老外看老鼓浪屿--Amoy paintings

    Compiled by Bill Brown

        没有西方艺术的透视感，中国画的视觉效果是俯视，而非仰视。这些画基本上属于印象派，通常都是艺术家灵感的结晶。

    ——尼尔，1956年

    Chinese scroll paintings are usually done on long strips of rice paper which may be pasted on silk scrolls and then hung up on a wall. There is no sense of perspective, as in Western art. The effect is that of looking down on a landscape from above rather than at it from the ground.

    The paintings are essentially impressionistic and usually the result of an inspiration that comes to the artist, suddenly releasing an overflow of creative talent on the paper with a few quick brush strokes. In this he is helped by a study of calligraphy and by having had to write Chinese ideographs with a brush from early school days. 

    Calligraphy helps to bring out a wide range of aesthetic reactions. It teaches the artist to use his brush in sweeping, light or heavy strokes with a spontaneity that will stand him in good stead when he turns to painting. Some artists concentrate solely on calligraphy, and may write one large character, such as “happiness,” with such fineness that it in itself becomes a highly valued scroll. 

    －－ Desmond Neill， 1956