读包辰初先生的山水画作，总令人感到题材是那么的新颖，色彩是那么的绚丽，气象是那么的神奇，画面是那么的响亮。其画卷充满着盎然生机，具有一种引人入胜、美不胜收的艺术神韵。
　　近几年来，包辰初的山水画创作已突破性地进入了一个新的表现样式，凝聚成一种与众不同、独具个性的色墨融合的新画法，形成了他那“浑朴自如，大气苍茫，墨彩流溢，气象万千”的个性风格，创造了一个充满无限生命意蕴的山水画艺术世界。
　　诗化的世界 
　　每当细雨霏霏的时刻，当你徜徉在西子湖畔，举目远眺，面对那如烟似梦的境界，你一定会情不自禁地吟咏起宋代大诗人苏轼的名句：“水光潋滟晴方好，山色空蒙雨亦奇。欲把西湖比西子，淡妆浓抹总相宜。”
　　然而，当你见到包辰初以“山色空蒙雨亦奇”为题所作的山水画时，你更会因画家对雨中西湖、东坡名句的深刻感受和理解而叹服。
　　《山色空蒙雨亦奇》是包辰初的代表作之一，在首都北京展出之后，即被《中国画》、《中青年山水画家作品选》、香港《文汇报》等十多家画集与报刊选用。如果说，古人苏东坡用这首诗来赞美杭州西湖，使湖山因之增色，那么，今人包辰初则是以《山色空蒙雨亦奇》 等系列画作，用自己特有的表现样式，赋予传统水墨画以现代审美特色，以自己的绘画语言，表现出山水自然独特的美感，达到一种“大气、大度、大美”的艺术境地。
　　人们都说，包辰初的绘画充满了诗意。他说，是诗给了他画意。他对诗词的迷恋，据说是出于他对中国画的困惑。
　　中国画论历来认为：诗是无形画，画是有形诗。诗书画皆长的苏轼认为王维的画与诗是“画中有诗，诗中有画”，并指出“诗画本一律，天工与清新”。于是，诗，作为时间艺术；画，作为空间艺术。这两门原本不相干的艺术在中国画中却得到了完美的统一，并成为中国画意境美的最高品评标准之一。
　　包辰初对此有自己的见解。他认为，诗画在创作构思和关于空间形象的审美感受与联想上，彼此确有沟通、统一的地方。然而，诗画毕竟是两门不同种类的艺术。由于诗画表现的物质媒介不同，诗用韵语、谐音、节奏；画用点、线、面及墨色（或色彩）。因而，审美主体所构思的形神兼备、情景交融的意象，通过物质手段而外化为客观艺术形象时，诗与画的形象就有明显的差别。加之，绘画是在二维平面内表现三维空间的造型艺术，其物质媒介与表现手法与诗相比，表现力受到极大局限。中国“诗、书、画、印”的和谐统一，无疑对完善中国画的形式与内涵起到一定的作用，但中国画所谓的画中有诗，是指诗意在画内，并非另行题诗所致。在他看来，当今的某些中国画缺少诗情画意，作品即使题有长诗，还是诗画分离，达不到画中蕴诗的境界。故他对诗词的迷恋并不亚于对画的迷恋，对画的迷恋又绝不仅仅为题几行诗。
包辰初幼时学临《芥子园画谱》，每当临完一张画稿，他总要将画幅中题诗的内容背诵下来，而后再默写上去。
　　“此身未肯随流俗，石样坚贞竹样清。”这是师范美术老师徐天许作的题画诗。
　　“十载飘零依旧征衫如碧草，半生忧患独怜傲骨与诗魂。”这是国文老师叶元俊作的对联。
　　这些，他不但铭刻在心，而且作为做人学画的座右铭。抗战期间，余绍宋先生所绘的一幅《苍松》，那挺拔的主干，茂密的枝叶，苍劲的笔力和清润的墨色所寓意的中华民族傲然挺立的精神气质，令他终身难忘。特别是那画上题的“凝霜殄异类，卓然见高枝”的诗句，使他明晓了诗言志、画亦言志的奥秘。为此，他曾写过一篇《余绍宋国画艺术初探》，称余绍宋的画“以诗的意境融入画的意境，以画的意境化为诗的意境”。
　　老师们在诗词上的造诣与追求，是他作画学诗的原动力之所在。长年以来，他读了无数古今中外的名诗佳词，作了大量的以诗寻景的山水画稿，也创作了一些抒情写意的诗作。
　　他的那些以诗命题的绘画创作，则每取古人佳句，借其触动，引发联想，然后层层画去。无论是《春江花月夜》、《润物细无声》，还是《涛似连山喷雪来》、《春风吹雨细于尘》，抑或是《春水初生乳燕飞》等作品，都是诗情画韵俱佳的杰作。
　　他的画，无论是小品，或是大幅，均能以多种手法去表现或浓艳或淡冶的诗情。他的画，一种比较强调实景，另一种强调虚景。前者当以诗情画意为主，后者则以浩渺磅礴的气势为长。一首《小草之歌》，令他萌生出抒写小草无人知晓且默默贡献的精神；《春风春雨》是以杭州西湖常见的春柳萌发为对象，赞美春回大地的勃勃生气，较好地重现了唐人贺知章“碧玉妆成一树高，万条垂下绿丝绦。不知细叶谁裁出，二月春风似剪刀”那恬淡诗情。《春江花月夜》则是充分地发挥他的泼彩技法，成功地展现了张若虚的“春江潮水连海平，海上明月共潮生”那如梦似幻、空灵浩渺的优美境界。他对苏轼“大江东去，浪淘尽、千古风流人物”和“乱石穿空，惊涛拍岸，卷起千堆雪”中那气吞山河、震撼古今的艺术境界更是十分向往，在他创作的《海之歌》、《惊涛回荡》、《银涛》、《海韵》等作品中，均可看到对于这种艺术境界的寻觅踪迹。
正是这满怀豪情的诗化了的胸怀，令他十分喜爱和善于描绘建筑、山水等宏大场面的景物。巍然壮观的《新安江水电站》，泰然自若的《涛似连山喷雪来》，气吞山河的《泰岱驰魂》等画作，无疑是他在努力展现传统境界的同时，力求展现现代艺术强烈的视觉感受及形与色的向外冲击力。他清楚得很，绘画毕竟是视觉艺术，而不仅仅是诗。
　　包辰初的山水画创作，大致可分成三个不同画题、不同层面的追求，然而这三个方面又是相互交集在一起的，并没有经纬分明的界限。无论是传统基础上发展而来的水墨山水，还是以诗为题、富有抒情性的画作，还是半抽象或抽象的泼墨泼彩创作，都无不天地一体，意境壮阔，色调高昂，笔力雄健，气象万千，充满诗的抒情性与壮美的阳刚之势；他的画作却又始终流淌着东方的诗情，蕴含着东方的精神，包孕着东方的意韵。
　　特别是大泼墨、大泼彩、半抽象、方构图的画风，实令他的绘画再也不能囿于一句诗、一首
　　词的境界为满足，驱使他极力寻求诗魂化了的美感与意象。
