Ni Yunlin Landscape Pen And Ink Techniques Feature Analysis

Chinese landscape painting had almost formed into shape in the Tang Dynasty, reached its maturity in the Song Dynasty, and climax in the Yuan Dynasty. Particularly, with the rise and development of the paintings drawn by the literati, the painters in the Yuan Dynasty turned the function of the painting from achieving the likeness of the scenes as they are in reality to expressing the painters' own mind. Thus, the landscape paintings had borne the function of manifesting the feelings and characters of the painters. Yi Yunlin, who was born in 1301 and died in 1374, was one of Four Masters who were good at painting in the Yuan Dynasty. Yi's paintings are highly appreciated by the later generations for his elegant and easy brushwork. The simple but classic scene in the paintings combined by the broad river, solitary pavilion, low hillside, and several tough trees has become the symbol of the landscape paintings by the literati in the Yuan Dynasty. Although simple, the composition of the paintings of "one river with two banks" has employed abundant brushworks, which the painter had practiced a lot since young. Through high condensation and reconstruction, the few and countable scenes in the painting have got rid of the overloaded details. As the result, when people appreciate the scene, they pay their attention to the brushworks and the feelings of the painter rather than the scenes themselves. That's the idea of painting held by the painter which is called "to express the leisure and mood for enjoyments for the moment". "Light-ink strokes", which represented the classic brushwork by Yi Yunshan, developed from the foundation by previous painters and from Yi's own painting practice, manifested his profound understanding of the Nature, and endowed the painting with spanking fresh taste of beauty. Besides, among the Four Masters who were good at painting in the Yuan Dynasty, only Yi Yunlin, meanwhile a calligrapher, well achieved the alternate usage of the tip of a writing brush in writing and painting, namely, "making the writing as parts of the painting", as to make the painting writable and integrate both the writings and scenes in one picture. What's more, as the inclusive element of the painting, the use of the preface and postscript in the painting not only continued to complete the painting, but also made the painting more vivid and prosperous. The simple scene, clear and smooth brushwork, and solitary and quite state have achieved the appreciation of the paintings from sizing up the likeness of the scene to the leisure of the scene in real sense.