常常有人问我：怎样才能画好水彩画?我思考再三，最后仍是那句老生常谈：多写生罢!这是我多年艺术实践后，重新感悟到的。

　　中国唐代画家张璪曾说：“外师造化，中得心源。”我想这应该是对写生这一形式最好的诠释了。写生不仅表现了画家独特的视觉美感和艺术思维，也让画家逐步寻找到适合自己的艺术表达语言。因此，写生是画家成长的必经之路，是画家形成艺术风格的最佳途径。尤其是水彩画家，更要认识到写生是这个画种的重要特征之一。

　　写生是面对实景当场完成作品，面对大自然的千姿百态和鬼斧神工，画家要全身心投入，要迅速捕捉景象特征，抓住感受。每笔下去松了不行，紧了也不行，松了感觉就苍白了、不实在了。紧了呢?又会让人感到太具体、太呆板，失去了味道。此时你就会苦于眼与手的不相协调，产生很多的苦恼和困惑。那么你唯一的选择是：坚持写生，训练再训练。最终你对水彩艺术所有的疑问就可以得到一个满意的回答。通过写生你可以得到以下两方面的训练:

　　驾驭色彩的能力

　　当我们接触水彩画时，认识与表达色彩的能力是我们首要解决的课题。在理论上，我们可以通过多方面来了解色彩的有关知识与规律，但是这些来自书本上的间接认识，绝不可以取代你自身的实践，因为艺术本身往往很难完全用文字去表达。真正控制色彩的能力，还是必须从写生中训练出来。比如大家都知道原色与复色的关系、原色与补色的关系等，但是要将这些色彩规律具体运用到作品中去却是一件很不容易的事情，因为自然界的色彩是变化无穷的，有时对比强烈，有时变化微妙，哪种是对比的，哪种是和谐的，哪种颜色具有力量，都是必须要求我们从实践中找到答案的，尤其是那种恰如其分的尺度的把握，更是对色彩高度认识的反映。写生实践可以使水彩画技法得到具体的应用，在写生之初，人们往往都对技法略有所知，甚至有人通读了许多相关书籍，但是当你面对大自然，仍会感到困惑和不知所措，原因何在?因为书本的那些间接经验不足以表现变化万千的大自然。古今中外，不知有多少大师同叹：要师法自然!要认识自然、表现自然，就要掌握自然的规律，这样才能够主动地、生动地从自然的表象中整理、提炼它的本质，使我们对艺术的规律有所认识与掌握。

　　我们都知道色彩的空间透视越远就越冷，或者越远就越灰，还知道近处的对比强、远处的对比弱，更知道受光比背光暖、天光比阴影冷。但是知道之后呢?就应该在大量的写生中将这些规律性的理论，演变成你作品中斑斓的色彩，当你的画技日臻成熟，你就能主动参与这些变化，并且利用它们使自己的颜色更生动，更富表现力，这时你就有了驾驭色彩的能力。

　　表现物象的能力

　　法国布丹说：“当场画下来的东西，总是有一种以后在画室里所不可能取得的力量、真实感和笔法的生动性。”这表明了写生的真正内涵。然而当我们面对大自然景物时，往往是非常矛盾的。一方面我们被大自然的美好所迷恋所倾倒，另一方面却又不知从何入手加以表现，这正是大多数画家所困惑和思考的问题。通过写生就能够训练你逐步掌握正确的观察方法的能力。“我们要塑造一个形象，就应该知道这个形象是怎样的。”吴作人曾这样说，这句普通的话道破了艺术表现的根本。首先是我们画家的眼睛，即观察方法，有人认为写生是训练我们用手的技能，实际上是在训练我们的眼睛，手的表达是通过眼睛传达的信息，那么眼睛看到的是否整体将直接导致手的表现，因此写生是训练我们掌握正确观察方法的首要途径。有了正确的观察方法，才能使人们在纷繁复杂的物象中，抓住要领，通过概括、取舍、夸张，更集中、更典型、更主动地去表达你的感受。这种“主动”的表现与“被动”的摹写将产生截然不同的艺术效果。