　　为创作以大海为主题的系列画作，他收集了不少古今中外歌颂大海的诗词佳品，既有曹操的《观沧海》、张若虚的《春江花月夜》、梁启超的《太平洋遇雨》、秋瑾的《轮船纪事》，还有高尔基的《海燕》、拜伦的《大海》等等。创作前，他总爱反复吟诵，体验比较，寻觅那些赞美大海在“烟波荡荡、巨浪滔滔”、“海雾迷蒙、天水苍苍”、“霹雳潮涌，狂风怒吼”、“风和日丽，沙鸥惊逐”等种种不同场景中的诗魂。时而，他还播放《黄河颂》、《英雄交响曲》等名歌佳曲，反复听上一、二十遍，以待自己的心灵深处掀起汹涌澎湃般的共鸣。此时这些画作就像一块块历史的丰碑，每一块丰碑犹如分裂的水晶宝石，闪烁着各种不同的含义：诗不由自主地迭变成造型艺术，其程度正如他的绘画所富有的诗意。那画的构思、章法、形象、色彩，无不直透出现代人的审美情趣，从而具有新奇、亢奋、辉煌的美感力量。
　　故读包辰初的画，诗意尽在其中；看他的新作，更是如同吟诵一首首唐诗宋词般的充满画意的交响诗，令人融进去，融进去……融入一片诗化了的绘画艺术世界。
　　色墨的交融
　　包辰初长期以来始终追求一个目标——吸收西方绘画的技巧，丰富中国画的表现样式。这种追求有很大的风险，它极有可能导致中西绘画双方固有特色的丧失。
　　“中国绘画应该在色彩与光线的运用上有较大的突破，这才符合现代人的审美需求。”大学时期的包辰初就已经在思考、探索、反省……
　　二十世纪七十年代后期，艺术在中国经历了重大的转变。国家对外开放政策间接启发了艺术家们对新观念、新技法的研究与追求，国际文化交流的不断扩大，促使画家除了沿用传统中国笔墨技法外，亦糅合了抽象的画风和西洋画的元素。
　　画家深层的思考是其画风转变的前奏。
　　1979年，包辰初有幸带领一批画家赶往北京，参观德国表现主义画展。这位一直渴望着自己的画风突变的画家，在参观了这次画展以后，从此坠入“爱河”而不能自拔。艺术毕竟是人类共同的财富，她具有不少相通相合的地方，艺术家用各种不同的手法与符号都能共通地表现人类共同的情感。于是，那传统与现代这两者间的平衡与结合，便成了他如何以其传统文化去发展独特风格的关键。从此，色与墨的结合——这一新的画法便成为包辰初绘画主攻的目标和审美个性的突破手段。
　　他再次研读了中西绘画发展史，重温早年潜心追求的大师——莫奈、科罗、透纳，以及康定斯基的画册与传记，悉心揣摩水彩、水粉、油画色彩的表现特色，对照比较马远、夏圭、石涛、石谿、黄宾虹、潘天寿各自不同的用笔用墨的神韵，以及刘海粟、张大千泼墨泼彩的技法等，这些都无不成为他学习借鉴的对象。
　　为寻找大自然光彩的表现方法，捕捉大自然瞬间的动感、力感、色彩、空间和意境的独特感受，他故土重游，黄山、天台山、天目山、水乡绍兴，以及浙江的“三江一湖”——钱塘江、富春江、新安江和千岛湖等青山绿水。他与西湖更是朝夕相伴，探索湖光山色的色彩原动力和人的生命意蕴的聚焦点。
　　起先，每当他看到一个形象、一种色彩、一幅新的画面，回家欲待表现时，这些东西有时就消失了。传统的一手画惯了，要创造新的形象，新的色彩，新的画面，竟是如此的困难。每当这时，他会重新返回自然，每每反省，努力寻求展现自己性格和综合的色彩表现能力，由细碎的现象归纳到整体的观念意念中去，挖掘那些被人们普遍忽视的而自己认为富有创造性的东西。他已认准了目标——只要在色与墨的融合中有所突破，哪怕是一点，或者是某个方面，等待着他的已不仅是“柳暗花明又一村”了。
　　经过了长期的磨练和艰苦的思索，包辰初终于创造了一个与众不同、独具神韵的山水艺术世界。
　　那被许多报刊反复转载的歌颂大海的《海之歌》系列佳作，可以说是他在色与墨的结合上，经反复试验成功的先兆。整幅画以淡红色为基调，浓浓的墨块写成的海礁处在突出的地位，色墨交融极其自然。《墨与色之韵》可明显看出是他色墨撞击后成功的起点。如果说，这类作品与他近几年来新创作的泼墨泼彩相融的新山水画相比显得有些不太成熟的话，那么，以泼彩画法为主的一批崭新的山水画，则是他艺术创作新的独特宣言。画幅中，以往那种色与墨如野马似的在宣纸上横冲直撞、难以驾驭的局面，如今已明显平定下来。他对色彩的流动与情绪的把握已显得从容不迫，应对自然。
　　他对色彩的运用，是在广泛吸收各自不同画种的基础上发展而来的。中国画——随类赋彩的用色原则，色彩简单明快，富有象征意义；版画——色彩的整体个性及效果；油画、水粉——色泽艳丽与具有科学性，固有色、环境色、关系色的不同特点的运用处理；装饰画——强烈、丰富、艳丽的特色；水彩——色泽明快，鲜亮透明，富有神秘感。凡此种种，只要有利于中国画表现形式的，适合自己情感抒发的，他都采取“拿来主义”，使其有机融合于自己的山水创作之中。
　　俗话说，色是光之子，光是色之母。光——这个现象已通过包辰初所绘的色彩向我们展示了自然的精神与灵魂。而色彩运用的好坏，实源于一位画家的直觉与经验。对于一位成功的艺术家，效果是决定性的。然而，色彩的效果的最深刻、最真实的奥秘，有时甚至连肉眼也看不见。它，只能来自心灵的感受。
　　包辰初也许正是本着这一点来驾驭色彩新的亮度、纯度、互补色、冷暖对比色的，他还善于以某种惊人的主色调来造成色彩的气氛，达到色彩生动之效果。那些大自然的奥秘，雷鸣、电闪、彩虹、日出，乃至火山迸发等自然界的神秘事物和它们的瞬间变化，都构成了他山水画的有机成分与参照物。
他还通过模糊与鲜明、明亮与阴暗、色与墨的结合所组成的各类调子，创造出奇迹般的画面，赋予了自然宇宙以某种特有的新的韵味。
　　他的绘画，总的看来，色不碍墨，墨不碍色，墨彩流溢，气象万千，散发着传统精神与现代意识成功结合的审美气度。他的色彩，已不再是自然界原有的固定色，而是抽象的概括与提炼，以适应自己精神上欲以表现的生命主题。读他的画，既有康斯太勃尔细微色域瞬间的层次变化，又有透纳非为写实性的抽象性的色调，更有印象派画家们对改变自然物体固有色的阳光和对风景画气氛环境中光线的研究与发挥。
阵阵痛苦的折磨往往是新生命诞生的前奏。
　　2008年秋季，由中国文联、中共浙江省委宣传部、浙江省文化厅等单位举办的“浙江历代
书画名家精品展”上，包辰初先生的几幅全新的中国山水画创作，整个儿地与其他画家拉开了距离，显得异常鲜亮明艳。
　　——《晴雪》，简练的墨线勾勒加大胆的泼墨而成的大小山脉，罩以艳丽夺目和极有韵味的蓝色，使墨与色的结合极为自然，显现茫茫原野的勃勃生机。
　　——《宝石流霞》，用马远、夏圭大斧劈的笔法，绘制层层山体，再以墨笔描绘婀娜多姿的保俶塔身影，又以淡墨绘出苏堤及远景，最后以色泽艳丽的红色洒满山体，组成了一幅以绚丽的色彩同耀眼的光亮相结合的诗一般的境界，并神秘般地令宝石山与保俶塔影显于朝霞之景的流光溢彩之中，活现出一派“宝石流霞”的神秘气氛。
