A Brief Analysis Of "Light" And "Elegant" Paintings In Chinese Landscape Painting

In the oriental experience,"light" is often related with the feelings like clear, elegant, illusory and quiet. It’s overwhelming in the aesthetics of the Chinese painters, and many ancient Chinese masters chase for this spiritual state. To put it in specific paintings, a "light" painting means implicit or fresh. To put it in the oriental thoughts and conceptions, we can retrospect it to Taoism and Confucianism. In Taoism, Laozi raises "tasteless" as his aesthetics, referring it as the most vivid one to illustrate "Tao". Confucius raises "balanced" and "harmonious" as his ideal mode, despising exaggeration and mannerism, and advocating natural balance and harmony.This thesis aims to systemize the conception of "light", and search for its aesthetics tradition. In addition, I’ll relate my painting practice to analyze its expressive form, inner implication and its relationship with the brush and the ink. I hope to take advantage of this chance to connect with the ancient master and elevate my artistic taste and nurture a better painting style.