Traditional style illustrations - summary and appreciation of several types of illustration styles

What are the characteristics of traditional Chinese illustrations? It is a long-standing tradition in our country that old novels have illustrations and embroidered images. The illustrations are all woodblock prints, carved on wood and then printed. They are often crudely drawn and poorly carved, with only a few exceptions. Ren Weichang, who lived during the Xianfeng period, is generally considered to be the last master of traditional printmaking in my country. The "Thirty-Three Musketeers" that has been handed down has very vivid characters. Printmaking in our country has a long history. The oldest printmaking work is the zodiac seal of the Han Dynasty. The seal is engraved with pictures of dragons, tigers, birds, etc., and is printed on silk paper to form exquisite and beautiful graphics. Printmaking grew out of Buddhist paintings in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, flourished in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and reached its peak in the late Ming Dynasty. The biggest artist was Chen Hongshou (Lao Lian). Printmaking generally developed in the Qing Dynasty, and New Year pictures became popular among the people. Ren Weichang, who lived during the Xianfeng period, is generally considered to be the last master of traditional printmaking in my country. Later prints were influenced by Western art and were quite different from our country's traditional style. The collection of prints "Thirty-Three Musketeers" by Ren Weichang contains images of thirty-three swordsmen, and the characters are very vivid. Occasionally, when I have free time, I flip through a few pages, which triggers some imagination, and often leads to the idea: "It would be best to 'insert' a short story for each picture." It is customary for painters to draw illustrations for novelists, at all times and at home and abroad, it seems. No novelist has ever written a novel to accompany a series of paintings. Since I don't read much, I don't know all the stories of these thirty-three swordsmen. But I am writing a novel anyway, and if I don’t know the original source, I might as well create a story at will. But my wish to write thirty-three swordsman stories can never be fulfilled. After writing the first novel "Yue Nu Sword", I couldn't continue writing the second novel "Qiu Bearded Guest". Writing a narrative is much easier than writing a novel, so I switched to a straightforward narrative to introduce the original story. Among them, four stories, "The Bearded Guest", "Nie Yinniang", "Red Thread" and "Kunlun Slave", are well known and will not be described in detail. At the same time, the original text is very well written and I am not capable of translating it into the same concise and clear style, so I have appended the original text. . For the more unusual stories, the entire content of the original text is written out. The art of Chinese ancient book engraving illustrations. The ancients wrote books and established explanations, attaching great importance to the role of pictures. "Pictures on the left and books on the right", "pictures on the left and history on the right", "text is not enough to make up for the picture, and pictures are not enough to describe it", pictures and texts complement each other, which is a fine tradition of Chinese calligraphy. There are countless books printed in China through the ages, many of which are accompanied by exquisite illustrations. This is not only a precious historical and cultural wealth, but also a vivid material for studying ancient politics, culture, and folk customs. 1. The Origin and Emergence of Engraved Illustrations in Ancient Chinese Books In terms of their production forms, ancient Chinese books can be roughly divided into two eras: writing books and printing books. Before the Han Dynasty, people copied books on natural carriers such as bamboo slips and wooden slips or on silk fabrics such as silk. In 1942, a silk painting was unearthed from a Chu tomb during the Warring States Period in Changsha, Hunan. It was painted with colorful images and explanatory text similar to bronze inscriptions, and was surrounded by twelve statues of gods, symbolizing the twelve months. It is an early relic of silk book illustrations in my country. The so-called engraving illustrations refer to copies of drawings obtained by engraving and printing. Block printing is also called full-page printing, which refers to the method of engraving text or pictures on a whole piece of wood or other materials, and then adding ink to the plate for printing. In this way, copies of illustrations can be obtained in large quantities. Since ancient book plates were mainly made of pear and jujube wood, these illustrations are all prints, also called woodcuts. After the invention of woodblock printing, it was first used to print illustrations of Buddhist scriptures. Master Xuanzang, a famous eminent monk in the Tang Dynasty, once carved and printed Buddha statues that benefited the world. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Feng Zhi's "Yun Xian San Lu" quoted "Yi Lu from the Monk Garden" and said: "Xuan Zang printed images of Samantabhadra on Hui Feng paper and distributed them in all directions, and every year there was no more than five packs." It can be seen that there are many of them. of. The oldest extant engraving illustration artwork is the "Dharani Sutra and Mantra" unearthed in 1953 from a Tang tomb near Wangjiang Tower outside the East Gate of Chengdu. This piece was found in a silver bracelet worn on the arm of the tomb owner. It was engraved with ancient Sanskrit sutras and mantras, and there were small Buddha images printed around and in the center. According to research, it was published after the second year of Emperor Suzong's reign in the Tang Dynasty (AD 757). Among the remains of prints from the Tang Dynasty, another more important work is the title page painting of the "Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra" published in the ninth year of Xiantong in the Tang Dynasty (AD 868). This piece is a scroll about 16 feet long. It is made of six pages of paper. The end of the scroll is painted with the picture "The Only Tree Gives to the Lonely Garden". The whole picture is gorgeously decorated, with a solid layout. The lines are delicate but strong. It is an engraving A masterpiece with mature craftsmanship.