　　尤其是一幅以《万壑秋烟》命题的画作，全图以简略的墨笔勾写而成，加上用桔红、石绿泼写瑰丽的色块，使得中国传统绘画的聚散、动静、虚实、开合、疏密等对比统一规律全都得到较好的处理，力显作者扎实而非凡的功底。特别是那色彩所显出来的迷幻明亮的光影，令大自然闪现着美妙动人的色彩，那和谐的色调和迷离恍惚的光线把自然界的绚丽多姿表达得淋漓尽致，活现出江南自然的无限生机和神韵。
再有那力显大自然生命之原动力的《红霞》，以及纯用泼墨泼彩写成的《金辉》、《海韵》等作品，与其说是色与墨的撞击，倒不如说是画家心灵与大自然的撞击。这些画实在是对中国现代绘画的阵阵呐喊，犹如画界的惊雷。
　　这些经包辰初创新后的中国绘画，无不使观赏者充分信服和领悟到中国绘画的气韵魅力及强大的生命力之所在。难怪，有不少人会为之叹服：“想不到，包辰初的画真有这样惊人的魅力。”许多青年画家也纷纷投去惊奇与羡慕的眼光，称其是“一位闪耀着时代气息的‘年轻’的画家”。
　　生命的意蕴
　　包辰初，浙江龙游人，1928年生。孩提时就对绘画特别喜爱，在旧书摊购得的《芥子园画谱》，成了他入门的向导。
　　从小学到师范，先后授课的几位教师都是著名艺术院校毕业的高材生。他们为包辰初对绘画特殊的敏锐力和落笔不凡的笔法所感动，常为他作个别的辅导，还拿他的画稿作示范讲解。当他的一张素描画稿和一幅描绘水乡石拱桥的水彩画得到满分时，老师都给以热情的鼓励。毕业时，一位当时很有声望的美术教师程本一先生，特意画了一幅淋漓酣畅的山水画给他留作纪念。
　　由于和著名史论家、书画家余绍宋是远亲关系，十七岁那年，他有机会常将自己的画稿送去求教。每次，老先生总是连连称好，赞不绝口。
　　1948年，包辰初考入中央美术学院华东分院（现为中国美术学院）。他幸运得很，授课的先生竟是全国著名的大师。有现代山水画的奠基者——黄宾虹，有以笔墨取胜的一代宗师——潘天寿，还有创建新潮画风的鼻祖——林风眠。
　　那段时间，中国画尚受“冷遇”，国画系改绘画系。从素描、水彩、油画到国画，又从人物、花鸟到山水，他什么都学，什么都画。多种艺术修养反倒给包辰初的绘画创作夯下了坚实的地基。他的一幅《割羊草的姑娘》在荣获省首届美术作品展览一等奖时，同学们说是意料中事。
　　毕业后，包辰初先生先后在杭州第一中学、杭州师范学校任教。文、史、哲、美等多种学科的教学大大拓宽了他的视野。1954年，他被调入《杭州日报》任美术编辑。三十多年的编辑生涯使他的创作得到积累，这使他有较多的时间深入工厂、学校、乡村体验生活，有更多的机会接触美术界的老、中、青教师与画家。平时，他从不肯轻易放弃每一次画展，北京、南京、上海，中外、古今不同的画种，他都想方设法去观摩。他更不愿让画展中偶然见到的新技法新画风从眼皮子底下轻易溜走。一旦见到好的作品，他总是要寻根究底，琢磨一番。
　　包辰初的艺术美在于他的纯真和独特。
　　平时，他总是以谦恭的态度来对待同仁们给他提出的每一点建议和意见。是的，他那清静无为、淡泊名利的性格，确与他笔下艳丽多彩的艺术世界形成反差。
　　每当包辰初创作完一幅新作，他总要打开窗户，遥望那蒙眬中透出的秀丽的西湖景象，心中无不激起层层美的涟漪，鼓励他扬起风帆，努力驰向艺术的大海。
　　这不正如罗丹的那句至理名言：“美，就是性格和表现。”
　　纵观包辰初各个不同时期的山水画创作，尤其是以泼墨泼彩为主要表现手段的山水系列，我们可以清楚地看到，他的绘画创作无疑是经历了漫长而痛苦的裂变过程。形成他绘画的独特美感，其根源是多方面的，概括起来，主要有三个方面的渊源与轨迹。
　　一、重传统
　　任何画家都是从传统中来，但未必对传统有清醒的认识。是在正确认识传统的基础上有其独特的发现，还是盲目继承，不求甚解，这往往是一位艺术家成功与否的分水岭。包辰初认为传统有双重价值：肯定价值与否定价值。即对传统中富有生命力的因素加以肯定并充分吸收，对曾有生命力但已过时的因素加以否定并找出可供借鉴的地方。故他对传统的继承不仅仅是出于个人感情的需求与审美的需要，更是出于时代与人生意义上的追求。
　　包辰初学画从南宋院体入手，而后力学八大、石谿，上追宋元诸家，最后专攻马远、夏圭。马远、夏圭的水墨山水之所以受到包辰初的青睐，成为他继承传统、取之不尽的创作源头，这与他熟谙中国山水画史，以及意欲表达自己宽阔的心怀不无关系。山水至唐，遂分南北两派。北派盛于黄河流域，地多平原，画材较少，故多构思于一定的方法与格式中；南派盛行于长江以南流域，山青水秀，溪谷幽深，加之自然界足供其材料上丰富的需求，故多变化。至宋时，北派又分成两派，马远、夏圭为水墨苍劲派，与赵伯驹等青绿巧整的一派不同，其画法实已与南派有调和的意味，绝没有玩弄笔墨的嫌疑。被誉为“中国山水画史上，成为巨匠的又一峰巅”的马远、夏圭，用笔刚劲、简略，棱角方硬，水墨苍劲，构图奇特，境界深邃。画山水得“马夏”画法，不但能以气胜，以刚长，而且更能表现自己宽大的情怀。学画当以工为本，以兴趣情怀为长，方能达“金字塔式”的宏伟构成。包辰初自然熟谙此道——人类的艺术关键在于创造，每位艺术家之创造成功与否，就看其是否能寻找到再次开采发现创造的价值。那马远的《雪景图》、《水图十二法》，夏圭的《西湖柳艇图》、《溪山清远图》，不知花去了他多少个笔墨春秋，从构图、用墨，以至楼台、舟船、人物的揣摩，运笔写来均无不合乎规矩。尤其是被人认作“拖枝马远”的树法画理，包辰初更是心驰神往。笔者曾见过他在任浙江美术学院客座教授期间，给学生授课时画的课徒稿，其所绘树干老健屈曲，枝臂延伸，笔墨简泊，可见马远“瘦硬如屈铁”技法的遗韵。1986年6月，他参加日本第二回“中日美术交流展”的一幅作品《大禹之乡》，构图奇特，气势磅礴，用笔坚挺古拙，用墨苍润古劲，颇有“马夏”风范，于院体之外独步也。而他年轻时打下的扎实的水彩、水粉画技法，以及对色彩的深刻理解和对色调的充分把握，这些无不对他日后创新画法的运用，以及对色墨融和的探索，都打下了良好的基础。
　　二、师造化
　　任何画家的艺术创造都离不开他生存的地域环境和社会生活，包辰初自然也不例外。“马夏”与“浙派”画家大都生活在浙江杭州，他们的创作都是反映钱塘景色的，这对包辰初的艺术创作必然带来深刻的影响。
