恬靜（彩墨）
記得上高中的時候（花蓮師範普師科），我們的美術老師趙善逵先生（外號嶺南鬍子，杭州藝專畢業，林風眠的學生）要我們買一本翻印的「芥子園畫譜」（台南經緯書局出版，16開本，厚1000頁），要我們讀書裡的文字，並臨摹書裡的畫。有些同學偷懶沒畫，我倒是臨了不少。
在那段臨畫的過程中，我就有一個想法──「學書要學古人，學畫要學今人。」
今人寫的書法，再怎麼厲害超群，也比不過古人。古人天天用毛筆寫字、寫信、寫邀請函、寫契約、寫奏章……一輩子與毛筆為伍，自小即練就深厚的毛筆字基礎。今人有幾個天天用毛筆的？早就沒有那個環境了。今人的書法既沒有古人那麼專精也就難於創新，只能在前人的窠臼裡爬行。
再就畫畫來說，古人資訊不發達，沒有機會看到外國人的畫，囿於有限的知識，也就如此這般因襲的傳承下去。哪像今人見多識廣，勇於吸納外來的畫風畫種，參雜使用外來顏料，使繪畫面目變得豐富而多彩多姿。就繪畫方面來講，今人超越古人太多了。
Serenity/ink and color painting
I remember that when I was in high school (in the general teaching section of Hualien Normal High School), our art teacher, Mr. Chao Shan-kuei (nicknamed “Lingnan Whiskers”; a graduate of Hangzhou College of Art and a student of Lin Fengmian), wanted us to buy the book “Collected Paintings of the Mustard Field” (published by Tainan Chingwei Bookstore, 16-size, 1,000 pages), read the text, and copy the paintings in it. Some of my classmates were too lazy to do the paintings, but I made copies of many of them.
During that period of copying, I came to the conclusion that one should learn calligraphy from ancient calligraphers, but should learn painting from modern painters.
The best calligraphy done by any modern people can’t be as good as that of people in ancient time. Every single day, people in ancient time used writing brushes to write words, letters, invitations, contracts, and memorials to the throne. They grew up with writing brushes and built up solid brush skills from a very early age. In contrast, how many people today use writing brushes on a daily basis? There is no environment for it any more. Because the calligraphy of people nowadays can’t equal that of the ancients, and people today also find it difficult to innovate, they can only try to imitate old examples.
As for painting, people in ancient times didn’t have much information about the world and seldom had chances to see paintings done by foreigners. Confined by their limited knowledge, artists merely passed on what they had learned to the following generation. They had no opportunities to see and learn as widely as people today. Nowadays we can absorb many different painting styles and forms, employ foreign pigments, and thereby produce much more varied and colorful paintings. So as for paintings, modern people far outshine people in ancient time. ＠
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責任編輯：昌英
