This article discusses how art comes from life and the differences in observation and expression between Eastern and Western painting. Eastern painters use figurative memory to bring their subjects to life, emphasizing the essence of the subject through white space and simplicity. Western paintings, on the other hand, emphasize light and contrast to accurately reproduce the real world.
Art comes from life The problem of expression in painting begins with the observation and perception of real life. Art is a creative activity that is naturally expressed in human life, and its roots come from the various experiences and observations we encounter in our daily lives. Paintings, especially Oriental and Western paintings, differ in the way they observe and express themselves according to their respective philosophies and aesthetic values. Oriental painters emphasize the importance of trying to capture the inner essence of their subjects, rather than simply depicting the world as it appears to the eye. This is a process that requires deeper mental insight than mere realistic depiction.
Therefore, an important step in the process of painting is to learn how to observe. The Oriental painting tradition emphasizes that all artistic expression begins with observation. This is not just visual observation, but an emphasis on opening the mind and grasping the essence of the object. It’s a process of understanding not only how things look, but also the meaning and emotions behind them.
Oriental painting emphasizes full observation, but it also makes bold choices. Observation in Oriental painting is not just about looking at things, it’s about understanding their essential qualities and making bold selective choices. The artist emphasizes only what is necessary to reinforce the message he or she wants to convey, and boldly omits unnecessary elements. In this process, the observed objects are combined with the artist’s ideals and transformed into new forms.
Because they observe objects with the idea of what they want to express in their paintings in mind, even in their daily observations, they look closely at things that fit their ideals and needs, and look at them one more time. For example, some painters look closely at certain flowers or trees in nature to find their own artistic inspiration. What’s important here is a keen eye that penetrates the essence of the object, not just a passing glance. This kind of observation is an important source of inspiration for an artist, even in everyday life.
On the contrary, what is considered irrelevant or unnecessary is given less attention. This is an aesthetic principle that is particularly emphasized in Oriental painting, where only the most important elements are left and the rest is simplified. It’s also deeply connected to the unique aesthetic of Oriental painting, which emphasizes white space. The white space isn’t just empty space, it’s a space in itself that invites limitless imagination.
Then, when it comes time to paint, the artist painstakingly depicts the spirit of the subject with clarity and precision, while the less important parts, including the background, are simplified or omitted and replaced by white space. In this process, the artist reconstructs the object through his or her own subjective interpretation, which can create a stronger impression. Oriental painters are reluctant to imitate nature as it is, as it can make the subject lose its vitality.
As a result, Orientalists considered imitating nature as it is to be the worst of all, and such paintings, though detailed and precise, were considered dead, lacking life. In oriental painting, it is more important to express the spiritual meaning of a subject than to simply reproduce it, so oriental artists try to capture the energy within the subject rather than its surface form.
Western paintings are created by observing the darkness and brightness of light to reveal contrast, while Oriental paintings express objects through the darkness and cloudiness of the ink, the lightness and heaviness of the lines, etc. Western and Eastern paintings may look at similar subjects, but they differ greatly in the way they express them. Western art focuses on how to accurately reproduce the real world and emphasizes three-dimensionality, especially through the use of light and contrast. Oriental paintings, on the other hand, use ink to create a more abstract and introspective representation of the subject.
Orientalists also observe their strongest impressions from different perspectives, from different angles, and exaggerate and exaggerate them in a single painting. This is one of the characteristics of Oriental painting, which combines different points of view to represent an object in a single painting. This allows the artist to transcend the spatial constraints of reality and capture multiple perspectives within a single scene at the same time.
To accomplish this, the artist carefully observes the subject to understand its operational structure before painting. Close observation is the foundation of Oriental painting, and it allows the artist to understand the essence of the object and grasp its structure. In this process, the artist not only explores the form and structure of the object, but also the symbolic meaning and emotions behind it.
For example, the artist studies and analyzes the characteristics of the flower he or she wants to draw, such as what kind of flower it is, what color it is, how the leaves look like, how many sepals there are, and what the pistils, pedicels, and stem are like. This detailed analysis goes beyond the external features of an object to understand the natural order and harmony hidden within it. In this process, the artist seeks a deeper expression that encompasses both the external form and the internal meaning of the object.
Once they become familiar with how to observe objects and how to express their manipulated structure, Oriental painters leave the object and work from memory. Another important element of Oriental painting is shape memory. This is the process by which an artist recreates an object that they have observed and analyzed for a long time by recalling it from memory. It’s not just a memory, but a process of compressing and reorganizing the essential features of an object.
It is a psychological process in which something experienced or learned is imprinted in the mind and then revived based on visual and auditory representations. In this process, the artist reinterprets the object based on what he or she feels and experiences, which allows for new creative expression. These memories are the basis for creation, not mere reproduction, but combined with the artist’s original interpretation.
The memorized shapes are the parts of the object that best represent its characteristics. The key to shape memory is to accurately remember the essential characteristics of an object and how to use them in the creative process. This allows the artist to go beyond the concrete forms of the real world and express deeper meanings and emotions.
This allows the artist to go beyond the concrete forms of the real world and express deeper meanings and emotions. The complex real-world details are simplified in the shape memory, which helps to bring out the essential qualities of the object. This process gives the artist more freedom to create, which in turn gives the work a stronger sense of life.
The ability of the great bird painters of the past to capture the beauty of birds and the feel of grass and insects has a lot to do with the fact that they painted away from their subjects. This is why many Orientalists throughout history have sought to express the inner beauty of nature rather than reproduce it. They wanted to capture the soul of their subjects, not simply mimic their appearance.
If a bird or insect was placed in front of them like a still life, they might be able to capture the light and shapes without a hair’s breadth of error, but they would not be able to create a work of art that was alive. This is one of the reasons why Oriental painters emphasized creative interpretation over mere reproduction. This is one of the reasons why oriental painters emphasized creative interpretation over mere reproduction.
As such, painting from memory is a way to not only bring the subject matter to life, but also to express the artist’s subject matter freely. Shape memory gives the artist the freedom to reinterpret the subject and, in doing so, create his or her own unique expression. This creative process is an important artistic foundation of Oriental painting, and it allows the artist to give their work a depth of emotion and meaning.