　　包辰初长年生活在浙江。绮丽秀美的西湖山水，汹涌澎湃的钱江涌潮，以及雁荡的奇诡，天目的深邃，山阴的蔚蓝，富春的明净，加之舟山嵊泗岛屿的环峙，浙东浩瀚的海天一色，都给他的艺术创作带来了无尽的现实参照物。他的水墨山水是从比较写实逐步走向写意的，又从写意走向他对山水自然美的感受和印象，注意自己主观个性的确切表达，以使情感的流露较好地展现在他人生追求的意义上，直至最后走向单纯和朴实。这就使得他的师造化大大不同于一般的画家了。
　　为创作《山色空蒙雨亦奇》这幅成名代表作品，观察宝石山一带的风、晴、雨、雾的不同景色，一有空，他就去实地观察，以体会对宝石风物的奇特的感受。尤其是那保俶塔，用传统笔墨很难表达塔身的砖石的质感，为此，他反复尝试，不断实践，直至能传达出塔身的特有神味方感满足。他以钱江潮为题所作的《涛似连山喷雪来》，采用全景式的构图，将六和古塔及附近的月轮群山安置在整个画面的中上部，并置于呼啸奔腾、广阔无垠的钱塘潮水之上，更显古塔屹立巍然，神韵飞扬。那滚滚钱江潮，墨法浑朴自如，用笔刚劲有力，颤动的线条将钱塘江水特有的浑沌、凝重、咆哮的特点淋漓酣畅地表达出来。作者又运用浑厚粗犷的阔笔表现山脉，流畅细腻的线条描绘水波，使得塔和山脉的静与钱江潮水的动较好地融合起来。辽远的水平线隐约可见，雄伟的古塔神彩兀立，更显画作的一览无尽、气势磅礴，实是描写钱江景色不可多得的杰作。
　　值得注意的是，包辰初在笔墨运用中，不为笔墨所囿，注意生活的涵养，思想的熔炼，在生活中提高自己对艺术的独特感受及概括的能力，以达“尽其灵而足其神”的境地，这才是他师造化的真正意义之所在。
　　三、崇意境
　　意境历来被认为是中国画创作的最高境界，也是山水画成功与否的重要标志。
　　包辰初山水画的意境美首先来源于他画中那具体而真实的空间境象。他画中的山水是建立在自然美的基础上的，以浙江一带的真山实水为范本，并在继承“马夏”水墨苍劲、简洁明快的基础上又有所发展。尤其是那泼墨画法，随意泼去，极显奇妙，加上他的构图奇拙，出人意外，包容万象于近景、中景之中，令画面显得完整、强烈、真切、自然，既给人以诗的抒情和韵味，又给人以造型朴实、光华四射的视觉美感。他的《曙光》、《西湖》等作品，形象真实具体，树木山石变化有致。这类画作既反映了作者对生活自然的独特见解，也反映出作者长期生活于江南水乡，注重写生提炼，将自然美的山水形象提炼概括为艺术美的高超水平。那些纯用泼墨绘成的画作，虽随意挥去，却皆成形象，那亦山亦水、亦云亦气的画面，会随着读者的想象形成各种不同的自然形象。这种真实具体，或较之自然景象更为艺术化了的山水形象，令观者得到极大的想象余地和共鸣，这便是包辰初山水画意境美的奇特之处。这种真实而具体的空间境象，又是作者情的驱使，它熔铸于作者理想化与情感化的表现之中。
　　“风格即人”，任何艺术品都是人格力量的反映。一位画家风格的形成，其经历、学养、个性、气质诸方面的因素，总是潜在地影响着他去追求个人某种独特的风格，这是一个不可忽视的潜在因素，更是意境美的构成要素。包辰初的山水能与读者共鸣，关键在于一个“情”字。这情，是作者本人思想情感与笔墨的融汇，是形与神、情与理的统一。称包辰初是位优秀的画家，是因其才能不仅表现在能从常人熟视无睹的平凡之境中，寻求与表现出令人慨叹的不平凡的美感，更在于在自然山水的世界中去寻求表现的灵感，唤起创造的激情。包辰初很关注那些人们司空见惯的树木、山峦、小溪、修竹、庭院，以及茅舍小屋、竹林石径、小桥流水、坡脚峦岩，成造化之功，达山水之情。他创作的《晨曦》、《醉秋》等作品，以其干湿、浓淡、虚实、轻重的变化，以及变幻了的节奏流动线，产生一种隐约迷离、萧条淡泊的迷人景象。其笔墨绝不游离于画幅之外，将自己的情韵与感受淋漓尽致地表现出来，蕴含着精深朴实的民族艺术之魂，具有一种撼动心灵的内在精神。
　　他的画中所产生出的巨大的向外扩张力，源于马远、夏圭的独特构图法而又有所创造。这种大胆地将近景、中景置于画幅正中，犹如电影艺术中的特写镜头，使欣赏者的视点集中在特定的范围之内，而让画外的景物留给欣赏者去想象。这种手法，令包辰初的山水意境得到充分的展示，达情理之中又超出想象之外，成一种“情与景汇，意与象通”的境界。
　　正是生活常新、思想常新、意匠表现手法之常新，才使包辰初的绘画具有神奇的艺术魅力。
　　纵述包辰初的绘画，他以扎实的传统笔墨功底，纯熟的水粉、水彩技巧，加上长期而艰辛的执着追求，创出了一个新的艺术世界。他以他那充满深沉、含蓄、瑰丽的想象，去追求色彩的效果和奇特的意象。而色彩，这一绘画语言，在他的画中已成为独具个性的语言。无论是墨破色、色破墨，还是大泼彩、大泼墨、大色块都已成为包辰初绘画的艺术主调，赋予了古老东方艺术现代色彩的元素。他还通过时空错位，具象与抽象的交合，使得各种瞬间变化着的色彩世界、大自然原动力的表现欲望，以及画家对人生的感受、情思、希望与渴求等诸多人之生存的元素，在极富象征意义的驱使下，无不欢快地涌现在包辰初的脑海，令他遨游在这个艺术世界之中，终于一批全新面貌的绘画作品像火山爆发般地喷射出来，形成了自己神奇而独特的艺术风格。无怪乎，著名美术评论家、前浙江美术学院教授朱金楼先生，生前赞誉他是“一位传统和现代审美意识结合得很好的画家，他的画既有诗的抒情，又具视觉艺术奇特的美感”，而且称他“在色与墨结合这点上，已超过了前辈大师”。
 　　戊子冬写于杭州苦竹斋
　　The Blend of Colour and Ink in the World of Art ——On Bao Chenchu and His Landscape Paintings
　　When viewing Bao Chenchu’s landscape paintings, one is struck by their unusual subjects, brilliant colours, marvellous composition and vibrant images. These fascinating art works are both lively and beautiful.
