談廖文潭山水畫之創作源起與思想

談廖文潭山水畫之創作源起與思想

    ──  曉雲撰

廖文潭先生，早年約十二歲時，偶然在鄰居的家中，看到一本芥子園木刻版畫譜，喜愛繪畫的他，就有一股衝動，於是時常到鄰居家裡借來翻閱，並隨意執筆臨摹，漸漸地開啟他進入山水畫的門徑，自此對中國繪畫的喜愛有增無減。

隨著年齡的增長，開始閱讀藝術文集及古今名人畫冊，博覽古今名畫以增廣見聞，並時常進出此類坊間，翻閱書畫冊、購買冊子紙張，認真學習。十九歲那年，進入老裱褙店學習裱畫，更有機會接觸古畫及現代創作者之作品，也認識了許多的書畫家。逢上班之餘的休假日，於家中自修臨摹，自我學習，經常廢寢忘食到凌晨二、三點才上床。他在裱褙店工作後段期間，店中有請老師來教書畫，而有幸觀看老師教學作畫之過程。一路學來三十餘載，始終熱愛畫畫，且不斷鑽研書畫創作之路。

他創作的態度，自我要求很高，有自己的一套想法和技巧；不受社會價值觀感之影響，無乎所謂現代、古代之流行，一辟無聊觀念之探討，只內求自我存在之觀照，這樣一個真正內在喜愛的創作方式。因此，他縱手即不為傳統所囿，融貫古今，自成一家，以化古開今為方向，面目獨具，既富傳統功力又不守舊，因襲獨到而又不悖法度，繼承傳統風格卻能創新，使這一繪畫難題，得到高度的協調；他可以完全自由的在山水畫的世界裡，隨心所欲，渾然天成。

廖文潭先生山水畫創作有其精闢的見解，除因襲傳統的筆墨技法，還從靈修、哲理，在靜坐冥想中體會天地奧妙之境，山水本是在天地自然中，人與自然融合成整體，由二成一，如同太極陰陽，相互滲透之理。

他作畫技法骨法用筆，注重點線面，強調「寫」而反對「描」，做到筆的輕重疾徐，墨的乾濕濃淡，線條大小粗細、虛實及用筆多角度，方圓之間酣唱淋漓，力透紙背，充滿韻律感和節奏感，故能表現密體山水，細筆中筆筆寫到，千筆萬點溶為大整體；近視精微之，遠視只見大整體；近觀如入山中密林，遠觀見山巒之氣勢。善於運用虛實之筆墨線條，每畫線條時用筆之變化，於指間收放，舖開筆毫，遂使線條產生深厚圓潤皴擦點染之「毛感」，筆墨內涵豐富耐看而回味十足。

所作之山水畫章法千變萬化，不經意中經意之極，出奇制勝，構圖經營一反由大到小，事先構定位置，然後逐層勾畫的老方法，而是由小到大，筆筆生發，隨濃隨淡，初無特定構思，而圖成之後，奇趣橫生，出人意外。創作時經常墨稿完成，只染上一層清墨，使整體畫面溫潤，因先生作畫用墨法，如潑墨、破墨、沖墨、積墨或乾筆求潤、墨色極美，而不染上半點色彩（就如畫家本人常言，欣賞他的作品如喝黑咖啡之原味，越喝越有味），有時也以求色不掩墨，以突出筆墨的主要地位，所以濃墨淡彩成了獨特風格，黑墨團中天地寬，越看越耐人尋味。

先生作畫取材為台灣山區之雜木林象，及山形結構為創作材，雖無大陸山水高山峻嶺之氣勢，但有他生活的情感，一草一木皆有其生命，四季轉換之景。熱愛出生母地的他，用傳統筆墨與台灣山林相結合，畫出他生活面對的真山真水，而不是古人畫中之山水，用意匠加工手段，剪裁、誇張、組織，在取捨之中，揚其精萃，棄其糟粕，突出如詩般之意境。

作品常給人一種強烈的黑白對比印象，這是計白守黑在畫面上的結果，黑白處理總有一種恰當的比例，二者互相輝映，致使奇情壯彩妙趣橫生。墨分五彩，白也五色分，在傳統點線運用的基礎上，加入墨染形成面，大大地豐富了畫面的表現手法；濕筆墨染重疊而成節奏鮮明，收放自如，來龍去脈一目了然，運用線條構墨點法相輔相成的留白法，畫密雜木林，畫面上形成了互相反襯，山林石崕、流水或雲氣人物屋宇，對描寫各物項的筆墨線條，軟硬粗細乾濕，因有所不同變化而不可名狀。總之有此點構線條之間形成一幅山水空間疏密，有著濃烈的裝飾美，而這些點線「留白」，更有制衡畫面重要作用。

先生畫雲畫水、畫遠山有他獨到之處，他畫雲使人有雲霧飄渺之感，有時帶染、帶勾，飄逸流動，盡其變化，畫水蜿蜒曲屈深在密林之中，深透林間，飛瀑流泉，曲澗水口，應變化多方，盡其妙用，皆在筆端。

