Urban Ink Painting Inquiry

Chinese portrait painting, a general term for painting that stresses figure, is an important branch of Chinese painting. The development of Chinese ink-portrait painting can be traced back to Five Dynasties. However, since the great master Xu Beihong introduced the western sketch modeling, together with the art practice by Jiang Zhaohe, the Chinese ink-portrait painting has differed enormously from the ancient one, which is demonstrated by a thorough advancement in figure shaping. Generally speaking, few represents of ink-portrait painting can be pronounced and traditional pen-ink that can be used for reference is far outnumbered by those of mountain, water, flower and birds. There was even a crack in its development. Because of no restraint by tradition and the efforts and explorations by many artists, ink-portrait painting has been pushed to a new high, forming a traditional and young sort of painting that saw a qualitative leap. Urban ink-portrait is new content in its modern stage as artists found a suitable technique of expression for themselves in the traditional painting. In this twenty-first century, modern artists in ink-portrait should combine their painting with the characteristics of China by inheriting the tradition and absorbing the essence of western art. Only by knowing themselves can they have a greater say in modern Chinese culture context.This is an age of diversity where various arts coexist. There might be some debate about tradition and innovation, however, they do not contradict and they can coexist and develop. This needs artists to conduct a new-angle exploration in ink-portrait with a modern view. The modern urban ink-portrait painting is more about how to explore its own ink language and express oneself by utilizing pen and ink relations and sketch modeling than just being of performance. This article is devoted to the discussion of how to seek a sight and beauty by the author in his use of materials of modern young female and the decorative element of pen and ink lines. Some important part of this will concentrate on the impact capability of modern ink art and his artistic concept has on the development of modern urban ink-portrait.