How are you? Are you enjoying your weekend?

On my side, after having lessons by 7 professors in the first study phase of us and painting by learning from ancient masters in Chinese history, we have entered the second phase to have the lesson of painting from the nature in the Taihang Mountains in Hebei Province.

Yesterday, Oct 24, more than 40 students left for their destination. Professor Man Weiqi who is the Deputy Dean of Chinese Painting School at Chinese National Academy of Arts, Professor Han Xuezhong who is the Head of Teaching Department of Chinese Painting School at CNAA, Mr. Wu Tong, the Associate Head of Teaching Department and Mr. Ren Ming, the Tutor of Landscape Class would be their tutors there.

Because of my healthy problems, I am staying in Beijing to paint alone ( By the good effort of 5 hospitals in Shenzhen, since 2009, via 7 surgeries, I have overcome the sickness in gynaecology totally; I have overcome maybe 70% or 80% of the sicknesses in my digestive system, I mean I haven not stomachached often; I am fighting with the sickness in my immune system that is relates to my bones and has led the problems in other systems ) .

After studying in Beijing for 5 years and entering the 4th years at Chinese National Academy of Arts, I do feel that my art study has entered a new and research phase as a graduate student truly.

Since I wrote you last time, in the past 12 days, I have attended 3 lectures, 2 Seminars and I have painted 2 small Chinese Gongbi Paintings and read 2 little books.

-- Oct 14, Prof. Li Kuizhen (he is on the 1st, 2nd and 3th photos), a tutor of doctorial students at Minzu University of China gave us a lecture about how to inherit Chinese art tradition while to learn Western art in today's China. I do admire his view that art should hold its social responsibilities -- to service human being and to purify people's souls; artist must has his or her belief, becomes a better person at the first, then he or she can stand his or her social responsibility. Meanwhile, I do think that he has given us many helpful ideas about the difference between Chinese and Western art traditions, such as conceptions, modeling, usage of light and colors and so on...

Professor Li Kuizheng’s lesson has really given much confidence to me indeed. In his opinions, no matter when we start to learn art, whether we are from an academy of arts or not, we can be successful as long as we are keeping going on a right road. After all, there were 40 students who started to learn art from the best teachers and the best professors with him together since 50’s, but now there are only 2 people still keeping painting today, 95% of them have given up on their halfway, only the 5% of people who are keeping seeking their dreams have been successful and became the tutors of doctoral students...

His lesson was finished at 11:30a.m. but as soon as he came back to the office at 12:30a.m until he left at 1:30p.m. he was around of students...

-- Oct 15, Mr. Wu Tong (he is on the 5th and 6th photos) who is Associate Dean of Teaching Department at Chinese National Academy of Arts gave us a lecture on music and dance.

Except watching some wonderful Chinese dances while to talk about the relationship between Chinese dance and Chinese calligraphy. Mr. Wu Tong taught us how to appreciate some Western music. By his good directions, we listened to the music 1812 Sinfonia by Tchaikovsky, watched the first part of the opera Turandot by Giacomo Puccini and the singing snatch of Luciano Panotti... When I was in the music lesson, I did get many inspirations related to my paintings from the changing of the rhythms.

The music lesson was started at 9:00 a.m. but until 12:30 a.m. still some students did not want to leave...

-- Oct 20, Dr. Liu Bo (he is on the 7th and 8th photo) from Nankai University and Chinese National Academy of Arts gave us a lecture about appreciation and appraisal of Chinese ancient arts. Because his lesson I have had some basic knowledge about how to make an right appraisal and how to distinguish the ancient art works in different times / Dynasties.

Oct 21, before the team going to the Taihang Mountains, Mr. Lu Wenqing (he is on the 8th and 9th photos) who is the tutor of flower and bird painting class gave us an demonstration at the campus...

During the first studying phase in the new class year of 2014 - 2015, I do have some strong feelings:

1. After the study in Beijing for 4 years (the first year was in China Central Academy of Arts), my art learning of 5th year has entered a new phase: Study and Research.

-- My painting speed has been changed slower than I did, I am using more time to read, to think and to improve the quality of my works;
-- My book reading from mainly reading albums of paintings to be theory and technique; the book I read in the past 12 days were: Research of Chinese Painting Colors and Chinese Paintings’ Structures by some famous Chinese art masters.
-- My learning style has been changed to compare what my professors/ tutors said and the books told us, instead of just following my tutors as I did. Many times, I worked according to my own ideas that based on my own study and feelings.
-- I would also want to compare what I have learned in China with what I will study in some Western University someday in the future.