At the end of the volume, there is a note that "On April 15, the ninth year of Xiantong, Wang D made a charity for his two relatives." It is the earliest extant engraving illustration artwork and Buddhist print masterpiece with the exact date of publication in the world. China printed illustrations for books in the form of engravings, at least five hundred years earlier than Europe. This picture is the most famous masterpiece of early engraving illustrations in my country. The emperors of the early Tang Dynasty mostly adopted the policy of paying equal attention to Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and Buddhism developed rapidly. The empress Wu Zetian changed the name of Tang Dynasty to Zhou Dynasty, and borrowed the "Dayun Sutra" as a prophecy for the heroine to be entrusted with heaven. She claimed that her "dragon's rise" was originally a prophecy of the Buddha, and it was the great promotion of Buddhism. At that time, statues and temples were built all over the country; scholars and people published and distributed scriptures, which became a common practice. From this point of view, there must have been a large number of Buddhist prints at that time. However, because of the long history, few Tang Dynasty seals have survived to this day. In addition, in the fifth year of Huichang in the Tang Dynasty (AD 845), Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty issued an edict to exterminate Buddhism, and the engravings of the sutras were all destroyed. The illustrations of the Buddhist engravings that have been handed down to this day are like auspicious feathers and are hard to find. However, based on documentary records and existing objects, it can be initially confirmed that after the invention of Chinese woodblock printing, it was first and most widely used in the printing of Buddhist scriptures. Buddhist-themed works also became the earliest category in the history of Chinese woodblock illustration art. . 2. The Five Dynasties, Song and Yuan Illustrations that inherit the past and the future. The Five Dynasties, which followed the Tang Dynasty, was an era of great turmoil, division and chaos in Chinese history. It was also a period of relative decline in the history of art. However, the art of engraving illustrations pioneered in the Tang Dynasty made considerable progress amidst the turmoil. The remaining engraving and illustration works from the Five Dynasties still only have one theme: Buddhism, and the number is still very rare, but compared with the Tang Dynasty, there are still more. Among them, the most noteworthy ones are the "Statue of the Great Sage Bishamonten" and the "Statue of the Great Compassionate and Greatly Compassionate Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva". Both pictures were published in the fourth year of Kaiyun in the Later Jin Dynasty (AD 947). The latter is inscribed with the words "Made by Cao Yuanzhong, the Grand Master of the Guiyi Army's Jiedu History Inspection School", and is signed by the engraver Lei Yanmei at the bottom. It is the earliest surviving picture of the date of publication. , location, publisher, and engraver's name; the former is the earliest existing engraving illustration of the Guanyin statue, which shows that although they are all Buddhist works of art, the choice of themes is far more sophisticated than that of the Tang Dynasty Much richer. In 960 AD, the Northern Song Dynasty was established. After conquering the south and the north, the country was unified. The Song Dynasty attached great importance to literary