　　Bao Chenchu recently made a breakthrough in landscape painting by developing a distinctive, unique painting technique, blending colour and ink to create a vibrant and vivid landscape world. His individual style is characterized by free and simple strokes, grandiose layout, brilliant colours and a wide range of images.
　　Poetic World
　　When one wanders along the West Lake in the drizzle, taking in its dreamy, misty view, one will always be reminded of the famous poem by Su Shi (also called Su Dongpo, 1037-1101), the great poet of the Song Dynasty. One cannot help but recite his lines: “Shimmering ripples on a sunny day, Misty mountains wonder in the rain; Like Beauty Xi Zi plainly or well-dressed, The West Lake is always at her best.”
　　However, when viewing Bao’s landscape painting entitled “Misty Mountains Wonder in the Rain”, one is struck by his sensitivity to the West Lake in misty rain and his deep understanding of Su Shi’s famous ines. Soon after its showing in Beijing, “Misty Mountains Wonder  in the Rain”, considered one of Bao Chenchu’s masterpieces, was chosen for publication in dozens of journals and collections such as: Chinese Painting ;Selected Works of Young and Middle-Aged Landscape Painters ; and the Hongkong Wenhui Daily.  If our ancestor Su Shi glorified the beauty of the West Lake through his poem which adds a colourful dimension to the lake, the modern Bao Chenchu tries to exalt its unique natural beauty in his own medium through a series of paintings, entitled “Misty Mountains Wonder  in the Rain”. In his series he incorporates the traditional water and ink painting with modern elements, such as the taste for grandeur, beauty, and the spectacular.
　　It is said that Bao Chenchu’s paintings are full of poetry, but he said that it was the poem that inspired him to paint. His enthusiasm for poetry is said to have derived from his concerns about Chinese paintings.
　　The Chinese painting critics circle always maintains that a poem is an invisible painting, and a painting a visible poem. Su Shi, who was also a notable calligrapher and painter, considered the paintings of Wang Wei (701-761) to be poetic and his poems to be full of picturesque images. Moreover, Su pointed out that poetry and paintings are sister arts in that both are natural and original. Therefore, poetry, an art unbound by time, should, in Chinese art, be in perfect harmony with painting, a spatial art, despite the fact that these two arts are basically independent of each other. Achieving this harmony in the two arts is considered to be one of the major criteria in the evaluation of the artistic vision or ideorealm in Chinese painting. 
　　Bao has his own opinion, as well. He thinks that poetry does, indeed, have something in common with paintings with regard to design, aesthetic sensitivity to spatial image and association, but feels that the two are different in terms of the medium of presentation: poetry by means of rhymed language, homophony, rhythm; paintings in two dimensions through the use of dots, lines, ink or colour. Therefore, the mental image evoked by a poem differs from the one created by a painting when the image, which is a perfect combination of form and spirit and a blend of emotions and setting envisaged by the aesthetic subject, is turned into an objective artistic one via more concrete means. In addition, as a painting is a three-dimensional formative art expressed in a two-dimensional palette, it is more restricted in its expressive force than poetry, due to the concrete means the artist has at his disposal. The harmonious unity of Chinese poetry, calligraphy, paintings and seal carving has undoubtedly played a role in the perfection of form and meaning. A poetic Chinese painting exudes poetry although there is no visible poem. From Bao’s point of view many modern Chinese paintings, even if there is an inscribed long poem, often lack the necessary poetic or picturesque qualities, and therefore do not meet the requirements of the rigorous aesthetic standards. Therefore, his enthusiasm for poetry is no less than his enthusiasm for the paintings, but his zeal for the painting does not simply lie in the inscription of some lines of a poem.
　　At an early age Bao Chenchu learned to paint by copying the collection of Chinese paintings,Jiezi Yuan Paintings (The collection has been regarded as a wonderful introduction to Chinese painting since its compilation three hundred years ago in the Qing Dynasty.) First, he recited the poem inscribed in the painting, and then wrote it from memory after taking a copy.
　　Some of these poems remained in his memory, such as “Never willing to drift along with the tide in life, but remain as decent and pure, as firm and indomitable as bamboo.” (by XuTianxu, an art teacher in a normal college) or “Drifting ten years on the path, my clothes are still unchanged but full of dust and I only take pride in yearning for poesy” (by a Chinese teacher Ye Yuanjun). Bao also considered these poems to be his personal mottoes. One of the unforgettable paintings with an inscribed poem is the one entitled “Mighty Pine”, painted by Yu Shaosong during the anti-Japanese war. Yu Shaosong was much impressed by the unyielding, upright spirit of the Chinese people which he symbolized through the upright trunk, lush foliage, forceful strokes and embellished ink. Bao was also inspired by the inscribed poem “While icy frost extinguishes almost all forms of life, only the mighty pine survives.”
　　He expressed a sense of wonder at the fact that a painting can express one’s thoughts as well as a poem can. He then wrote a commentary entitled “A Preliminary Study of Yu Shaosong’s Painting Art”, in which he claimed that “Yu’s painting is a fine example of a poetic painting and a pictorial poem.”
　　Bao was highly motivated by what the art masters have pursued and achieved in painting and learning poetry. Throughout the years he has not only read many popular Chinese and foreign poems, but has also created a large number of landscape paintings based on these poems. He has also written some lyrics himself.
　　Often moved by some of the beautiful lines of ancient poetry, Bao began to present the images in his painting one by one by incorporating his own imagination with the meanings associated with them.
Many of his art works such as “The Flowery Spring River in Moonlight”, “Silent Drizzle in Spring”,
“Mountainous Waves Surging like an Avalanche”, “Spring Breeze Blowing a Drizzle Finer than Dust” or “Young Swallows Flying over the Spring River” are true masterpieces of poetic paintings.
