Wuhan, 5 May -- Wuhan "the first person to paint mirrors": Using mirrors as paper to paint the city's various forms
Written by Wu Yili
With his left hand pressing the mirror and his right hand holding an art blade, through the light, a fluffy-haired, wide-eyed kitten jumped into the mirror. Recently, the reporter came to the studio of painter Sheng Yan in Caidian District, Wuhan City, and saw that he was painting and sculpting on a palm-sized mirror.
Sheng Yan is a national first-class artist and a national senior craftsman. In 1994, my parents opened a glass decoration shop, and there were many discarded mirrors in the store. At that time, the 19-year-old felt that it was a pity to abandon it, so he carved, colored, and electrified the reverse side of the mirror and sold it as a decorative ornament. After years of hard work and exploration, Sheng Yan's "mirror light sculpture" has won the national invention patent, and he has been praised by the industry as "the first person in mirror painting".
The picture shows the painter Sheng Yan painting a cat on the mirror Zhang Chang
Sheng Yan's studio is like a small art gallery. The first floor displays his mirror paintings, "The Great Wall", "Textile Lady", "Yellow Crane Tower"... On the second floor is the creation area, and the four walls are plastered with various sketches and sketch drafts, which is necessary preparation before Sheng Yan creates mirror paintings; The table was covered with round, square glass mirrors, soft mirrors, and boxes of blades, which were his "drawing paper" and "brushes."
He introduced that although mirror painting is novel, it can be traced back to the ancient Chinese copper mirror making process. The mirror is made of glass, there is a layer of mercury on the reverse side, in order to protect the mercury, it will be brushed with paint, and the mirror painting creation is actually carved on the paint layer of mercury.
The picture shows the painter Sheng Yan creating a mirror painting by Zhang Chang
"But it's hard to revise when you paint on the mirror, and you have to do it in one go and devote yourself to it every time you put pen to paper." Sheng Yan said that from the sketch on the paper, to the final copy of the reverse side of the mirror, to the engraving and coloring, there are complex and detailed process steps behind each mirror painting, "It is very important to master the strength, the picture needs to have chiaroscuro and layering, and it generally takes two or three months or even half a year to create a medium-sized work, consuming nearly 200 blades." ”
He said that he insisted on creating for more than 8 hours a day, and he was inevitably cut by blades and mirrors. The creative process was arduous, but he did not give up, constantly improving his technique, materials, and light and shadow effects. In addition to creation, he also often paints art to young people.
The picture shows the puppy portrayed by the painter Sheng Yan on the mirror vividly Zhang Chang
"I am a native of Wuhan Caidian, this is the hometown of Zhiyin, and there are rich local and cultural resources." Sheng Yan said that the next step will be to integrate mirror painting elements into the local cultural tourism industry, explore and create a new landmark of Cai Dian mirror painting culture, and help the development of his hometown. (End)