governance, engraving and printing developed in an all-round way, and the art of engraving and illustration also made great progress. The artistic remains of engraving illustrations from the Song Dynasty still mainly contain Buddhist content. Among them, there are four illustrations of the "Imperial Secret Collection" published by Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, which are the oldest extant landscape prints; four illustrations of "The Statue of Maitreya Buddha" and "The Statue of Manjushri" published in the Yongxi Period (extant in Japan) are all excellent works; The "Great Suiqiu Dharani Mandala" and "The Great Suiqiu Dharani Mantra Sutra" are also world-famous treasures. For example, "Manjusri's Guide to Illustrated Praise" published in Lin'an in the Southern Song Dynasty. The pictures are placed at the top of the page. It is the earliest existing large-scale Buddhist illustration series and can also be said to be the longest-standing comic book work handed down to the world. The "Biography of Lienu" published by Yu Shiqinyoutang in Jian'an of the Southern Song Dynasty is a work worthy of a special book. Xu Kang's "Records of Dreams in the Past" commented: "Since the embroidery books, the Song Dynasty's "Biography of Women" is the most refined." The layout of this book is similar to that of "Manjusri's Guide to Illustrated Praise". The Liao, Jin, and Xixia, which were in conflict with the Song Dynasty, were all regimes established by my country's ethnic minorities. They have also made remarkable achievements in the art field of engraving and illustration. For example, Yanjing, the capital of the Liao Kingdom, was an important creation site for Buddhist engraving and illustration art in the north. In July 1974, a large number of carved volumes of Buddhist scriptures from the Liao Dynasty were discovered in the Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple in Yingxian County, Shanxi Province, with more than ten accompanying illustrations, all of which were of high quality. The title picture of the Tripitaka "Zhao Cheng Zang" (also known as "Jin Zang") carved in the Jin Dynasty has strict and powerful engravings, deep and vigorous, simple and bright background, and distinctive characters. It is a rare masterpiece among Buddhist engraving illustrations. From the above, it is not difficult to see that the engraving illustrations of the Five Dynasties, Song Dynasty, Liao Dynasty and Jin Dynasty have made obvious progress in terms of carving skills, carving team, drawing area, and expression content and techniques. This laid a good foundation for the great development of engraving and illustration art in the future. The Yuan Dynasty was also an important era in the history of woodblock printing in my country. The illustrations of books in the Yuan period were not only not inferior to those of the two Song dynasties, but also improved. As far as religious territory is concerned, the "Qi Sha Zang" completed in the Yuan Dynasty has a neat and beautiful painting, which is far superior to that published in the Song Dynasty. More importantly, many types of book illustrations in China only began to appear in the Yuan Dynasty. For example, "The Romance of the West Chamber" published in the Yuan Dynasty is the earliest extant opera illustration, "Quanxiang Pinghua Five Kinds" is the earliest Pinghua published illustration, and "Shi Wen Guang Ji" is the first of such books to have pictures. These are all worth mentioning in the history of print illustration art. Something special about books.

