牛晓林：用画笔诠释“出彩”

刘慧

“出彩——牛晓林彩铅艺术探索创作展暨首届未来杯全国彩铅绘画大赛作品展”6月初在浙江赛丽美术馆展出。6月10日下午，一场关于“彩铅艺术探索创作”沙龙，让很多美术老师和学习绘画的同学们感慨良多，受益匪浅。

旅美艺术家、美术教育家牛晓林，从专业画家的角度重新定义彩色铅笔在教学和创作上的意义，为彩铅绘画打开了一片更加广阔的天空。

展览现场80件作品精彩纷呈

“出彩——牛晓林彩铅艺术探索创作展暨首届未来杯全国彩铅绘画大赛作品展”展出了牛晓林80件作品，包括“中国人民生活系列”“戏剧系列”“肖像创作系列”“探索与学习系列”，同时还有以“为孩子们”为题材创作的系列作品，展现了牛晓林独创的彩铅艺术教学系统及教学理念。

展厅里，有一幅《川妹子》画的是牛晓林在四川一个小镇上偶遇的一位小姑娘。“她的朝气、朴实给我留下了难忘的印象。我抓拍了好几个镜头，就一直保留着。”牛晓林选择创作这件作品时，就是希望画出地地道道的川味儿，原汁原味地表现出他所看到的四川人民的生活。在技巧上，牛晓林发现了彩色铅笔的一个独特性——暂且叫它深层素描兼容性。这幅画的许多地方是用这个技巧画出来的。

“这幅《平安夜》则是早期的一个挑战，我想探讨彩色铅笔是否可以进行深度创作，例如专业而深入的表现空间、气氛以及更深入地刻画人物形象。”结果令牛晓林较为满意。这幅画的实践，也为以后的创作提供了很多经验。

另一幅《打起手鼓唱起歌》则最初源于一个网友的照片，后经牛晓林进行创作而成。“我发现它几乎包含了一幅优秀创作题材需要的所有因素：典型的时间、地点和人物关系。我调动了一切我具备的素描和色彩能力。”在这幅作品中，牛晓林对彩色铅笔创作的可能性进行了一次探索。

“这次展览，我还特别准备了关于‘中国人民生活系列的作品，比如这件《农民工》。每次回国，我常看到那些悬挂在高级写字楼外擦玻璃窗的劳动者，从事着非常辛苦的工作，但我从他们的表情里感受到他们在城市里有了新的生活，看到了新的希望。虽然流着汗，但他们以为城市建设作出了贡献而感到光荣。”牛晓林把它做成纪念碑式的構图，还加上了红飘，表达祝福。完成这件大幅作品时，牛晓林内心非常激动。

《艺术家企业家夏赛丽》对人物的形象气质刻画也是一个挑战。创作时，牛晓林最大的疑惑是：是否可以用彩色铅笔表现出来？越剧《断桥》是戏曲演员夏赛丽与何赛飞的成名之作。“我找到当时的录像，看了无数遍，分析了每一个镜头，但没有一个是可以直接进行美术创作的画面。后来，我发现白娘子的这个动作是经典的，所以一切都围绕着她来构图了。我当时有大胆的艺术构想，就是把印象派色彩、中国泼墨和戏曲元素结合起来，创作出一种全新的彩铅画风格。”作品完成后，牛晓林还是比较满意的。

首次在国内提出彩铅绘画概念

牛晓林于1963年入中央美术学院附中就读，1983年入西安美术学院油画系读研究生，师从著名画家武德祖和谌北新。毕业后，他工作于八一电影制片厂，并参与《巍巍昆仑》影片的创作。1990年，他移居美国，先后在马萨诸塞州州立美术学院等大学讲学、举办画展，作品被私人以及哈佛大学等公共机构收藏。

1994年，牛晓林在波士顿华人文化中心初次接触业余美术教育工作。随着教学思考的深入和教学规模的不断扩大，他逐渐确立了以彩色铅笔为主要绘画工具、以向绘画大师经典作品临摹学习为主要授课方式的教学思路，形成了一套系统而有成效的少儿美术教学方法和组织形式。

目前，这一教学体系在美国已有20多年的教学实践，并在波士顿地区的业余美术教育领域产生了一定影响。2012年，牛晓林将20多年积累的独创的教学经验，汇集成《彩色铅笔素描教学CPS》一书出版发行，并首次在国内提出彩色铅笔素描的概念，为国内少儿基础美术教育领域带来不一样的方法论，引起国内美术教育工作者和美术爱好者的关注。

牛晓林说，他设制的彩色铅笔素描课程，把素描、色彩融为一体，符合孩子直观的思维模式；高质量的教学范作，题材多样、贴近生活；系统的教学方法，由浅入深，利于保持学习的持久性；学习大师经典，临摹大师名作，体悟大师的创作思维；以通俗易懂的语言讲授专业知识，有助于真正掌握绘画技法，练就极强的形象思维。

“我的教学宗旨，就是把孩子们对绘画的喜爱变成他们自身的价值。”牛晓林的教学不以单纯地培养孩子对美术的兴趣爱好为目的，而是将绘画语言和学习生活认知、自我认知相融合，让孩子通过绘画语言了解自我，培养起对学习的兴趣、对生活的热爱。

就在2014年，牛晓林受邀与三捷投资集团有限公司合作，在杭州成立“娃哈哈未来城美术教育中心”，得以将CPS体系完整地贡献于国内美术教育界。

“他是从教学的需要出发发现了彩色铅笔创作，进而察觉到它的可能性，直到今天做出这样的成绩。我看到了他在大洋彼岸奋斗的30年，那是一个全面发展、勇于探索、踏踏实实不懈追求的画家所走过的路。”谌北新说，牛晓林的实践对年轻一代有着启发意义。

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.”