　　No matter what size or type of painting, be it small and simple or large and delicate, Bao could always manage to express a wide spectrum of feelings, from feelings of ease and peace to intense feelings, through the use of various techniques. His paintings fall into two main categories: one accentuates real scenery, whereas the other stresses the imaginary scenery. While the former focuses on poetic images, the latter emphasizes splendour and majesty. For example, the poem “Song of Grass” was the inspiration for his own painting, which he also titled “Song of Grass”. In this painting he extols the tough spirit of ordinary grass which silently and unrelentingly makes it contribution to nature. The painting, “Spring Drizzle in a Breeze” depicts the budding of the familiar spring willows along the West Lake in Hangzhou, glorifying the dynamic return of spring. It also perfectly depicts the peaceful, leisurely feelings of He Zhizhang (659-744), the famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, in his poem “Ode to Willows” as follows: “Dressed up in emerald the tall tree is slender, Thousands of supple withes bend down like green silk ribbons, Who knows how the tender twigs are tailored? The Spring breeze in February is the scissors.”
　　In the painting “The Flowery Spring River inMoonlight”, where he made full use of the splash-ink
technique, Bao succeeded in calling up a dream-like, fantastic vision of “The Spring tides in the river are as high as those in the Sea, the bright, full moon rises above the sea with the tides”, as described by the poet Zhang Ruoxu (ca.660- ca. 720) in a poem of the same title.
　　Bao was deeply impressed by the grand artistic world presented by Su Shi in his poem reminiscent of theGreat War in Chibi (AD 208) along the Changjiang River (Yangtze River). The most impressive lines are :“The mighty river runs eastward through thousands of years, the myriad of heroes are gone with the rolling billows”and “Striking the reef in cloudy bursts, enormous billows smash onto the banks and roll in surges of mountain-like snow.” Bao yearned to attain such quality in his own artistic world. His paintings, “Song of the Sea”, “Resounding of Enormous Billows”, “Silvery Billows”, “Charm of the Sea”, give vivid evidence of such striving.
　　As Bao is imbued with lofty sentiments and emotions, as well as his special taste for poetry, he not only enjoys, but is also very accomplished in portraying massive constructions and grand views. In addition to traditional representation, he also tries to present strong, forceful, visual elements in his paintings through the use of colour and form. Examples of such paintings are: the massive “Xinan River Power Station”,the stately “Mountainous Waves Surging like an Avalanche” and the magnificent “Wandering over Mount Tai”.  Here he makes it quite clear that painting, after all, is a visual art and not simply a poem. 
　　Bao Chenchu’s landscape paintings can, perhaps, be divided into three groups in terms of subject matter which show Bao’s pursuit of art on different levels. However, these three groups also intermingle without much clear demarcation. With the characteristics of poetic intensity and splendid masculinity, all his paintings—the water-and-ink landscape paintings, developed from traditional paintings; the lyrical paintings, derived from classical poetry; and the abstract or semi-abstract paintings with ink splash or color splash—they all feature the unity of the universe and the magnificent vision by means of intense colours and powerful strokes. What’s more, his paintings exude oriental, poetic sentimentality as well as oriental spirit and verve.
　　As a matter of fact, with his painting style of using strong ink splash, intense colour, semi-abstract, cubistic composition in particular, he was not simply satisfied with the vision offered by a line of poem or a Ci poem, instead, he was spurred to pursue the poetic aesthetic charm and artistic vision.
In order to create the series of paintings based on the theme of sea, Bao collected many well-known ancient and modern poems by Chinese and foreign poets extolling the great sea, among which are: 　　Cao Cao’s “Viewing the Sea”, Zhang Ruoxu’s “The Flowery Spring  River in Moonlight”, Liang Qichao’s “Meeting the Storm in Pacific”, Qiu Jin’s “Journal of Trip on Ship”, Gorkey’s “Petrel”, Byron’s “Apostrophe to the Ocean”, etc. Before commencing his work, he would compare these poems by reciting them again and again, in search of the poetic charm in various scenes, attempting to visualise such phrases as: “vast and mighty sea with gentle billows”; “misty massive sea”; “blustering sea with thunderbolts” and “placid sea in sunshine with seagulls, excited and surprised, chasing the tide.” And at times, he also played and replayed some famous, beautiful songs and melodies, such as “Ode to Yellow River”, “Symphony of Heroes” in an attempt to capture the resonance of each in his heart. Hence these paintings, in a sense, become historic monuments to the art, each emitting its own significance like a glittering crystal. These poems thus involuntarily turn into a visual art, inspiring him to express the poetry in his paintings. Thus, the ideas, the composition, the images and the colours undoubtedly reflect the modern artists’ aesthetic taste, giving them aesthetic strength of their own.
　　Therefore, when viewing Bao’s paintings, we can sense the poetry in them. His most recent paintings are more like symphonic poems written in the Tang and Song Dynasty. They are works that open a poetic art world full of picturesque images one can enter and become part of.
　　Blend of Color and Ink
　　Bao Chenchu is striving toward a long-term objective to enrich the expressive styles of Chinese paintings by borrowing from the Western painting techniques. However, this means there is a great risk of losing the intrinsic characteristics of both Chinese and Western paintings.
　　In college, Bao Chenchu had begun to think, explore and reflect: “There should be　a　great　break　through in the use of color and light in Chinese paintings; only in this way can they meet the aesthetic requirements of the modern era.”
　　The late 1970s saw great changes taking place in art in China. Indirectly inspired by the general open policy, artists began to indulge in the experiment and pursuit of new concepts and techniques. With increasing opportunities of intercultural communication, artists began to combine the traditional Chinese ink-colour techniques with elements of abstract Western paintings.
　　The artist’s deep contemplation was a prerequisite necessary for a change in his painting style.
In 1979, Bao Chenchu had the honour of leading a group of artists to Beijing to visit an art show of German Expressionism. Longing for a breakthrough in his own painting style, Bao “fell in love” with Expressionism after this visit. After all, art is a common treasure to be shared by all human beings in the world. To a certain extent, a work of art can be understood by everyone, as all the various techniques and modes of representation used by the artist can convey feelings and emotions felt by all human beings. Thus, the process involved in finding a balance between traditional and modern painting is also the key to finding a balance between traditional Chinese and modern Western culture. Attaining the perfect blend of colour and ink is the aesthetic goal which Bao Chenchu has tried to achieve with this new painting technique.
　　Again he read the history of both Chinese and Western painting, reviewing paintings and biographies of great masters such as Monet, Corot, Turner and Kandinsky. He studied the characteristics of the watercolour painting, opaque watercolour painting and oil painting. He contrasted the verve achieved through various uses of ink and strokes in the works of Ma Yuan(1140-1225), Xi Gui (1180-1230), Shi Tao (1642-1707),  Shixi (1612-1692), Huang Binghong (1865-1955), and Pan Tianshou (1897-1971). He also devoted careful attention to the techniques of ink splash and colour splash in the works of Liu Haisu (1896-1994) and Zhang Daqian (1899-1983).
