OuBen Work 68cm x 68cm

Golden Cat Step Painting Review

Teacher Qu's "Golden Cat Step" turned a small square into a runway, and with the lighting, the protagonist appeared calmly——

Color. Leave blank space on the paper, give up the stage first; A golden splash was poured onto the paper, not flat, but "velvet embroidery": the pen tip was flipped back, pulling out fluffy hairs as fine as autumn hair. When the sun shone, the tips of the hairs emitted a warm copper light, like a brand new gold thread garment, rustling before the wind could blow.

Form. The most charming moment of cat steps is the "pause" - Qu Lao captures this moment: his left foot stretches out straight, his knee does not bend, his wrist does not fold, like the ballet Arabesque being pressed and paused; The hind legs curled up without hair, and the tail feathers stood upright like a golden brush, balancing the forward leaning posture and raising one's gaze straight to the invisible dragon bone on the spine. The most beautiful thing is when the belly is a fraction of a piece of paper, leaving a shadow of "emptiness" under the belly - that emptiness is more itchy than reality, as if it will fall back to the ground in the next second.

God. Cut the tips of the ears into two small triangular radars, rotate them 15 degrees left and right, and collect all the sounds from all directions; Use a light ochre around the eye sockets, lightly touch the lacrimal gland with a wet pen, and bring out the softness of the "affectionate pulse". As for the "black line vertical pupil" - the cat only shrinks into a vertical slit under strong light, but now intentionally leaves it for the audience, like a beam of chasing light at the front edge of the stage: the narrower the slit, the more dazzling the golden eyes are. There are three parts of vigilance and seven parts of laziness in that vertical seam, as if saying 'I see through you and see through you'.

The scenery. Under my feet, there are only three or five strokes of stone green grass sprouts, extremely tender in color, as if they have just been kissed by the night rain; The direction of the grass leaves tilts towards the path of the cat's steps, as if the wind is also disturbed by the cat's tail. The blank space has become an invisible wind and an audience seat where voices have not yet risen - the cleaner the empty space, the more you can hear the final sound of "meow" echoing on the back of the paper.

Pen style postscript

Qu Lao Xingbi has always been known for his "cherishing ink like gold, and letting go of the pen like a slash".

The cat's body is first hooked with a very light ochre stone skeleton, with a stroke of the spine running from head to tail, and then "broken gold" while wet - using thick rattan yellow dots, the flying white naturally flips out, like gold foil made by a blacksmith while hot, thin enough to be transparent and with hammer marks.

The most impressive skill is the tail mane: the base of the pen is heavily pressed, the tip is lightly lifted, and when the pen is retracted, it suddenly "stops", causing the tip of the brush to explode into hexagonal spikes, giving off the fluffy air feeling of "Rongrong".

The grass leaves are even more exquisite. Use an old pen to brush off the edges, dip only a little bit of floral jade, wipe with a horizontal blade, and three or two pieces will show the green and tender after the rain; If you add another half of the stone green, it will be like a cat's paw dipped in spring mud, unintentionally bringing out the "vitality".

As for the blank space, he never left it empty - only when the light, sound, and pink beard on the tip of his nose trembled, could it be considered "finished painting".

So the paper was covered in golden velvet, but the knife and blade saw the bones; Seemingly calm, but in reality, the pen and brush are impatient. This is the "soft inside with a blade" of Qu Ben: first, it warms your eyes with golden color, and then you are gently traced by the vertical pupils, leaving a slender and awe for beauty.

So the whole piece without a title is better than with a title, but only two words can be written: 'Appearing'. It's not the cat appearing, it's the "gold" appearing, the "light" appearing, and the "calm" appearing. Holding the painting in hand, the person suddenly learned to walk lightly - afraid of startling the golden ball, afraid of startling the tail that had not yet been raised in their heart.