to look too red.Nature is dirty and so are most of her colors.
畫完幾個樹枝，我們又再上面加了一點灰色，讓他們看起來像是在遠處。所有的樹枝畫完，我們又畫淡紅色的花。在下筆之前，我們把紅色和黑色墨水先混在一起，因為不想讓它看上去太紅。自然是暗淡的， 自然里的許多顏色也是。
After the flowers, we paint distant leaves a faint gray to cover up some the back. He tells me to stop worrying. To just get going, but I feel myself fighting. I want it to be right, and it takes twenty minutes of leafing my background for me to realize that there is no perfect background leaf. There"re only a few leaves or many.
畫完花，我們在遠處的葉子上加了點淡灰來掩蓋某些黑色。老師讓我不要擔心，儘管畫，但我內心還是很糾結。我想把它畫好， 但是在畫了二十分鐘背景里的葉子上之後，我意識到根本沒有完美的背景葉子。重點只在於多或者少。
As we finish up, I look around at his professional paintings that dot the wall, and I think about how difficult it is to layer that paint and notice just how wild some of the edges of the figures are.
畫完之後，我看了看他掛在牆上的專業畫作。我在想，把顏料一層一層地畫上去多難啊，而且我還注意到畫里的許多畫的邊界都那麼狂野不羈。
He must have stood there patiently repainting these until the figures bled their way into life.
他一定是耐心地站著反反覆復畫了很久，才讓那些事物一點一點地吐露生機。
After we finish the branches, he declares"feichanghao" again, but I know he"s just being kind. He wants me to be proud of my first work, but I only feel uncertainty. It takes a certain set of eyes to really see it as a tree. Instead, it is the feeling of a tree. It"s essence. It"s edge. But he tells me that it"s great and that next time we willl earn to paint rocks and grass. Those, he says, will be harder.
畫完樹枝之後，老師又對我說了句「非常好」。但是我知道他其實是在鼓勵我。他想讓我為自己的第一幅作品感到驕傲，但我卻不那麼確定。畢竟得多看幾眼才能確定那真的是棵樹。其實就只是有樹的感覺，有樹的要素和線條。不過，老師告訴我這很棒了，而且下次我們會學習畫岩石和草地。他說那些會更難畫。
原文：RyanThorpe
翻譯/文案：Sasa
圖：Lu Ting/網路
TAG:環球時報英文版 |