2. I have a feeling that the ancient Chinese Mogu painting is just like a stream flowing to the contemporary China even though it has not been one of the main stream painting style yet, 3 of the 9 professors I have met since Sept 23 are working on their Mogu Paintings.

Mogu is my favorite painting and something I wish to work on mainly in my future art study. I choose it because I feel Chinese Mogu is nearest Western Watercolor, and it is between Chinese Gongbi and Chinese Xieyi Paintings ( the two main stream painting styles). Therefore, it is something that needs wider range of the knowledge and skills much more than only to work on one painting style.

I feel it is more difficult to learn, but it has more challenging and I enjoy it, therefore, it is something I want to do. :- )

3. Combination will be a tendency not only in business world, but also in art field. This combination will not only be in the cross-culture fields, but also in the interdisciplinary fields.

So, in Chinese National Academy of Arts, the highest art research organization that is equal Chinese Academy of Sciences, our study content has been extended into music, poetry and dances instead of the pure painting since this class year. That has really offered a better condition for me to continue my study and research on my cross-culture and comprehensive art dream -- to create a new art form in art field and to create a new subject in the field of Chinese as a foreign language by focusing on Chinese poetry, to connect traditional Chinese painting, music and language together ...

4. A stronger academic research atmosphere has appeared among students.

Do you know? Now in the 3 classes of Chinese Painting Create Course Program by the Graduate School and the Chinese Painting School at Chinese National Academy of Arts, we have had some different Seminars regularly.

-- In the landscape class, there is a Seminar on Chinese Poetry, a Seminar on Commenting Students’ Paintings by students themselves.

-- In the flower and bird painting class, there is a Seminar on appreciating ancient Chinese Paintings by students, a Seminar on Commenting Students’ Assignments by ourselves. And we will have a Seminar on Chinese Calligraphy and a Seminar on Chinese Seal Cutting.

-- In the feature painting class, there was a sketch event to paint the students themselves (as models) one by one.

As a student who has studied for the longest time among my classmates, with so many appreciation to the school, I would also like to do a little bit things for my classmates:

-- Since Sept 23, I have made video more than 100 GB and I was the only student who kept making video for whole of the teaching time, I have copied the data for the classmates who missed the lesson or needed it.

-- Since most of my classmates do not work on computers often, I have helped several people to buy 4 mobile hard disks, 1 photography card, many books 8 times already, so that the postmen have known me already.

-- Since most of the students had no the experience to paint on a thin Chinese silk on a frame (they were used of painting on the paper on a board, it could not be colored on the back side, no matter the technology, the quality and the cost of the material is not much lower than to work on the silk)and I have been in CNAA for a long time. Therefore, very often I was asked to help. Now, I have helped 6 students to make frames, to attach the thin silk on their frames, to write a list for them to buy or led them to buy the necessary tools ( silk, ink stone, ink stick, brushes for lines, for colors and for water, gumwater for frame, glutin for painting, alum, watering can, traditional Chinese color of Japanese colors, dishes for mixing colors and so on ) for a Chinese goingbi painting and showed them how to work on the thin silk and how to color on the right side and the back side of the thin silk on the frames, what color matches another color on the different side, how to make the water of glutin and alum, how to color the background with Chinese tea when our tutor was no in the classroom but they asked help.

-- Also, I lent my own coat to a girl classmate before her luggage coming to Beijing from south of China…

I am thinking since most of my classmates have no an opportunity to have an international travel yet, but many of them want to learn English and to know more about Western culture, maybe I should organize an Bible English Corner, to learn something from Bible in English with them together while to learn some most original Western Culture. My idea has gotten the support of many students, I will start it after they come back from the Taihang Mountains.

Aim at the blank point in my knowledge structure relates to Chinese seal cutting ( one of the 4 elements -- poetry, calligraphy, painting and stamp of Chinese painting), I have bought stones, stamp dictionary and gravers. A new study group on Chinese Seal Cutting will be started after they came back Beijing by students in our class by students themselves... after all, every year, in my classmates, there are some art professors or associate art professors as national visiting scholar of Chinese National Academy of Arts. :-)

You are welcome to see the big zise photos by click the link

How about you? Do you have anything special to share?
Sincerely,


Shirley Yiping Zhang
Oct 25, 2014 (Beijing Time)