Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Snow Days Compared to Painted Plums
After breakfast, Huang Juan was ready to open the door and do business.
Zhang Junping called to Huang Juan, "Sister-in-law, don't open the door today. No one is here to buy furniture in this snowy day. It's too cold to stay inside."
This was in the 1980s, and the world had not yet started to warm up. It was normal for winter to be minus ten degrees Celsius. It had just snowed and it was not too cold. Wait a minute, and when the snow melted, it would be minus seventeen or eighteen degrees Celsius.
If it freezes immediately after falling to the ground, and the wind blows on your face like a knife, that's how cold it is.
It's almost minus ten degrees outside now. The shop in front is filled with flammable furniture, so we can't turn on the stove for heating like other shops. When we open the door wide, the temperature inside is about the same as outside.
Forget it on weekdays, Zhang Junping was not willing to be this black-hearted capitalist when Huang Juan was asked to guard the cold shop on this snowy day.
"It's okay. It's just the second day since we opened. It's unlucky to close. Besides, it's not a cold day. I'm wearing thick clothes, so I'll be fine in the house." Huang Juan shook her head and rejected Zhang Junping's kindness.
We have to admire how people in this era can withstand freezing temperatures. It's not even cold when it's more than ten degrees below zero.
"Okay, there's no need to open the door so early. Wait until nine o'clock and then close the door early in the afternoon." Since Huang Juan was willing to open the door, she just opened the door, and Zhang Junping didn't say anything more.
On the contrary, Liu Zhengwen was heartless and didn't care about his wife at all, so he dragged Zhang Junping to discuss painting techniques.
"Ping'er, there's nothing to do today anyway, how about we each create a painting using the snow as the scene?"
"Okay! As long as you're not afraid of being hit and losing confidence, I don't care."
"Bah, you go to the prairie of Inner Mongolia."
"Why should I go to the grassland?"
"The cattle in Beijing are not enough for you to brag about, so go and brag on the prairie of Inner Mongolia."
"I'm bragging? It seems like I don't know how powerful I am if I don't show you my skills."
Zhang Junping turned around and went back to the study, took out pen, ink, paper and inkstone, spread the paper directly on the Eight Immortals table in the main room, and started to draw.
Liu Zhengwen also went back to the house and brought the easel over.
Two people, one paints oil paintings and the other paints traditional Chinese paintings.
After preparing everything for painting, Zhang Junping said with a smile: "Old Liu, if I were to paint freehand paintings, I would be bullying you. In this way, I will paint the meticulous and colorful ink painting "Walking in the Snow to Seek Plum Blossoms" to show you how to draw characters.
Muscles and bones.”
"You blow, you keep blowing. Anyway, the house is yours. If it blows down, it's no one else's fault." Liu Zhengwen said disdainfully.
"Then just wait and cry!" Zhang Junping snorted, picked up the No. 1 wolf brush, dipped enough ink, and added a good pen.
"Zhang Junping, you idiot, didn't you mean to paint fine brushwork? Do you use No. 1 brushes for fine brushwork?"
"I don't know, who told you that you can't use No. 1 brush for gongbi painting?" After Zhang Junping finished speaking, he directly swung his pen and drew many bold strokes on the rice paper.
The stroke of the pen turned, and after a while, a winter plum that looked like a dead tree with thick branches stood upright on the paper.
There is only one cold plum in the vast sky and earth. The leaves have fallen and the tree has withered, but it is still tall and tall, standing proudly between the sky and the earth.
Although the winter plum tree trunk only occupies a corner of the entire painting, it looks like the center of the world.
Zhang Junping put down the No. 1 pen, picked up the small outline pen, and smiled gently at Huang Xue.
Red sleeves are fragrant, delicate hands are grinding, this is a story that ancient scholars dreamed of.
Just when Zhang Junping was painting, Huang Xue had already prepared the dye for plum blossom painting.
The pigments used in Chinese painting and oil painting are different. The pigments in Chinese painting are mineral and plant extracts, while the pigments in oil painting are mineral and chemical extracts. In addition, vegetable oil is added to the oil paint.