Therefore, the Song and Yuan dynasties were an important period in the history of Chinese engraving and illustration art that carried forward the past and opened up the future. 3. The dazzling illustrations of the Ming Dynasty In the Ming Dynasty, China's book publishing industry developed in an all-round way, with numerous engraving houses and workshops, and the art of engraving and illustration also entered a prosperous golden age. Its characteristics are mainly reflected in the following aspects. The blooming of a hundred flowers and unprecedented prosperity is the first characteristic of the Ming Dynasty engraving illustrations. After exploration in the Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, by the Ming Dynasty, the art of engraving illustrations not only expanded unprecedentedly in the production area, but also gradually formed three major art schools of Jian'an, Jinling, and Xin'an, and other places such as Wulin, Suzhou, and Wuxing. The engravings and illustrations also have their own characteristics, surrounding the three major schools, like stars over the moon, showing a school of vitality. Various schools and regions compete for beauty, and they communicate and promote each other, which provides good conditions for the development of Chinese engraving art into a broader world. Diverse forms, each excelling in its own field, are the second characteristics of the Ming Dynasty's engraving and illustration art. This is mainly reflected in the fact that in addition to the single-sided method and top-picture-subtitle method of the Song and Yuan dynasties, there are also many types of illustrations such as double-sided connected style, multi-faceted connected style, moonlight style, etc., which provide sufficient opportunities for painters to follow the style of the form. Choice. From naive and unpretentious to sophisticated and sophisticated, this is the third characteristic of the Ming Dynasty's engraving and illustration art, and it is also the biggest characteristic of its artistic style. Generally speaking, the early Jian'an and Jinling school illustrations have a rough and simple folk art style. Since the rise of Huizhou printmaking, painting must be meticulous and craftsmanship must be refined. It gradually became the mainstream of illustration art in the Ming Dynasty. Printmaking in Jian'an, Jinling and other places also moved closer to it, integrated with it, and integrated into one, making Chinese illustration art more brilliant. Dazzling. This is probably because after the middle and late Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, a large number of literati and bachelors participated in the creation of illustrations, making illustrations not only binding books and illustrating texts, but also serving as desk toys for literati. The participation of intellectuals played a decisive role in improving the social status of illustrations and promoting its qualitative and quantitative leaps. The professionalization of the illustration art team was the fourth characteristic of the engraving illustration art in the Ming Dynasty. In the Illustration Art Garden of the Ming Dynasty, there were many painters who left their names, such as Wang Geng, Wang Xiu, Cai Chonghuan, He Ying, Lu Xiazi, Xiong Lianquan, Zhang Mengzheng, etc., all of whom were famous at the time. These people worked hard and left behind countless works. There are no fewer than dozens of Wang Wenheng's works that can be seen today. Some well-known painters, such as Tang Yin, Qiu Ying, Qian Gu, Ding Yunpeng, Chen Hongshou, etc., also drew drawings for illustrations. There were as many carvers as stars in the Ming Dynasty. For example, the chief carver of the Hui School, the Qiuchuan Huang family carver in She County, Anhui Province, has nearly three hundred people recorded in the "Qiuchuan Huang Family Genealogy Reconstruction". Their business was passed from father to son, passed down from brother to brother, and they lived all over the north and south, making outstanding contributions to the spread of Huizhou block engraving style. Others such as Jingde Bao Chengxun and Guo Zhuoran, Wulin Xiang Nanzhou, Wuxing Wang Wenzuo, Jinling Liu Suming, etc. are all famous craftsmen of the generation. Such a huge team of engravers became the talent base for the great development of engraving and illustration art in the Ming Dynasty. Technical excellence and rapid advancement are the fifth characteristics of the Ming Dynasty's engraving and illustration art. The early illustration works of the Jian'an and Jinling schools are still a little rough in technique, and the techniques have not changed much. After the rise of the Hui School, this situation has been completely improved, and all the techniques can be used freely and superbly. At the same time, the carvers also paid attention to making theoretical summaries. For example, Lu Yujiu transcribed the oral instructions given by Huizhou carvers: "Wood carvings are not unusual, and the effort must be done carefully. If you want to use two swords to hold the thread steadily, watch more and carve more skillfully." Skills. Look more and carve more. There are only 18 skills in knife and carving. It is difficult to learn how to hold a knife. There are different levels of printing skills. "First, carve people to carve landscapes." Concise and concise, it is a textbook on carving in itself. Carrying forward the dance tradition and bringing forth the new from the old is the sixth characteristic of the engraving and illustration art in the Ming Dynasty. The most noteworthy thing here is the combination of overprinting technology and printmaking art, and the emergence of color overprinting. Initially, in order to obtain color plates, the method used was to paint different colors on a plate according to the content of the picture, and cover the paper with one printing, which was called the single-plate coloring method. This method existed in the Yuan Dynasty. On the basis of this method, or in other words, under its inspiration, there was a method in the Ming Dynasty of tracing out colored drawings according to different colors, engraving each color into a small version, separating the colors in different versions, and overprinting or overprinting one color at a time. The method is overprinting. Because the version is shaped like an L nail, it is also called "L version". Later, he invented the method of fitting two convex and concave plates to make the paper surface arch, making the picture full of three-dimensionality, which is called "gonghua". The overprinted illustrations are brightly colored, with just the right shades, and between yin and yang, they look almost real.