In search of a way to present the colours of nature, to capture a sense of nature’s movement, power and vastness, Bao revisited all the scenic places, such as Mount Huangshan, Mount Tiantai, Mount Tianmu, Shaoxin with its watery networks, the “Three-River-and-One-Lake”—Qiantang River, Fuchun River, Xinan River and Lake of a Thousand Isles. Moreover, he could visit the West Lake at any time early in the morning or late in the evening, exploring the link between the primitive colours observed when viewing the lake and the significance of human life.
　　Whenever outdoors, he had the desire to put every new object, new colour and new scene into his paintings. However, all these would suddenly vanish from mind when he started to paint upon returning home. As he was quite used to the traditional way of painting, he found it exceedingly difficult to create a new image, new colour and new vision. So, whenever this happened, he returned to the nature and began his search anew. He reflected on how to best present objects and their colour combinations, how to create a coherent image from its fragments, how to present something he considered creative and original, but commonly ignored. And he knew what he was out to accomplish: he needed a breakthrough in the blend of colour and ink, no matter how slight. Only in this way could he achieve his goal, and the significance of this achievement goes far beyond that of “the promising outlook one suddenly finds after getting lost desperately for a long time.”
　　After a period of diligent practice and deep reflection, Bao Chenchu managed to create a unique, miraculous world of landscape art.
　　His series of painting extolling the sea—“Song of the Sea”, completed after an extensive experimental phase, could be regarded as very promising in its blend of colour and ink. This series was subsequently republished in many papers and journals. With the hues of pink as the background color, patches of heavy ink as the rocky reef in the foreground, the paintings were a good example of natural blend of color and ink. The successful blend of colour and ink can be first observed in his painting “The Charm of Color and Ink”. However, these works seem less mature when compared with his most recent landscape paintings. It is his most recent works that have set a new standard in his artistic creations. He used to splash the colour and ink in his paintings like a wild horse going on a rampage, as if he had little control over the situation. Now, it’s quite obvious that he has become more skilled, and his control of colour and emotion more natural and spontaneous.
　　Bao’s use of colour developed from the techniques of various kinds of paintings. Chinese paintings use different colours for different categories of objects; this is usually simple but carries much symbolism. Engraved paintings emphasize the uniformity of colour and its effect; oil paintings and opaque water- colour paintings focus on brilliant colours, and at the same time recognize inherent colour, environmental colour and relative colour; decorative paintings are characterised by strong, rich, garish colours; water- colour paintings are bright, lucid, vibrant and full of mystery. As long as those techniques enhance the expressive power of Chinese paintings and facilitate the release of his emotions, Bao incorporated them into his own landscape paintings.
　　There is a saying that colour is the son of light, and light is the mother of colour. Light has shown us the spirit and soul of nature through the colour painted by Bao Chenchu. Effective use of colour comes from the artist’s intuition and experience. If an artist is to be successful, the effect of colour is decisive. However, the deepest and truest secret to the effect of colour lies in the fact that it might well be invisible, even to the human eye. It originates only from the feelings of the soul.
　　Perhaps it is just the feelings of the soul that Bao Chenchu drew upon to create colours of new brightness and purity; colours that complement and contrast both warm and cold. He was also skilled in creating an atmosphere of vibrant colour with an amazing dominant hue. Nature endowed him with talents in landscape painting that allowed him to depict the mysteries of nature, such as thunder, lightening, rainbow, sunrise, and even the eruption of volcanoes.
　　What’s more, he created miraculous paintings by composing diverse combination of pale and vivid hues, bright and dark tones, colour and ink, hence the natural universe tinted with new charm.
On the whole, his paintings are characterised by an aesthetic taste created through the successful combination of traditional spirit and a sense of the modern: with brilliant colour and ink in diversified images, the colour doesn’t obstruct the ink, and the ink doesn’t block the colour. His colour is not merely the colour inherent in nature, but is an epitome and generalization. Thus, he satisfies his desire to express the theme of life spiritually. When studying his paintings, one can discern Constable’s technique of displaying the delicate nuances of colour, Turner’s nonrealistic abstract hues, and especially those Impressionists’ study and dispersion of light in the landscape and the sunlight changing the inherent colours of the natural objects.
　　Continuous painful torture is a prelude to the birth of new life. In the autumn of 2008, at the art show of Excellent Works of Zhejiang Calligraphers and Artists in History organized by such institutions as China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC), Publicity Department of Zhejiang Provincial Committee of Chinese Communist Party (PD-ZPCCCP) and Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture, some of Bao Chenchu’s most recent original China landscape paintings looked extraordinarily bright and beautiful, standing in sharp contrast to the other artists’ paintings.
　　His painting “Snow in the Sun”, with simple sketches and bold ink splash featuring big and small mountain ranges, tinted with a splendid, charming blue, is a perfect example of combining ink and colour to present a lively expansive field. ‘
　　“Baoshi(Gem-like)Hill in Sunglow” succeeds in presenting a fantastic poetic world through the combination of glorious colour and dazzling light: a mysterious vision of the rosy gem-like hill and the silhouette of Baochu Pagoda atop it in the morning glow. Here in the painting one can find the pagoda gracefully drawn in ink and colour and the hillside depicted in a manner influenced by the ax-like hacking strokes employed by MaYuan (1140-1225) and Xia Gui (1180-1230). All the objects are bathed in a vivid, rosy glow, with the background hills and the distant Su Causeway painted in light shades of ink.
　　The painting entitled—“Great Canyons in Autumn Mist”, in particular, demonstrates the artist’s superb painting technique. With simple ink strokes and magnificent splashes of nacarat and malachite green, the traditional Chinese paintings’ “law of contrast but compatibility” is very much in evidence in his balancing of mass and fragility, motion and stillness, virtuality and reality, the expansive and the minute, sparseness and density.  The Jiangnan Region (the southern lower reaches of the Changjiang River) is brought to life with the harmonious hues and glimmering rays, especially the fantastic light shadow revealed by those colours.
　　The magnificent “Rosy Clouds in Glow”, which shows the vitality of nature, and “Golden Rays”, “Charm of the Sea” and some other works are actually the artist’s inspiration from nature rather than the impact produced only by ink and colour. These innovative ideas hit modern Chinese painting like a shocking thunder clap, and call forth a reappraisal of modern Chinese painting.
　　The innovations implemented by Bao Chenchu undoubtedly convinced the viewers of the verve and vitality of Chinese paintings. No wonder many of them exclaimed in admiration: “Bao Chenchu’s paintings are so incredible!” And many young painters look up to him in amazement, praising him as “a modern painter young in spirit”. Milestones in His Life
　　Bao Chenchu was born in 1928 in Longyou, Zhejiang province. As a kid, he showed special interest in painting.Jiezi Yuan  Paintings bought from an old book stall became his guide to paintings.
All of his art teachers from primary school to normal college were the top graduates from some famous academies of art. Impressed by Bao Chenchu’s sharp insight and unusual strokes, they were always willing to be his tutors, and started to comment on his paintings. His teacher once gave him great encouragement when one of his charcoal drawings and a watercolour painting depicting an arched stone bridge in a landscape was awarded full marks. Mr. Chen Benyi, a very prestigious art teacher, presented him with a fantastic landscape painting of his own as a memento when he graduated from the normal school.
