李景英Li Jingying

Li Jingying, pen name Li Jingying, was born in June 1953 in Gaizhou City, Liaoning Province. In 1972, he enlisted as the Deputy Political Commissar of the Shenyang Command College of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force. For decades, he has deeply loved traditional Chinese culture, devoted himself to studying the theory and skills of traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy, and received guidance from many famous artists, forming his own unique appearance and style. The works often participate in various exhibitions and are published in various newspapers and magazines. The Spring Herald was awarded the silver medal in the first national fan painting and calligraphy art exhibition. Peach Blossoms Still Smile in the Spring Breeze was included in the Collection of Poems of One Hundred National Calligraphers and Painters "Fighting against Epidemic Diseases" celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, "Praise to Medical Teams in Wuhan Epidemic Areas", (included in the collection of national anti epidemic poems "Fighting the Epidemic Diseases" in 2020, and awarded the honorary title of "Patriotic Poet" by the National Conference of Commending the Pioneers of War Epidemic Poems in 2020.

 

 

Huang Jinliang (Editor in Chief of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Guide)

 

Li Jingying's Chinese painting creation deeply cultivates traditional painting principles between mountains, waters, mist, flowers, and birds, and expands the contemporary possibilities of brush and ink with distinct personal vocabulary. His works can be traced back to ancient painting theories such as Sheikh's "Six Laws", Guo Xi's "Three Distances", and Shi Tao's "Ink and Brush Should Follow the Times". Furthermore, through the collision of tradition and contemporary art, he portrays a lively and interesting artistic style.

 

Guo Xi proposed in "Lin Quan Gao Zhi" that "mountains have high, deep, and flat distances", and Li Jingying's landscape creation is a vivid interpretation of the "Three Distances Method". Using the high and distant method to construct the scenery, the mountains rise like walls, waterfalls flow down straight, and clouds and mist are rendered layer by layer with light ink, creating an endless depth in the picture and showcasing the spatial tension of "depth beyond words"; Integrating the distant and profound, the layers of mountains and ridges appear faintly in the smoke and clouds, and the red and green colors of the trees form a strong visual contrast with the ink and rocks. It not only embodies the classical charm of "smoke and clouds disappearing, ethereal and ethereal", but also conveys contemporary aesthetic interest through bright and fast colors.

 

His landscape brushwork is smooth and elegant, with rich layers of ink colors as described in Jing Hao's "Record of Brushwork", where "ink is divided into five colors". Between dry and wet, thick and light, the vigor of mountains and rocks, and the vitality of plants and trees leap onto the paper. This kind of brushwork not only achieves realistic appearance, but also reaches a spiritual realm of "vivid charm" - viewers can perceive the flow of natural vitality and the artist's empathy for the spirituality of mountains and waters in the misty mountains and valleys.

 

The essence of Sheikh's "Six Methods", including "vivid charm" and "bone style brushwork", is vividly displayed in Li Jingying's flower and bird paintings. Using exaggerated shapes and bright colors to convey auspicious meanings, the brushwork is free and unrestrained, embodying the traditional "freehand" spirit of Xu Wei and Wu Changshuo's freehand brushwork. However, in terms of color control, it is more modern, bright and elegant, lively and vivid, interpreting traditional auspicious themes into contemporary life interests. Painting plum blossoms, with branches twisted like iron and plum blossoms dotted like clouds, is precisely the poetic embodiment of "sparse shadows, horizontal slanting, clear water". The pen is concise yet majestic, which not only conforms to the classical aesthetic of "Mei Yiqu is beautiful, straight is formless", but also echoes contemporary visual habits with minimalist composition and bright colors, adding a touch of vitality to the era beyond the solitary height of traditional literati Mei.

 

Li Jingying's creations are not simply replicas of tradition, but rather personalized and contemporary expressions based on in-depth research on painting theories such as the "Six Laws," "Three Distances," and "Ink Divides into Five Colors. His landscape injects contemporary insights into the vitality of nature into the misty mountains and valleys, while flowers and birds blend modern interpretations of life into the charm of brush and ink. As Shi Tao said, "Brush and ink should follow the times." With his own brush and ink language, he has given new dimensions of life to traditional painting theory.

 

Viewers can not only appreciate the classical elegance of "smoke and clouds offering" in her works, but also feel a strong sense of the times and personal emotions - this fusion of tradition and modernity is precisely the value of Li Jingying's artistic creation: he makes ancient painting theories shine in the contemporary context, and also enables the inheritance and innovation of Chinese painting to embark on a unique path of vitality and interest.

 

Looking at Li Jingying's works, whether it is landscapes or flowers and birds, they are all based on solid traditional brushwork, with a profound understanding of ancient painting theory as the skeleton, and a modern aesthetic perspective as the wings. On the path of inheritance and innovation in Chinese painting, they outline an artistic landscape that resonates with traditional meanings and contemporary representation.