牛曉林：用畫筆詮釋“出彩”

劉慧

“出彩——牛曉林彩鉛藝術探索創作展暨首屆未來杯全國彩鉛繪畫大賽作品展”6月初在浙江賽麗美術館展出。6月10日下午，一場關于“彩鉛藝術探索創作”沙龍，讓很多美術老師和學習繪畫的同學們感慨良多，受益匪淺。

旅美藝術家、美術教育家牛曉林，從專業畫家的角度重新定義彩色鉛筆在教學和創作上的意義，為彩鉛繪畫打開了一片更加廣闊的天空。

展覽現場80件作品精彩紛呈

“出彩——牛曉林彩鉛藝術探索創作展暨首屆未來杯全國彩鉛繪畫大賽作品展”展出了牛曉林80件作品，包括“中國人民生活系列”“戲劇系列”“肖像創作系列”“探索與學習系列”，同時還有以“為孩子們”為題材創作的系列作品，展現了牛曉林獨創的彩鉛藝術教學系統及教學理念。

展廳里，有一幅《川妹子》畫的是牛曉林在四川一個小鎮上偶遇的一位小姑娘。“她的朝氣、樸實給我留下了難忘的印象。我抓拍了好幾個鏡頭，就一直保留著。”牛曉林選擇創作這件作品時，就是希望畫出地地道道的川味兒，原汁原味地表現出他所看到的四川人民的生活。在技巧上，牛曉林發現了彩色鉛筆的一個獨特性——暫且叫它深層素描兼容性。這幅畫的許多地方是用這個技巧畫出來的。

“這幅《平安夜》則是早期的一個挑戰，我想探討彩色鉛筆是否可以進行深度創作，例如專業而深入的表現空間、氣氛以及更深入地刻畫人物形象。”結果令牛曉林較為滿意。這幅畫的實踐，也為以后的創作提供了很多經驗。

另一幅《打起手鼓唱起歌》則最初源于一個網友的照片，后經牛曉林進行創作而成。“我發現它幾乎包含了一幅優秀創作題材需要的所有因素：典型的時間、地點和人物關系。我調動了一切我具備的素描和色彩能力。”在這幅作品中，牛曉林對彩色鉛筆創作的可能性進行了一次探索。

“這次展覽，我還特別準備了關于‘中國人民生活系列的作品，比如這件《農民工》。每次回國，我常看到那些懸掛在高級寫字樓外擦玻璃窗的勞動者，從事著非常辛苦的工作，但我從他們的表情里感受到他們在城市里有了新的生活，看到了新的希望。雖然流著汗，但他們以為城市建設作出了貢獻而感到光榮。”牛曉林把它做成紀念碑式的構圖，還加上了紅飄，表達祝福。完成這件大幅作品時，牛曉林內心非常激動。

《藝術家企業家夏賽麗》對人物的形象氣質刻畫也是一個挑戰。創作時，牛曉林最大的疑惑是：是否可以用彩色鉛筆表現出來？越劇《斷橋》是戲曲演員夏賽麗與何賽飛的成名之作。“我找到當時的錄像，看了無數遍，分析了每一個鏡頭，但沒有一個是可以直接進行美術創作的畫面。后來，我發現白娘子的這個動作是經典的，所以一切都圍繞著她來構圖了。我當時有大膽的藝術構想，就是把印象派色彩、中國潑墨和戲曲元素結合起來，創作出一種全新的彩鉛畫風格。”作品完成后，牛曉林還是比較滿意的。

首次在國內提出彩鉛繪畫概念

牛曉林于1963年入中央美術學院附中就讀，1983年入西安美術學院油畫系讀研究生，師從著名畫家武德祖和諶北新。畢業后，他工作于八一電影制片廠，并參與《巍巍昆侖》影片的創作。1990年，他移居美國，先后在馬薩諸塞州州立美術學院等大學講學、舉辦畫展，作品被私人以及哈佛大學等公共機構收藏。

1994年，牛曉林在波士頓華人文化中心初次接觸業余美術教育工作。隨著教學思考的深入和教學規模的不斷擴大，他逐漸確立了以彩色鉛筆為主要繪畫工具、以向繪畫大師經典作品臨摹學習為主要授課方式的教學思路，形成了一套系統而有成效的少兒美術教學方法和組織形式。

目前，這一教學體系在美國已有20多年的教學實踐，并在波士頓地區的業余美術教育領域產生了一定影響。2012年，牛曉林將20多年積累的獨創的教學經驗，匯集成《彩色鉛筆素描教學CPS》一書出版發行，并首次在國內提出彩色鉛筆素描的概念，為國內少兒基礎美術教育領域帶來不一樣的方法論，引起國內美術教育工作者和美術愛好者的關注。

牛曉林說，他設制的彩色鉛筆素描課程，把素描、色彩融為一體，符合孩子直觀的思維模式；高質量的教學范作，題材多樣、貼近生活；系統的教學方法，由淺入深，利于保持學習的持久性；學習大師經典，臨摹大師名作，體悟大師的創作思維；以通俗易懂的語言講授專業知識，有助于真正掌握繪畫技法，練就極強的形象思維。