There are many paintings and illustrations from the Ming Dynasty, such as "Shizhuzhai Painting Book" engraved by Hu Zhengyan and "Luoxuan Bian Ancient Note Book" engraved by Wu Faxiang, which are among the best. Of course, Ming Dynasty prints, especially late Ming print illustrations, also have some unsatisfactory qualities. If there is too much emphasis on intricate detail, richness and craftsmanship, sometimes it may seem less lively and interesting than early prints. The formulaic and stylized expression techniques also restrict its development. But the faults do not hide the faults. No matter in terms of quantity or quality, the illustrations of the Ming Dynasty represent the highest achievement of ancient Chinese illustration art and are also in a leading position in the world. Even compared with Western copperplate illustrations, which are famous for their exquisiteness, overall they are far superior. 4. Book illustrations in the Qing Dynasty turned from prosperity to decline. After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, it adopted an extremely authoritarian cultural policy, banned books and burned books, tightened the literary network, and repeatedly set up literary prisons. In order to avoid disaster, scholars often indulge in fragments and fragments, and diligently study textual research. "A fire at the city gate affects the fish in the pond." The art of engraving illustrations that flourished in the Ming Dynasty also gradually declined. The decline of the art of engraving and illustration in the Qing Dynasty followed a process, and it did not fall into decline overnight. In the early Qing Dynasty, after the Ming Dynasty, there were still some exquisite works appearing, such as the illustrations of opera scripts such as "Dream of Yangzhou" and "Moon in the Qin Lou" engraved by Jingde Bao Chengxun. They are exquisite and elegant and are considered to be the top of the Anhui version; Sixue The Tang journals "The Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties" and "The Romance of the Gods", the ancient Wu Sanduozhai's "The Romance of Women in Ancient and Modern Times", and "Ten Kinds of Songs of Li Weng" are not inferior to the Anhui edition masterpieces of the prosperous period. Some famous engravers, such as Huang Shunji, Liu Rong, Tang Shang, Tang Yi, Cai Sihuang, Tan Yikui, etc., also lived up to their reputation as famous engravers, which caused a short-term prosperity of engraving illustrations before the Qian and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing Dynasty. The first category of illustrations to decline in the Qing Dynasty was precisely the illustrations of novels and operas that were most popular among the public and most prosperous in the Ming Dynasty. Such works have always been the first to be banned. In the fifty-third year of Kangxi's reign (AD 1714), Emperor Kangxi once issued an edict: "To govern the world, one must first rectify people's hearts and strengthen customs. To rectify people's hearts and strengthen customs, one must respect classics. All obscene words in novels must be strictly prohibited from being destroyed." In this case, the illustrations of novels and opera books will naturally not escape bad luck. This is the reason why there are few exquisite and impressive works of this kind after the Qianjia period. In fact, what the Qing rulers hated were documents and pictures that were detrimental to the Qing Dynasty, not the art of illustration itself. On the contrary, illustrations, with their directness and image, can be used as a tool to praise the "Holy Pilgrimage". Therefore, many of the books printed by the Qing government were accompanied by exquisite illustrations. The Qing government's book engravings were mostly promoted by Wuyingdian, and the illustrations of such books were called palace prints. Among them, such as "Imperial Farming and Weaving Pictures and Poems", "Old Summer Palace Poems", "Thirty-six Scenes of Summer Resort Poems", "Collection of Ink Methods", etc., are all representative works of palace prints. The prints in the palace are mostly finely polished and beautifully crafted, with varied compositions and excellent printing quality. The imperial engraving of books paid so much attention to illustrations, which was unprecedented in previous dynasties. However, because they were dedicated to the inner court and pursued strictness and stability, these works were not as smart, elegant and naturally interesting as folk works. Under the rulers' high-pressure policies on operas and novels, the two major categories of folk engraving illustrations in the Qing Dynasty - figure paintings and landscape paintings - have made great progress. Among the character illustrations, "Pictures of Heroes of Lingyan Pavilion", "Wushuangpu", "Wanxiaotang Painting Biography", "Water Margin" and "Portraits of the Three Kingdoms" are all masterpieces in this field. