红龙(Ⅱ) （彩墨）
古时候，要有钱有闲的人才有机会画画。一般普罗大众既迫于生计，也没有那种闲情在纸上做探索与硺磨的功夫。能拿笔画画的人不是文人就是有钱的人，这些人每天拿毛笔写字写信，偶而兴来，在写字的宣纸上随意涂上几笔也是有的。因为是文人嘛，基本功夫也许不甚了了，画画只是乘兴，偶一为之而已。但这些人往往文学底子深厚，也在画上题几个字抒发一下感想，游戏游戏──这就是我们所谓的“文人画”了。
文人画讲求意趣、率性，不求形似，不重色调。“逸笔草草”，随便撇个几笔，谈不上构图，文字倒是题了一大堆，说画画的目的就是要表达“意念”、“写意寄情”。加上古时颜料也少，大概因为这样，只好把心思转到“墨韵意趣”上去追求了。
Arowana II/ink and color painting
In the old days, a person had to have money and time to be able to paint. Forced to work hard for their living, ordinary common people had no leisure time to explore and hone their skills with paper and brush. In those days, painters were either rich or were educated men of letters. Such individuals wrote with the brush almost every day. Occasionally, when in the mood, they would casually make some paintings on the same xuan paper that they used for writing. Because they were literati, they perhaps did not have much in the way of painting skills, and only painted a little when the notion took their fancy. However, these individuals nevertheless usually had great familiarity with literature, and would write a few characters on their paintings to express their feelings. The rather playful works that were produced in this way are what we now call “literati paintings.”
Literati paintings emphasize wit and the artist’s whims, and don’t stress realism or strong colors. They are only one step above casual doodling, and have no composition worth mentioning. On the other hand, they often bear extensive calligraphic messages, which is in keeping with their purpose of conveying “ideas” and the artist’s feelings. In addition, few pigments were available in former times, which was probably why these would-be artists sought to express their thoughts and feelings in calligraphic ink. ＠
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