Ouyang Lisha and Her Watercolor Paintings

Text by Zhao Mengchen & Tang lin Photos by Su Zhuolin

Upon entering Ouyang Lisha's studio, we were immediately impressed by the bright colors, smooth lines, and appealing artistic effects fully displayed by her watercolor paintings. The traditional Chinese artistic elements she melted in Western-style watercolor paintings creates a unique artistic style with a blend of Western and Chinese characteristics.

Even as a child, Ouyang Lisha had a great gift for drawing. When she was three, her father found that she was skillful at drawing smooth lines and then sent her to learn Chinese painting. She began practicing sketching when she was six and at the age of 14, she became a student at the High School Affiliated with the Hubei Institute of Fine Arts, learning painting from Chen Yunquan,a master of Chinese traditional painting, as well as from Liu Shouxiang, who was renowned for his watercolor paintings. Thanks to her teachers' strict instruction, Lisha learned various painting skills, which laid foundation for her future painting career.

“My painting techniques, aesthetic preference and artistic accomplishment were all reared and nourished in China,” said Ouyang Lisha.

Ouyang Lisha's biggest inspiration was her five-yearlong overseas study in Germany where she studied at the Münster University of Applied Sciences for her Master's degree from 2000 to 2005. Germany is an ideal country for artists, with its outstanding architecture and landscapes everywhere, as well as plenty of artistic resources and art exhibitions. All these characteristics offered Ouyang Lisha imaginative room for painting. Her German mentor, Professor Hartmut Brückner, a first-class artist and designer in Germany, has won the title of “the most beautiful book design in the world” in 2004, the crowning achievement in the field of book design in Germany. And according to Lisha, “It was Professor Brückner who inspired my creativity and encouraged me to innovate. ”

“Traditional Chinese painting is totally different from the German style. Chinese artists prefer spontaneity in drawing, emphasizing the coherence between the brush move and mental flow, while German painters praise the accuracy of the painting.” Two different genres are skillfully blended in Lisha's artworks.

In her watercolor painting Spiderworts and Three Callas, three blooming callas stand in the center with their stems paralleling in an orderly manner, while the exuberant leaves and spiderworts strive to break down the shackles, reflecting the harmony between order and vitality.

Ouyang Lisha is meticulous about the colors in her paintings. Although most of the traditional Chinese and watercolor paintings are a light hue, Lisha tends to apply colors in sharp contrast. In the above painting, for example, the vitality of callas is shown through a strong visual effect posed by the contrast between the neon yellow and light purple.

Not only are Ouyang Lisha's paintings greatly influenced by both Chinese and Western cultures, but she holds a supportive attitude towards cultural inheritance and cultural exchange.

歐陽麗莎畫作 Paintings by Ouyang Lisha

“I have seen many Germans who practice traditional Chinese acupuncture to treat their illnesses and relieve pain. It seems that some Germans have done better in preserving traditional Chinese medical skills than Chinese ourselves, so I ponder what we Chinese artists can do to make our culture more prosperous.

That's why Ouyang Lisha published her bilingual book (in Chinese and English)—The World of Black and White, showcasing the magic and charm of Chinese Calligraphy to the world. Different from a traditional Chinese book on calligraphy, Lisha designed her book in the form of traditional Chinese concertina binding, which well explains the structure of Chinese characters and skills of brush calligraphy, as well as cultural connotations behind them.

In the future, Lisha expects to have more opportunities to introduce Chinese art to the world and improve cultural exchange and mutual understanding between Chinese and Western culture through her works.

走近歐陽麗莎

文/趙夢晨 唐琳 攝影/蘇卓琳

絢麗的色彩、流暢的筆法和呼之欲出的藝術表現力，是歐陽麗莎畫室中的水彩作品帶給我的第一印象。在她筆下，水彩這一西洋畫種融入了中國畫的寫意元素，營造出中西結合的獨特畫風。

歐陽麗莎從小便顯現出過人的繪畫天賦。3歲時，父親發現她隨意勾勒的線條非常漂亮，于是帶她學習國畫；6歲，歐陽麗莎開始學習素描；14歲進入湖北美術學院附中后，在工筆花鳥大家陳運權老師以及以靜物水彩聞名的劉壽祥老師等名家的引領下，歐陽麗莎廣泛涉獵不同畫種，奠定了堅實的繪畫基礎，她直言：“我的技巧，我的審美，以及我的藝術修養，都是在國內學到的?！?/p>

而真正為歐陽麗莎打開創作靈感大門的，則是留學德國五年的那段經歷。2000年，歐陽麗莎赴德國留學，在明斯特應用科學大學藝術系攻讀視覺信息設計碩士學位。德國是藝術的天堂，走在馬路上，隨處可見讓人眼前一亮的的設計和建筑，為歐陽麗莎的藝術創造提供參考。德國豐富的畫展與藝術資源也讓她得以近距離欣賞大師的技法，從大師筆下汲取靈感。

歐陽麗莎（中）和她的德國導師（左） Ouyang Lisha (middle) and her German mentor Professor Hartmut Brückner (left)

歐陽麗莎畫作《冬日馬蹄蓮》Callas in Winter by Ouyang Lisha

更令她念念不忘的，是其導師，德國藝術設計大師哈特穆特·布呂克勒的指引。2004年，布呂克勒教授的設計作品曾獲得德國“世界最美的書”這一書籍藝術設計領域的最高榮譽。歐陽麗莎感嘆：“我必須感謝我的導師，是他啟發了我的創造力，鼓勵我勇敢創作?！?/p>

“中德藝術創作方法大相徑庭。中國畫家揮毫潑墨，講求一氣呵成，德國畫家推崇精確細致美。”這兩種迥然不同的風格在麗莎的畫作中完美交融。

《紫鴨跖草和三朵馬蹄蓮》畫的是盛開的馬蹄蓮，三朵馬蹄蓮佇立在紙張中央，筆挺的莖平行而立，充滿秩序感，而周圍相互疊加的綠葉和自由生長的紫鴨跖草則是為了掙脫桎梏，使秩序與生動相得益彰。

歐陽麗莎在用色上也十分講究。傳統的國畫和一般水彩畫給人的第一印象都是淡雅。可麗莎的畫作卻絢麗鮮艷，對比強烈。就像在這幅畫中，芥末黃和淡紫的對比帶來更大的視覺沖擊力，使花朵的生命力躍然紙上。

中西文化對歐陽麗莎的深遠影響不僅體現在她的繪畫作品上，還體現在她支持文化傳承、文化交流的態度上。

“在德國，我曾見過那里的人們運用中醫的針灸治病、止痛，有些德國人對中國傳統醫術的保護和傳承甚至比我們中國人自己做得都要好。我就在想，中國藝術人還能做些什么，將我們的文化發揚光大。”

在這樣的思考之下，歐陽麗莎制作了中英雙語書——《黑與白的世界》，以向世界展示中國毛筆書法的魅力。與普通毛筆字帖不同，這本著作采用中國傳統的經折裝，從外國讀者的角度出發，清楚地講解了漢字結構、運筆技巧以及其背后的文化內涵。

歐陽麗莎在畫室作畫 Ouyang Lisha painting in her studio

《紫鴨拓草和三朵馬蹄蓮》 Spiderworts and Three Callas by Ouyang Lisha

未來，歐陽麗莎希望能有更多機會，借助自己的藝術作品，向世界展示中國藝術，促進中西藝術文化交流、互鑒。