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the politics was dark, the civil servants were confused, the generals were cowardly, and the country eventually fell. Han intellectuals hope that figures like ancient wise ministers and famous generals will come out to turn things around and reorganize the country. The development of figure painting in the early Qing Dynasty is somewhat related to this mentality. The landscape illustrations of the Qing Dynasty (mainly illustrations in local chronicles) achieved unprecedented brilliant achievements. The great painter Xiao Yuncong painted "Taiping Landscape Pictures" with dignified brushwork and melancholy atmosphere. It also expresses the mourning of the beautiful mountains and beautiful waters of the motherland in the Ming Dynasty. It has a strong flavor of nationalism and patriotism. In ancient landscape illustrations, It can be said to be unprecedented and unprecedented. The emperors of the Qing Dynasty were fond of traveling, and they painted many kinds of illustrations such as "The Grand Ceremony of the Southern Tour" and "The Grand Ceremony of the Western Tour". What was good at the beginning was bound to be worse at the end. Therefore, books such as Qing Dynasty Landscape Travel Notes are rich in illustrations and have achieved great success. . The illustrations in local chronicles are somewhat related to this. However, these illustrations were mostly influenced by the palace editions, and the majestic spirit in "Taiping Landscape Paintings" cannot be seen. The color-printed illustrations developed in the Ming Dynasty were also produced in the Qing Dynasty. Shen Yinbo's "Biography of Mustard Seed Garden Paintings" published during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty states that "the colors of each painting are arranged in different order, and some of them have accumulated more than a foot in dozens of editions." It is still regarded as the standard of painting.

The top ten pictures of "Beautiful Scenery" in the first volume of "A Tale of the West Lake" are color overprints of the Jinling Prince's Office. The pictures are gorgeous and exquisitely crafted, and they are also the grand views in the overprinted book. After the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, there were not many outstanding works in engraving illustrations. Except for a few illustrations of portrait books and travel notes, there were only a few that could be described as narratives, and there were few breakthroughs in techniques. It is worth mentioning that during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, Western lithography was introduced to China. Lithography was convenient, labor-saving, and low-cost for printing pictures. It soon replaced engraving and became the main method for printing book illustrations. There are many lithographic books in the late Qing Dynasty, and the pictures are also exquisite. Although these are no longer woodcut paintings, the technique and composition still follow the tradition of woodblock illustrations to a certain extent. They are still precious cultural heritage, but they are no longer It is beyond the scope of this article, so I won’t go into details. Summary and appreciation of several types of illustration styles. Some people like to watch TV series, and some people like to watch variety shows. But not only that, I also like to look at paintings. A good work will allow you to see the world constructed by the painter. Through this painting, you will have different imaginations about the world. It turns out that there is a lot of beauty that you have not discovered. This is the beauty that illustration brings to us. This This is also the reason why I love painting so much. As a non-professional, based on my recent experience in viewing paintings, I made a small summary of several types of illustrations. Just like study notes, I hope we can learn something from these excellent illustrations. *Flat style: The elements in the painting look flat, composed of simple shapes and lines, but the colors are very rich and coordinated. The character's clothes have a strong cloth texture, a bit like cloth stickers. Various elements are composed of simple geometric shapes, supplemented by some small lines for embellishment. The expression of light makes the simple geometric shapes present a more realistic scene. The lines are drawn with grainy pencil lines, making the picture full of childlike interest. *Rock color style: Rock color painting broadly refers to all works of art that use mineral colors as the main color. In my opinion, rock color style works are very textured. Most of the traditional rock color style works are covered with gold or silver foil and other materials on paper in order to achieve different painting effects. The work in the picture below should be a computer-drawn work, but it also reaches the style of rock color. It is observed that the works in rock color style mostly have main colors such as gold, black, red, sapphire blue, etc., which are very similar to Dunhuang murals. *Semi-realistic style: The characters are more three-dimensional and close to realism, and the clothing has strong texture. The picture below is the work of Taiwanese talented illustrator Dezhen (late). I particularly like