　　As a distant relative of Yu Shaosong, the famous artist and history critic, Bao was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to ask Mr. Yu for comments on his paintings at the age of seventeen. Mr. Yu always spoke highly of his paintings.
　　In 1948, Bao Chenchu entered Eastern China School, Central Academy of Fine Arts (ECS- CAFA), now known as China Academy of Art (CAA). To his surprise, his teachers were all national masters of art. Huang Binhong, for example, was the founder of modern landscape painting; Pan Tianshou, a great master in the use of ink and colour; and Lin Fenmian, the starter of new-style painting.
　　However, during his study in the academy, traditional Chinese paintings were not as popular as they are now, and were held in rather low esteem, as suggested by the name change from the 　　Department of Traditional Chinese Paintings to the Department of Paintings. No matter what happened, 　　Bao tried to learn everything and paint every thing—from charcoal drawing, watercolour painting, oil painting and traditional Chinese painting to portrait painting, flower-bird painting and landscape painting. This enormously wide spectrum of training helped him lay a solid foundation for his painting skills. One of his paintings,“A Girl Cutting Grass for Sheep”, won the first prize at the first provincial art exhibition, an award which did not come as a surprise to his classmates.
　　After graduation, Bao Chenchu taught in Hanghzou No.1 Middle School and Hangzhou Normal School. His views on art were expanded by the subjects he taught: Chinese history, philosophy and aesthetics. In 1954, he started to work for Hangzhou Daily as an art editor. Working in this position for more than thirty years, he had the opportunity to experience much that he could later use in his paintings. He experienced life in many factories, schools and the countryside and had many opportunities to meet a multitude of art teachers and artists of all age groups. What’s more, he hardly missed any art exhibition in Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai. He made a great effort to attend these exhibitions, to view and study various kinds of art, ancient and modern, both at home and abroad. And he would never pass over unusual new techniques and styles of art without studying and reflecting on them.
T　　he beauty of Bao Chenchu’s art lies in his honest and modest character. He always courteously listened to the advice and opinions offered by his colleagues. It is his quiet manner and indifference to fame and personal gains that stand in sharp contrast to his colourful art world.
　　Whenever he finished a new painting, he would open his window onto the West Lake. Looking into the distance of the misty beautiful lake, he would feel a passion and the urge to set sail in the “sea of art”.
　　There can be no true beauty without character, to paraphrase Auguste Rodan. In retrospect, we can see that the development of Bao’s painting style over the years, especially the series of landscape paintings featuring the ink splash and colour splash, has undergone a long, painful and drastic change. His unique aesthetics of painting derives mainly from the three sources discussed below.
　　1.Cherishing the tradition
　　Although all painters grow from tradition, they may not clearly recognize this. The success of an artist calls for originality on his part. He has to have a correct understanding of tradition, rather than blindly follow it. Bao Chenchu believes that tradition has double values: positive value and negative value. That is, the vital elements from tradition should be digested and absorbed while the outdated elements, for lack of vitality, should be discarded, but the lessons learnt should be retained for future reference. Therefore, Bao’s inheritance from tradition comes not just from his emotional and aesthetic needs but also from his search of the meaning of life.
　　Bao Chenchu began by learning the typical painting style in Imperial Academy of Art in Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), and then diligently studied the paintings of Badashanren (circa 1626-1705),  Shixi (1612-1692), and other famous artists in Song Dynasty (960-1279) and Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368). In the end, he decided to focus on Ma Yuan and Xia Gui’s paintings. The reason that Ma Yuan and Xia Gui were favoured by Bao and that they served as a source of his creativity lies in the fact that he was familiar with the history of Chinese landscape painting and intended to express himself in a similar manner. During the Tang Dynasty (618- 907), landscape painting began to divide into the Northern 　School and the Southern School. The Northern School dominated in the reaches of Huanghe River, where there were vast plains which offered little inspiration to the artists, hence the limitation of ideas and a tendency to stereotype. However, the Southern School was most popular in the Jiangnan Region, where there was more impressive scenery, where green trees, clear water, deep ravines could be enjoyed at any time. The Southern School artists’ expressive powers were enriched by the abundance of material provided by nature. Later in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the North School split into two schools. One was represented by Ma Yuan and Xia Gui, who used powerful strokes and bold ink splash. The other was represented by Zhao Boju (1119-1185), whose works were characterised by their delicate craftsmanship and the use of varied shades of turquoise colour. Quite different from Zhao Boju’s stereotyped craftsmanship style, the school represented by Ma Yuan and Xia Gui had actually adopted a style similar to that of the Southern School. Highly reputed as “the great masters at another pinnacle of art in the history of Chinese landscape paintings”, Ma Yuan and Xia Gui were accomplished in using simple but powerful strokes, bold and sharp ink splash with imaginative composition and thought-provoking presentation. Equipped with Ma Yuan and Xia Gui’s landscape painting techniques, a painter would not only succeed in expressing the grandeur and power of nature, but also be able to express his emotions and aspirations. In order to create monumental paintings, a painter must have a good command of the craftsmanship and the ability to express one’s interests and feelings. Bao Chenchu knew this well. The key to human art lies in creation, and creation in part requires searching for traditional techniques worthy of rediscovery. No one knows how many years Bao spent in studying Ma Yuan’s “Snowy Scenery” and his “Twelve Various Paintings on Water” or Xia Gui’s “Willows at the Causeway, Boats on the West Lake” and “Ravines in Mountain Scenery ”. All the techniques employed in those paintings—from the composition, use of ink to the representation of buildings, towers, pavilions, boats and portraits—were effective. Bao was especially fascinated by Ma Yuan’s  painting of the gnarled branches which in itself was regarded as a painting classic. When working as a visiting professor in Zhejiang Academy of Art, Bao often showed the students his own paintings, in which I once saw mighty gnarled trees and overhanging branches, depicted by using simple primitive strokes and intense ink in a pithy style— an obvious legacy from Ma Yuan’s painting style “powerful and wiry as a bending iron”. At the second Sino-Japan Art Exhibition in Japan in June, 1986, Bao’s painting “Hometown of Great Yu (a prehistoric legendary ruler)” showed Ma-Xia’s unique, primitive style with majestic composition, its powerful but unvarnished strokes as well as the bold and intensive ink —quite different from the delicate pattern of those paintings influenced by Imperial Art Academy. The effective use of watercolour and opaque watercolour techniques, his deep understanding of all shades of colour and the proper use all the hues provided a solid foundation for his later experiments with blending ink and colour.
　　2.Learning from Mother Nature
　　No painter’s art creation could take place in a vacuum. Bao Chenchu is no exception. Since most painters of Ma-Xia Style and Zhejiang Style have lived in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, the view of the Qiangtang River can usually be found in their art works. Bao’s art also drew inspiration from this river.
Bao has been living in Zhejiang. The scenery in Zhejiang—such as the beautiful West Lake, the surging Qiangtang Tide, fantastic Mount Yandang, spectacular Mount Tianmu, Shaoxin with its blue sky, the clear, bright Fuchun River, the magnificent view of the vast sea melting into the