廖文潭先生對其山水畫創作有其獨特創作觀點，以下錄其簡略創作自述：「自我生命的看待：單獨使我看清存在的價值，因為我的存在是一切無法取代，這是創作的重點，而非畫作表面技巧、形式追求，我是創作的原點，用作品去記錄存在生命過程，不想讓複雜的技巧形式、結構，干擾自我存在的內心本質表現。

用每張畫作寫生命的過程，那將是我的精神生活整體，單一張畫並不能記錄生命整體的精神，所以每張畫作是我生命時間連續性的一個點。

在畫中的一切內容是我現實生活中無法達成的投影，用符號化去描寫非現實存在的空間，也把自己、家人、朋友代表符號人物、事物溶入此空間中，用繪畫的形式使之視覺化，創造一個自我滿足的世界。

人生中現實與理想內心的矛盾衝突是一種生活的無奈，生活得不到平靜渴望平靜，快樂與悲傷是一體的必然存在，必須接受學習超越，追求完美，完美包括美與醜，因為是分不開的，所以每張作品必有美與醜，好與不好的存在，有自己才有自我藝術型態，瞭解傳統是讓自我確認，新的必須有傳統的立足點，新與舊在每一時代都是存在的，昨天新今天舊，在每一刻的當下是新舊交替的，跟自然整體溶入才能真實的存在，那是一種深度，過份追求過去創作形式或未來的新形式，將會錯過創作的重點，自然的存在體會將使自我覺醒，繪畫技巧只是應該具備的能力而已，真正的東西在自我存在的精神本質。（生活中要成為接受性，但創作是自我的）」

廖文潭先生在山水畫領域內有全面成熟的技巧，有很多獨到之舉，而他的其他繪畫也多兼擅，畫家有感，人生命有限，不能樣樣皆精，使全心投入山水畫創作！

The thought of LIAO Wen-Tan

and

The Creation Origin of his Landscape

 by Hsiao Yun

In the early years when Mr. LIAO Wen-Tan was about at the age of 12, by chance he found a book named Mustard Garden in his neighbor’s house. It was a book about wooden engravings and engravers. As he was fond of painting, he had a stream of calling. He often came to his neighbor’s home, and borrowed that book to read. He also imitated the wooden engravings to make his own paintings at will. Gradually it opened a door for him to learn landscape paintings. Since then, he had an increasing interest in Chinese paintings.

As age was increasing, he began to read extensively art albums and the painting books on ancient and contemporary famous artists. Thus, his knowledge was increased. He often came to such kind of bookstores to page through painting books, and purchased workbooks and painting paper. He studied very hard.

At the age of 19, he went to an old “picture mounting” store to learn picture mounting, so he had more chances to touch ancient paintings and modern artists’ works. He was also acquainted with many calligraphers and painting artists then. When he had holidays after he got off duty, he himself imitated the painting books to practice painting at home. He often neglected sleep and meals, and stayed up till 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning. During the latter period when he worked at the “picture mounting” store, a teacher was invited to the store to teach painting. He was so lucky to watch the teacher teach painting, and watched his painting process. Through 30 more years of learning, he always loves painting. He ceaselessly researches the ways of creation on calligraphy and painting.      

He is very self-demanding on his creation attitude. He has his own idea and skill. He is not influenced by the social values.

He doesn’t care if the painting is a modern or an ancient fashion style. He doesn’t want to probe such a boring concept. He just internally contemplates on self-existence – a true internal love on creation. Therefore, he is not confined to the tradition. He achieves mastery through a comprehensive study of ancient and contemporary schools, and develops his own style. of painting. He digested the ancient skills, and creates his own style. His unique painting style. has a potential of tradition, but does not stick to old way. He follows the tradition, but has his own style, not against the customary rules. He succeeds to the traditional style, and has innovation. Thus, the difficult problem on the painting is highly coordinated. He enjoys himself in the landscape world. He can paint at his own will, as if it is a piece of work created by nature.

Mr. Liao has his own incisive insight on landscape. In addition to following traditional painting technique, he can appreciate the wonderful state of Heaven and Earth through spiritual practice, philosophy and meditation. Mountains and water originally exist in the nature and between Heaven and Earth. Man and Nature melt into one integer. Two become one like the theory that Yin and Yang of cosmogony (Tai Chi) penetrate into each other.

He pays attention to dot, line and plane as his painting skill and structure. He emphasizes “write”, and is opposed to copying. He can master his painting brush to paint lightly, heavily, fast and slowly. He can master the ink to be dry, wet, thick or thin, and master the line to be long, short, thick, fine, weak or strong. He can holds the painting brush in many kinds of angles. He is proficient in painting. He can paint many things (either square or round object) vividly without difficulty. His painting force penetrates the paper, and the painting is full of rhythmic and beating sense. Thus, the intensive-style. landscape is wonderful expressed. The fine strokes clearly reveal the picture. Thousands strokes and dots melt and form. a big whole. If you closely watch it, it is very delicate. If you watch it from far, it is a big whole. Close watch is as if you are in a jungle on the mountain. For far watch, you can see the momentum of the multi-peaked mountains. He can command weak and strong painting lines well. He commands painting lines with finger tension. His painting lines have a brush sense showing depth, smooth roundness, wrinkles and dotted colors. The painting contents are abundant. You won’t feel tired to watch it again and again. The aftertaste lingers on in your mind.