“我的教學宗旨，就是把孩子們對繪畫的喜愛變成他們自身的價值。”牛曉林的教學不以單純地培養孩子對美術的興趣愛好為目的，而是將繪畫語言和學習生活認知、自我認知相融合，讓孩子通過繪畫語言了解自我，培養起對學習的興趣、對生活的熱愛。

就在2014年，牛曉林受邀與三捷投資集團有限公司合作，在杭州成立“娃哈哈未來城美術教育中心”，得以將CPS體系完整地貢獻于國內美術教育界。

“他是從教學的需要出發發現了彩色鉛筆創作，進而察覺到它的可能性，直到今天做出這樣的成績。我看到了他在大洋彼岸奮斗的30年，那是一個全面發展、勇于探索、踏踏實實不懈追求的畫家所走過的路。”諶北新說，牛曉林的實踐對年輕一代有著啟發意義。

From June 1 to 10， 2018， Zhejiang Saili Art Gallery in Hangzhou held an exhibition titled “Creating a New Era： Frank Nius Exploration of Colored Pencil Drawing”， featuring the 80 colored pencil drawings of Niu Xiaolin （Frank Niu）， a Chinese American artist who engages in art education and creativity. Also on display on the same venue were 229 colored pencil drawings created by professionals. The drawings were in a separate but related exhibition called The First “Welearning Cup” National Colored Pencil Drawing Competition Exhibition.

On the afternoon of June 10， a workshop on the art of colored pencil drawing was held at the venue， attended by art teachers and students， among other people present at the event. They were deeply impressed with the drawings by Niu Xiaolin.

Nius 80 drawings fell into five sections： the Chinese Life series， the Theater series， Portraits series， Exploration and Study series， and For Children series. These drawings well presented Niu Xiaolins accomplishment in colored pencil drawing and his unique art education system on colored pencil drawing and his art philosophy.

What makes Nius colored pencil drawing unique is that his drawings are more than sketches. The artist focuses upon some details in a drawing so that the drawing can explore artistic features in depth. He has been able to create different atmospheres， spatial relations， and human images often seen in mature artworks in other artistic media. He has explored a wide range of possibilities in colored pencil drawing. Niu has rediscovered the charms of colored pencil and redefined the art of colored pencil drawing.

The section titled “Chinese Life” featured drawings he created especially for this exhibition in Hangzhou. is dedicated to millions of those people who move around the country in search of jobs in cities. On his home-visiting trips， he saw several times some workers cleaning walls of skyscrapers. So he drew such a cleaner working a fa?ade of a skyscraper set in the background of Hangzhou. He chose to draw the person like a monument and colored his work uniform red. When he eventually finished the drawing， he was so excited that he wasnt able to hold back his tears.

To make a portrait of Xia Saili， an entrepreneur in Hangzhou who owns the museum and provided the space for Nius solo exhibition， Niu faced some challenges. The biggest challenge was if he could really do a portrait with colored pencils. Xia Saili used to be a Yueju Opera star before she turned to business. So Niu watched a Yueju Opera highlight called to see how Xia performed in the peak of her blooming career. He repeatedly watched the scene and then decided to integrate several artistic elements into the portrait. The result presents an image created in impressionist colors， Chinese splashed ink， and theater elements. Niu was happy with the innovative way he created the portrait.

In 1983， Niu Xiaolin took a graduate course at the Oil Painting Department of Xian Academy of Fine Arts. His tutors were Wu Dezu and Chen Beixin. After graduation he worked for a film studio for years. In 1990， he migrated to USA， where he gave lectures and held exhibitions. His artworks are in private and public collections in USA.

He began to explore the possibility of using colored pencils as a major tool for drawing in 1994 when he taught children at a Chinese cultural center in Boston. Gradually he developed a successful system. He taught children how to do colored-pencil drawing by copying masterpieces with colored pencils.

Nius drawing system has been practiced in the United States for over 20 years and has produced positive results and influence in art education for children around Boston in particular. In 2012， Peoples Art Press in China published a textbook on colored pencil drawing authored by Niu Xiaolin. Niu was the first Chinese who came up with the idea of sketching with colored pencils. His approach has brought a different methodology into art education for children. Art educators and enthusiasts in China have noticed the new method.

The exhibition in Hangzhou was by no means Nius first association with the city. In 2014， He set up an art education center at Wahaha Future City in partnership with an investment group.

“He noticed colored pencils in his teaching practice and saw the possibilities in them. In his achievement I see his hard work on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. His achievement embodies a successful journey an artist has taken in search of growth in a hardworking and down-to-earth spirit，” commented Nius mentor Chen Beixin with Xian Academy of Fine Arts. “Niu Xiaolins practice offers an enlightening insight into art for younger generations.”