Text/ Xue Yong-nian | Famous art historians and art critics
Our country painting gives priority to mural painting before literati painting arose, although the temple mural painting affected by the religious ideas, but folk artists are good at displaying their talent in the public art, not only many art creation, but also broke through the religious rituals and shackles to a certain extent, expressed the joy of living, secular feelings and the spirit of meticulous and excellent. Zhao Qing-sheng loved painting since childhood, in high school studied sketch and color earnestly, after the army retired, long term for repair and creation work of ancient mural painting in Shanxi province cultural relics bureau technology center, he was touched deeply by the great spirit of ancient art traditional and the artists willing to lonely for creation, on the one hand, he research mural technology and produce method, on the other hand, he put into Chinese painting creation with high spirit. He painted comic books, figures, landscape, flowers and birds, and also made portrait sculpture. I met him at senior seminar hosted by the state cultural relics bureau and organized by the central academy of fine arts, this class gives priority to told and researched the knowledge and skills for repair painting and calligraphy, and taught identification theory and method of painting and calligraphy, I taught some courses. Between contact with teachers and students, I found that Zhao Qing-sheng has high level for copy ancient painting, and he also engaged in Chinese traditional painting creation with efforts and progress.
He is highly capable technology of copying ancient mural, both excellent for sharp and spirit, as a cultural relic worker of self-taught, very nice. I see his figure painting creation, represented by the historical story “Three kingdoms”, everyone knows about it, he used the technique of claborate heavy-color painting, inherited traditional to created the sharp as spirit, be particular about bone pen, and combined heavy-color figures with green landscapes, even absorbed the ink landscape techniques, got the secret of traditional mural realistic and decorated and unified, achieved good results. His landscape painting, painted the Yellow River more times where through his hometown Shanxi, he is good at embodying magnificent reality, has high level and quite expressive force. His flowers and birds painting are Chinese traditional freehand brushwork painting. inferior to his landscapes and figures, but besides murals, he also learned from the traditional literati freehand brushwork, If he can pay attention to appreciate life, and do more sketches, combing the various, must be a greater progress. Occasion of the publication of this album, I congratulate Zhao Qing-sheng, and hope that he can appreciate life and connect natural, and combined traditional folk mural paintings with literati paintings, create self between ancient essence light and glorious splendor of modern life, eulogize times, his efforts will make greater achievements.
2nd, January, 2003