His structural pattern of landscape endlessly changes –

an extremely attentive work is made under inattentiveness. He wins a good painting by surprise skill. His composing the painting is different from “big to small”. He sets the composition first, and then delineate the contour one layer after another with his old method of “small to big”. Each line produces another line so as to compose a good picture. The colors are either thick or thin. At the beginning there is no specific idea of composition. After completing the composition, an unexpected good painting appear. When he makes a painting, firstly he finishes a sketch with light ink so as to smooth the whole picture. Mr. Liao makes paintings with ink technique, such as ink splashing, ink breaking, ink rushing and ink accumulating. He also uses a dry painting brush to moisten the picture. The ink color is extremely nice-looking, and the painting is not dyed with any watercolor. (Other painters themselves often say that it is like drinking the originally- tasted black coffee to enjoy his works. The more they drink, the better the taste is.) Sometimes he uses watercolor together with ink to highlight the important position of the ink. Thus, thick ink and light color becomes his unique style. The space between Heaven and Earth is wide in the black ink mass. The more you watch it, the more you feel interesting.

Mr. Liao uses a variety of Taiwan wood and mountain forests as his painting material. The mountain contour and structure are his creation material. Although the Taiwan mountains are not so tall as those in China, but there is his living affection. Each grass and each tree has its own life. They change themselves in four seasons. He loves his birthplace. He uses traditional painting brush and ink to associate himself with Taiwan forest. He paints his life, and faces real mountain and real river. He does not paint the landscapes seen in the paintings of the ancients. He employs artist technique – cutting, exaggeration and composition. During the process of choice, he develops essence, and discard dregs, and stress a “as-a-poem” status.

His works always give people an impression of strong black and white contrast. This is an outcome that he composes the picture with white, and keeps black. He uses black and white in a proper ratio. The both reflect each other. It makes the painting special, colorful and interesting. The ink is divided into 5 kinds of tone. White is also divided into 5 kinds. On traditional base of using dot and line, he adds ink to dye a large area of the painting, and enriches the painting expression. Overlapped ink painting is clear and bright. He can paint at will. The context is clear at a glance. He employs “lines form. ink blot” technique and mutual complement “white space reserved” technique to paint luxuriant forest, and the appearance of the painting is relieved. When he paints forest, rock cliff, running water, floating cloud, people and hoses, he employs a painting technique of soft, hard, rough, fine, dry and wet “ink lines” to draw every thing according to its nature. The state is beyond description. In brief, dots and lines form. a landscape with different densities. It has a strongly adorned beauty. Dots and lines reserve some white background. It is important to balance the appearance of the painting.

Mr. Liao paints cloud, river and far mountains. He has his own feature. He paints clouds, and we feel like flying in the clouds and mist. Sometimes the clouds are dyed with colors, or become hooked. They gracefully flow, and change into many different forms. He paints a river. The river winds around deeply in the jungle. His painting brush wonderfully paints fast running waterfall and crooked-river outlet in a deep valley

Mr. Liao has his own viewpoint on his landscape creation.

I extract some of his self-descriptions about the creation as follows –

“ The viewpoint of self life: It makes me clearly realize the value of existence because my existence cannot be replaced by anything. This is the focal point of my creation. It is not a facial skill or a formalistic pursuit of painting. I’m the original of creation. I use works to record the course of life existence. I don’t want the complicated technique or structure to interfere into the expression of the nature in the heart of self-existence.

Use each painting to write life course. It will be my whole spiritual life. Only one painting cannot write down the spirit of whole life. Therefore, each painting is just one of continuous dots in my life span. 

All the contents in my paintings are the projections which show what I cannot realize in my real life. I use symbols to describe the non-existent space. I also use symbols to represent myself, my family members, friends, people and things, and melt them into this space. Use painting to visualize the space. Thus, I create

a self-satisfactory world.

There exist reality and idea in life. The conflict in heart is a helpless in our living. We eager for peace when life is not peaceful. Joy and sorrow are two sides of one thing, and are sure to co-exist. We must learn how to surpass self, and pursue perfection. Perfection consists of beauty and ugliness. Both cannot be separated. Therefore, every work must be accompanied by “beauty and ugliness” as well as “good and no good”. There is a self-art style. only when you exist. Understanding the tradition is to confirm self.

A new thing must have a traditional standpoint. Newness and oldness exist in every age. It was new yesterday, but it becomes old today. Each moment the new and the old are alternative. You can really exist only when you melt into the whole nature. It refers to a degree of experience. Excessively running after the past creation style. or the future new style. will miss the key point of creation. The naturally existed understanding will awaken self. Painting skill is merely a necessary capability. The real thing is in the spiritual nature of self-existence. (Become acceptable in your life, but creation belongs to self.)”

Mr. Liao’s painting skill in the domain of landscape is completely mature. He has many unique achievements. He is also good at other kinds of painting. He, the painter, feels life span is short, and cannot be proficient in every thing. Therefore, he devotes himself to the creation of landscape!

溪山無盡