The plum blossom pigment prepared by Huang Xue uses Zhu Bi and Eosin.
Putting his mind away, Zhang Junping took an outline pen and sketched the shape of plum blossoms on the branches of winter plum trees.
Then change to the dyeing pen, dip it in the color prepared by Huang Xue, point out the plum blossoms on the rice paper, and then change the pen again to outline the stamens of the plum blossoms.
Several plum blossoms, bright but not delicate, light but not dark, stand on the branches.
There are not many plum blossoms, just seven plum blossoms, but they suddenly compete for the leading role in the world.
Put down the dye pen, pick up the outline pen again, and start sketching the characters.
Walking in the snow in search of plum blossoms, the protagonist is naturally the person looking for plum blossoms.
After calming down his mind, Zhang Junping began to sketch.
More than half an hour later, Zhang Junping used a dye pen to add the last color to the characters, then replaced it with a medium-sized brush and began to inscribe on the blank space.
Don’t complain to the frost in the morning,
Destroying each other day and night.
A new flower contains wind and dew,
Just like waiting for the moon to come in the West Wing.
What the poem is about is that it fits the artistic conception of the painting and has the finishing touch.
Under the moonlight, a beautiful woman of twenty-eight years old stood prettyly under the plum blossoms, shyly expecting her lover to come to meet her.
After Zhang Junping finished writing the poem, he put down his brush and winked at Huang Xue.
Huang Xue's face was red with embarrassment, and she glanced at Zhang Junping with a mix of joy and anger.
The beauty in the painting is based on Huang Xue, which means that Huang Xue is looking forward to meeting Zhang Junping.
Look again at Liu Zhengwen who is still painting seriously and attentively.
What Liu Zhengwen painted was completely different from Zhang Junping's. Zhang Junping only had a few plum blossoms and used the freehand technique of painting snow without snow.
Liu Zhengwen's painting shows a plum tree blooming in the vast white snow, with white and red forming a sharp contrast.
The two people walked hand in hand in the snow, their shadows getting longer and longer in the snow, and finally merged into one.
The artistic conception of the painting is very good, and the use of colors is also very brilliant.
This can only show that Liu Zhengwen is very smart and has learned to use his strengths and avoid weaknesses.
Since I'm not good at painting people, I used abstract techniques to paint landscapes and characters to downplay the figures. The heavy colors were the snow scene and the plum blossoms, but in the end the center of the painting was the backs of the two figures, the shadows that gradually merged together.
Zhang Junping did not disturb Liu Zhengwen, but held hands with Huang Xue and stood aside watching Liu Zhengwen paint there.
Waiting for Liu Zhengwen to put down his brush, Zhang Junping clapped his hands and applauded: "Old Liu, not bad, not bad! You have made great progress!"
"Nonsense, I am a very low-key person. I don't show off much at ordinary times, unlike you who show off your painting skills all day long." Liu Zhengwen is also very satisfied with the work he just created. This is definitely the pinnacle of his period.
I'm afraid I won't be able to paint anything better than this in a short time.
"You're so proud of me, this painting belongs to me." Zhang Junping didn't wait for Liu Zhengwen's consent, and directly stepped forward to put the painting away.
"Go away, why didn't you say give me your painting?" Liu Zhengwen said and also wanted to get Zhang Junping's painting.
He immediately yelled angrily: "You shameless person, I have never seen such a shameless person like you."
The character Zhang Junping painted was Huang Xue. Naturally, he couldn't ask for such a painting. Regardless of whether Zhang Junping agreed or not, if his family member got jealous, he would not scratch his face.
"In a few days, Jiguge Tea Garden will hold an exhibition of young painters' works.
[Receive red envelopes] Red envelopes in cash or currency have been sent to your account! Follow the public account [Book Friends Base Camp] on WeChat to receive it!
I will frame your work later and take it to the exhibition." Zhang Junping added with a smile.