　　综上所述，不难看出无论是色彩能力的培养与训练，还是观察、表现物象的手段与形式，都离不开踏实的写生实践，只有这样，我们的艺术作品才能够具有生命力，永远立于不败之地。正如凡·高日记中所言“我希望尽可能的多画些习作，因为习作是未来产生绘画作品的种子”，“播种越多，就越渴望丰收”这是艺术之道的真谛。初学者，可以以写生作为学习或色彩训练的目的，也可以把写生当作创作前的准备。但作为成熟的画家，成功的写生本身就是一种创作。常画写生可以破一破画家旧有的套路，刺激一下画家早已麻木的神经，我们的画家应走出画室的“象牙之塔”，奔向大自然那广阔的“十字街头”。

　　关于技法

　　似乎行里行外的画家们谈到水彩画，无不谈到“技法”问题，给人们的感觉是技法是水彩画成功的关键，其实这是一种误区。所谓“技法”一般是指创作过程中的技巧与方法。一件成功的作品是作者艺术综合素养的体现，只掌握了一些所谓“技法”是不可能产生高品位作品的。画者以摆弄绘画技巧，并对能向别人显示自己的技巧而感到沾沾自喜，把技法视为创作成功的百宝箱，这委实是件本末倒置的事。另外，就人们所谓的“技法”来讲，往往水彩界的认识也存在一些片面性，传统一点的技法之说，有“干画法”、“湿画法”及“干湿并举法”云云，而且据说水彩画最多只能画三遍，否则将失去水彩画本体语言——透明性。如果说水彩画与其他画种一样能够表现纷繁不同的社会生活的话，那么这种“技法”显然是一种束缚，局限性不言而喻。罗丹说：“真正的艺术是忽视艺术的。”同样真正的技巧是忽视技巧的。对造型艺术本质上的认识，对色彩深层次的理解及相应基础的训练，提高艺术修养才是水彩画创作应着重思考与解决的课题。

　　1.取景与构图

　　印象主义画家惠斯勒说过：“大自然中固然包含着一切图画的色彩和形式因素……但是一个艺术家就是要科学地取舍和组织这些因素，这样做，其结果才可能是美好的。”实际上，在写生过程中取景很大程度上已经决定了构图，当然，画家在这样的过程中是要起到能动作用的，绝不能仅限于对景物的客观描摹。画家要主观地去调整、归纳各种事物并将其置于相应的位置，以便产生明确、清晰和有力的效果。在构图中最难处理的应该是前景，因为透视现象的产生，前景处理不当就会显得大而空，那么在画面中调整前景面积或者移花接木整合其他景物入画，便显得非常重要了，但这样的主观处理，要求艺术家能够把握艺术组建中形式与内涵的贴切，做到既符合自然规律又不能破坏画面的整体意蕴，否则就会显得杂乱拼凑、无法无章。

　　2.色与光

　　我常发现许多学生在为调配色彩而大费气力，我会告诉他们水彩画的色彩表现不仅仅是技巧，关键的问题是在于在什么地方、什么时间，怎样运用这些缤纷的色彩。文艺复兴时期威尼斯画派画家卫洛内看着雨后泥泞的道路说：“我可以用这种色调表现出一位金发少女”。凡·高也说：“没有黄色，没有橙色，就没有蓝色。”何等的精辟、精彩。作品中的色彩效果产生于色与色的关系之中，而不是孤立地去看待色彩的脏与鲜，只有有效地运用色彩，才能使作品令人赏心悦目，同时又具有内在意义。

　　光是水彩画具有特殊美学价值的表现因素，水彩画材料本身也适合表现光，光线的合理运用往往可以使画面获得意想不到的效果。《造船厂》画面中最精彩的部分要算前景大面积船底和投影所形成的暗部中的那一抹光，这抹光使整个暗部有了精气神儿，又呼应了上半部天光的明亮，画面因这束光显得整体而和谐。但光决不是画面表现的全部，有光、无光都可以呈现画面的和谐，例如《静静的小巷》和《阳光下的古巷》是我在不同天气状态下的写生作品，画《阳光下的古巷》时天气阳光明媚，所以我是在大的明暗关系中寻找平衡，这里要强调的是暗部绝不是漆黑一团，画面的丰富性往往都是在暗部中得以体现，但是画面所表现出来的强烈对比，绝不是明暗关系中纯粹明度上的差异，更是由繁简关系辅助达到的。画《静静的小巷》时则是一个阴雨天，没有光，于是我着力表现景物的固有色，在固有色笼罩下的整体灰调子中，充分利用线与形的构成和排布，完成画面语言的丰富表达。

