[Concurrent] Wu Guoliang
If you want to paint, first paint something you are familiar with.
What is the most familiar thing, the old man's words are the most familiar to the old man, and the old man is the most familiar to himself.
Therefore, "Old Couple" takes myself as the prototype, and then absorbs the things of the old people around, and passes my happiness to others and infects others.
[Explanation] In Jinan, Shandong, 78-year-old Wu Guoliang, although he liked painting since childhood, did not learn art from a teacher. After graduating from the Department of Chemistry of Shandong University, he became a worker in a fertilizer factory.
What really prompted Wu Guoliang to make up his mind to create comics was his wife Ye Xiuyun.
[Concurrent] Wu Guoliang
In March 2015, my wife was diagnosed with a terminal illness (rectal cancer).
At that time, I felt as if the sky was about to fall, something I didn’t expect, and it was too late, and there was no cure.
This thing has to be hidden from her, but people have to move forward, and life has to go on.
And hope that the current science can make her better.
How to continue living, in the hospital (drawing cartoons), one is to adjust life for my lover, I draw some interesting things.
The second is that I do have time there. When I am guarding her, I have a lot of time to paint.
[Explanation] In the days when his wife was fighting against cancer, Wu Guoliang wrote "Ward Diary", and outlined the "Old Couple" series of cartoons with pencil strokes, with a total of 21 paintings before and after.
In the comics, he created two protagonists, the 78-year-old Uncle Takamian and the 76-year-old fat aunt. Uncle Gao Jian is tall and thin, a little bald, with a pair of round glasses on the bridge of his nose, while the fat aunt has ears. Short hair, stocky build.
The images of the old couple under his brush are lively, humorous and approachable.
[Concurrent] Wu Guoliang
The first "Going to the Market" was already in August.
The society is more popular, the elderly are very concerned about this fitness, health preservation, what to eat can live a long life, and what to eat can prevent cancer.
So I just wanted to draw something, which means that this thing is not a panacea. I hope these old people will not be superstitious about this thing.
At that time, my family knew that they had this (disease) before, and she was studying medicine. This could not be hidden from her, but to what extent it was hidden from her.
When she was gone, I was done, and the last one was "Backrest".
[Commentary] On August 31, 2016, Wu Guoliang's wife Ye Xiuyun passed away unfortunately.
The 21st comic "Backrest" also became the last comic in the "Old Couple" series.
The comic "Backrest" depicts a sickly bedridden fat aunt who thinks the head of the bed is too hard. Gao Jian uses his body to make a movable backrest, adjusting the height and angle to make the fat aunt feel as comfortable as possible.
Wu Guoliang used cartoons to encourage his wife to overcome the disease, and used a brush to outline the life of the old couple who supported each other and spent their later years together.
[Concurrent] Wu Guoliang
The couple, the young one is Qingqing and I, and do not want to be separated.
The old couple is supported and inseparable.
My wife, you are sick, don't say you are dragging me down, I am your crutch, and I am your backrest.
In fact, the old people are inseparable from family and love.
[Explanation] After the death of my wife, the series of comics of "Old Couple" stopped.
Wu Guoliang buried his thoughts about his wife in his heart and continued to express his feelings with cartoons.
In the past seven years, he has created nearly 2,000 cartoons.
In the interval of creation, he also became a community volunteer, teaching painting skills for free.
[Concurrent] Wu Guoliang
When I was a child, it was my interest, when I was working, it was a work need, when I created "The Old Couple", it was a relationship, and now it is my mission.
Painting is inseparable from me, and I cannot be separated from painting, because painting can represent my inner voice, can express what I want to say, the story I want to tell, what I want to tell the society, and what I want to tell others, I turn it into a painting and draw it.
And the process of painting also gave me feedback and educated me.
Zhang Shun reported from Jinan, Shandong
Responsible editor: [Luo Pan]