Dezhen’s series of illustrations. The characters’ eyes are emotional, and the costumes are gorgeous and complicated. . The background has the texture of rock paintings. The picture below is the work of Zhang Xiaobai, the first Chinese artist to win a gold medal in the "International Cartoon Competition". The works of successful illustrators have distinctive personal characteristics. Just like this work, Zhang Xiaobai's illustrations have a certain feel of gongbi painting, but also have the three-dimensionality of CG paintings. Her colors tend to be bright red, and the characters in the paintings are usually Showing a haughty and indifferent attitude. I remember that Zhang Xiaobai drew the cover of the magazine "Bi Ke" that I loved reading when I was in college, and it was all in this style. *Clear style: The picture below is the work of "Fat Snake", an illustrator that I like very much. Her blog is called "Fat Snake's Fairyland". In response to the title, her works are clear, full of light, and present It creates a beautiful and mysterious fairy tale world, with many elements including little girls, fairies, and small animals, which truly corresponds to the fairy tale. Her paintings have a delicate, plush texture, perhaps due to the small and hazy lines. Most of the colors are light brown, light green, and light. If you like her works, search for "Fat Snake" online. "Fairy Land" to see other similar works. The picture below is similar to the style of Fat Snake. The overall picture shows a clear and warm feeling. This work is a watercolor painting, unlike the previous one, which has many fine lines (preliminary guess is that it was drawn with colored pencils). The characteristic of watercolor painting is that the fluidity of paint makes it easier to form rich colors. The colors of a good work must be rich and unified. For example, this painting does not show traces of light, but it makes you feel that it is in a very bright room. This is where the use of color succeeds. There are also many wonderful illustrations, too numerous to mention. I hope that by reading more, drawing more, and thinking more, we can improve our painting skills and create our own works as soon as possible.

Do you know these 6 common illustration poster styles? 2020 can be said to be the world of illustrations. Illustrations can be seen in various recent holiday brand posters from "Long Time No See Hot Dry Noodles", which has touched countless people. Do you know what are the common styles of illustrations? Xiao A will use this article to take you through the common styles of illustration posters! Flat style illustrations are mainly composed of color blocks, with geometric shapes and smooth outlines, and the information is more intuitive, allowing people to understand the information conveyed by the interface at a glance. A flat interface can also better realize the transformation of images, and web pages load faster. Therefore, flat style illustrations are widely used in various fields. The line drawing style is an extension of the flat style. Add outlines and strokes to flat elements. Add strokes to the outlines of line illustrations. Compared with flat styles, they are more three-dimensional and cute. They are often used in posters, guide pages, logos, etc. . Texture style illustrations are also called grain noise style, which is another branch of the flat style. The grain texture is superimposed on the page, giving it a matte texture, a bit like sand painting, but more delicate than sand painting. The main form of expression is the use of a large number of color blocks. The elements are single and clean. The texture is often superimposed on the highlights and shadows of the elements. The graininess is used to increase the details in the picture. The picture transition is natural, three-dimensional and vivid, and the painting style is relaxed and casual. Ukiyo, in Buddhist language, refers to "the prosperous and empty human world." Ukiyo-e expresses the ups and downs of the human world in the form of painting. The Ukiyo-e painting style is based on traditional prints, emphasizing the flat application of lines and color blocks. The colors are bright and the main forms of expression are birds, fish and ocean waves. MBE illustrations are a style created by a designer at Dribbble. They use thick black lines to depict elements, removing unnecessary elements from the picture. The color blocks are clearly differentiated, round and cute. In conjunction with small elements, it is often used on guide pages, startup pages, logos, etc. Watercolor illustration is a popular painting method in recent years. Simple lines combined with gentle colors are tranquil and natural, and the lines are simple and casual. Watercolor illustrations are particularly creative and can express various styles such as realism, abstraction, and magic. Illustration is one of the most common design elements in our lives. In recent years, it has gradually become the mainstream of poster design. Different styles of illustration bring people different visual experiences. Which one do you prefer?