　　3.秩序与构成

　　美国美术史家费尔德曼提出：“我们称谓的美，是任何整体中各个部分之间和谐关系的结果。艺术家的工作就在于把自然界中的秩序运用到作品中去，秩序把瞬间变成了永恒。”自然景物是纷繁复杂的，我们都知道，艺术家要具备能够提炼自然、概括自然的能力。《繁忙的港口》画的是威尼斯水上运输繁忙的场面，场景复杂，物品凌乱，于是我将画面的远景建筑处理成淡淡的大色块以使画面整体谐调，中景是我绘画的重点，为了表现繁复的场面，我运用色点和色线以写意的方式进行空间的构成与秩序排布，于是整个画面既保证了统一和谐又使场面的喧闹繁华被表现得淋漓尽致。同样，《海滨渔船》一画中，对于船帆的处理也是如此，我并没有仔细地刻画彩旗的繁多，因为无论画出多少面旗子，欣赏者看到的都是具体的数字，可我若以色点代替它，就能以一当十，欣赏者看到的就会是“很多”。“一生二、二生三、三生万物”的道家思想是此类画面表现的真正方法。

　　人们常说，艺常在技无穷，“一画之理不明”是在谈绘画的技法，但又容易因囿于“法”而形成障碍。事实上，绘画之法诞生于创造性，真正的画法是根据个人面对自然造物感受的不同而创造出来的。就风景而言，西方人对色彩的敏感、对光的观照，与他们的民族文化、地理、气候等因素有关，地中海的阳光使得威尼斯的水中漂荡的是色彩，而中国的南方水乡就不适合用色彩去表现，黛瓦白墙倒映于水中那就是水墨画，着色就会显得不和谐。再拿人物画来说，西方人的骨骼结构较之东方人更加立体，人种的区别以及历史的沉淀使得东方人含蓄、柔和，体现了东方人美的特质，西方人性格自由、个性张扬，表达在画面上则色彩丰富、视觉冲击力强。所以在绘画上，东方人的绘画强调线，曲径通幽;西方人强调空间、立体和色块。依此而言，画法就更应该是观念而不是具体、固定的方法，作品必须产生自己的“法”才会使任何障碍都能从作品上消失。

　　上述所谓技法在绘画中是互相渗透的，无法独立存在，如此分谈只为述说之方便，况且技法之说，挂一漏万，脱离了具体画面，孤立地去谈笔色与技巧，所有的技法就都失去了价值，“无法而法，乃为至法”，依然是技法追求的最高境界。

　　Every time when people ask me how to paint watercolor well，I would think it over and reply: you’d better sketch as much as possible. This is what I have realized after years of artistic practices.

　　Zhang Zao，a Chinese painter of Tang Dynasty，said，“Learn externally from nature，and internally from heart.” I regard it as the best explanation to sketching. Sketching has not only represented the painter’s unique visual aesthetics and ideas，but also has helped the painter to find his or her own artistic language gradually. That’s why we say sketching is the route painters must take，and the best way painters come up with artistic styles. For watercolor painters，it is especially important to realize that sketching is one of the most important styles of painting.

　　To sketch is to finish paintings in front of real sceneries. Facing the diversity and magnificence of Nature，painters need to concentrate their mind and catch the features of sceneries and their own feelings quickly. During painting，the strokes should not be too heavy or too light. If they are too light，the picture will look pale and unreal;if they too heavy，the picture will look too concrete and rigid，lacking of a taste. At this time，you will be tortured by the disunity between eyes and hands. As a result，you become distressed and confused. If you have such problems，I think your only choice is to keep on sketching and practicing. Then one day you will find a satisfactory solution to your problems.

　　The ability to master colors

　　When we get in touch with watercolor painting，the first problem to solve is to know how to use colors. Theoretically we should obtain relevant knowledge and principles from many aspects，but such knowledge should be based on practice.It is always difficult to represent ark words just words. The ability to master colors should be obtained by sketching.For example，we all know the relationship between primary and tertiary colors as well as the relationship between primary and complementary colors，but it is still difficult to apply these principles into works.Colors in nature are changing constantly. The contrast between colors is sometimes strong and sometimes subtle. Which kind of contrast or harmony it is or which color is powerful should be known through practice.

　　The relevant books but one may still feel puzzled in front of nature. Why? Because the indirect experience you read from books cannot represent great changes in nature. At all times and in all countries，countless artists have suggested that we should learn from nature. In order to know and represent nature，we need to understand its laws.Only in this way can we positively and actively extract the essence from natural images. Then we can understand the laws of art.

　　We all know that the further the spatial perspective of colors is，the colder and grayer it is. We also know that contrast at a short distance is strong，and contrast at a large distance is weak. Furthermore，we know that frontlight is warmer than backlight，and skylight is colder than shadows. But what then? We should transform these theories into colors in paintings. While your artistic skills are becoming mature，you will take part in the transformation actively and use it to make your colors more vivid and more expressive. Then you have gained the ability of mastering colors..

　　The ability to represent images

　　Boudin from France once said，“There is always a kind of irreplaceable，real and vivid spirit in the pictures you draw on the spot.” It shows the real meaning of sketching. However，when facing the nature，we usually become confused. On one hand，we are overwhelmed with the beauty of nature，on the other hand，we do not know where to start. This problem can be solved by sketching，through which we can gradually learn the correct methods to observe.” When we are going to draw a figure，we should know what it is，” said Wu Zuoren. This common statement points out the basis of artistic representation. Some misunderstand the purpose of sketching. They thought it is a training of our hands. Actually，it is a training of our eyes. Our hands paint what we see through our eyes，and whether we see correctly directly determines whether we can paint perfectly through our hands. Therefore，sketching is the primary method to train our ability to observe.

　　Provided with the correct method to observe，we can feel more attentively，typically and actively. The effects of this kind of “active” representation will be very different from those of “inactive” copying.

　　From the above we can see that both the training of the ability to deal with colors and the methods of observing and representing images are based on sketching practices.

　　Only through this can our works have vitality. As Van Gogh said，“I hope to do more exercises.It is the seed which will produce works in the future.” “The more you plant，the more you ark eager to harvest”-that is the truth in art. Beginners can regard sketching as the goal of their studying and training of colors they can also use sketching to get ready for creation. As for mature painters，their successful sketching works are a kind of creation themselves. Frequent practices of sketching can break the stereotypes of painting and stimulate painters’ feelings，most of which have already been dead. Our painters should go out of the “ivory tower”，the studios，and run to the broad “crossroad” in the nature.

　　It seems that all painters，no matter trained or untrained，will discuss on techniques when they talk about watercolor painting，as if techniques are the key to success.Techniques refer to the skills and methods you use in the process of creation. A successful painting is the reflection of the painter’s comprehensive accomplishments. Only through some techniques can a painter produce high-level works. If a painter overemphasizes on techniques as a key to his success，he is then putting the cart before the horse. Besides，as far as techniques are concerned some understandings about them in the watercolor circle are one-sided. The traditional techniques can be divided into“dry drawing”，“wet drawing” and “wet and dry drawing.” It is said that a watercolor picture can only be painted with three layers at most，or else it will lose its characteristic as a watercolor painting，that is，the transparency，if we say that watercolor painting can represent the intricate and different social lives as well as the other painting types，then techniques are obviously a kind of restriction. Their limitations are self-evident. Rodin once said that real art was the ignorance of art.Similarly，real techniques are the ignorance of them. What should be paid attention to in the creation of watercolor paintings is the understanding of formative art，the comprehension of colors and relevant trainings，and the improvement of artistic accomplishments.

　　Next I will talk with examples about the fundamental elements in pictures.

　　1. Framing and Composition

　　The impressionist Wistler once said: “Nature includes all the colors and form elements… but a professional artist needs to organize and choose these elements scientifically. In this way could the result be fine.” The selection of sceneries has determined the composition in the process of sketching to a large extent. Of course，painters should play an active role in the whole process and not just replicate the sceneries. Painters need to adjust and classify these images into proper positons to produce clear and impressive effects. The most difficult thing to handle with in composition is foreground.Because of the perspective effect the foreground could appear large and empty if not taken good care of，so adjusting the area of foreground or adding some other sceneries to the picture is very important However，this requires the artist to be able to master the relationship between forms and connotations. That is to say，the painter should obey the natural laws as well as maintain the meaning of the whole painting，or else the picture is just a badly organized failure.

　　2. Color and Light

　　I often notice that many students put great efforts in toning. Then I would tell them that the representation of colors in watercolor painting is not merely about techniques，but more importantly，about where，when and how we use colors. When looking at the muddy road after rain，Veronses，the painter of Venice School in Renaissance，said，“I can draw a blond girl with this color”. Van Gogh also said: “If there is neither yellow nor orange，there will be no blue.” How incisive they were! The effects of colors do not come from the colors themselves，but come from the relationship between colors. Only by using colors effectively can we produce beautiful pictures with rich meanings.

　　Light is a representative element of watercolor paintings which has special aesthetic value. The materials of watercolor paintings are fit for representing the light. The reasonable usage of light usually produces amazing effects in pictures. In The Shipyard，the best part is the beam of light through darkness caused by the large area of the bottom of the boat and its shadow in the foreground. This beam of light has made the whole shade full of spirit and has responded to the lightness of the skying above. The whole picture seems harmonious and unified because of it.

　　However，lights are not the only thing of the picture. In fact，no matter there’s light or not，painters can represent the harmony in the picture. Taking my two works The Silent Alley and The Old Alley in the Sunshine for example，they were drawn in different weather conditions. The latter was drawn when it was sunny，so I searched for the balance from the relationship between large lightness and large darkness. What should be emphasized here is that the dark part is not just darkness. On the contrary，the richness of the picture has been represented in it. However，the strong contrast represented in the picture is not only a contrast between lightness and darkness in terms of light，but also a contrast between complicated things and simple things. The Quiet Alley was drawn in a rainy day with dim light，so I tried to represent the intrinsic colors of the sceneries，and with a gray background of the picture，I made full use of the composition and arrangement of lines and forms to the rich expression fo the pictorial language finish.

　　3. Order and Composition

　　The American art historian Feldman said，“The so-called beauty results from the harmonious relationships of parts in the whole. The job for artists is to apply the orders in nature to works. The orders change the moments into eternity. We all know that artists should have the ability to extract and summarize the nature. The Busy Port of Venice describes the scene of the busy transportation on the Venice water. The scenery is complicated and the objects are disordered，so I have used the light color lumps to represent the buildings far away in order to make the picture harmonious. The middle ground is the key point of the picture，in order to represent the intricate scene，I have carried out spatial composition and arrangement with dots and lines in the manner of freehand brushwork. Therefore，the picture is both harmonious and rich in representing the boisterous and prosperous scene.”

　　Similarly，in The Fishing Boat at the Seashore，I dealt with the sall in this way too. I didn’t depict the colorful flags according to their numbers because audiences wouldn’t be interested in it. Instead，I used dots to represent flags. Therefore，one dot might represent ten flags，and audiences could see “many” . The idea of Daoism that “Dao produces one，one produces two，two produce three，and three produce all things” is the very method of the representation of this kind of paintings.

　　People often say that the arts exist forever，and techniques are diverse. “Barriers to techniques come from the ignorance of the law of painting.” This means that techniques are important，but if we are confined to them，we may run into dilemma. In fact，techniques come from creativity. True techniques are created according to the personal feelings each painter has when facing the nature. As far as sceneries are concerned，westerners’ feelings for colors and light are related to their national cultures，geographies and climates. In Venice，waters are full of colors because of the Mediterranean sunshine. However，colors are not suitable for the representation of southern Chinese riverside towns. Black tiles and white walls which are reflected in the waters could result in ink and wash paintings，and adding colors to them will be discordant.

　　Again，as for figures，the skeleton of westerners is more three-dimensional than that of easterners. The characteristic of the race and history has made easterners reserved and mild，which has represented the beauty of them. Westerners have a more free and individualistic personality，which is colorful and has a strong visual impact when represented in pictures. Therefore，eastern paintings highlight lines，and western paintings highlight spaces，three-dimension effects and color lumps. Thus it can be known that techniques are more conceptual than specific and settled methods. Painters should have their own techniques，and then the barriers would disappear.

　　The techniques we talked about before cannot be independent from each other. The reason I talked about them separately is that it would be convenient for discussing. Besides，if we focus on only one technique，we will miss thousands of them. Techniques alone would be worthless. The saying “the greatest law is the law without any laws” is still the supreme law in techniques.