Look at its shape first, look at its spirit.
Ordinary appreciators only look at its shape, because ancient paintings are done on silk and rice paper, so they are very particular about pen and ink. Looking at ink, ancient paintings are mainly based on ink, supplemented by color and taste, and dotted lines and ink colors constitute the main elements of painting. Third, look at the layout, "layout" is the composition form of the work, also known as composition. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Gu Kaizhi called it "Chen Bushi" and Sheikh called it "Shang Zhi", with roughly the same meaning.
Second, move their feelings and enter their territory.
"Art is emotion." China's ancient paintings make people feel in one mountain, one water, one scene and one thing. Rodin famously said: Feeling and spirit are fully revealed, so we can feel that "feeling" and "environment" have become important evaluation criteria in the appreciation of ancient paintings. A successful painting must incorporate the rich emotions of the author. The expression of this emotion is realized through the creation of "artistic conception". Love is at the end of the pen, how to express the artistic conception with the least pen, ink and color.
Besides mastering the language of ink painting, it is more important to be creative. The emotion in the painter's heart determines the process and result of creation, and also determines the appearance of "environment". Conveying feelings by things, every grass, tree, mountain, stone, flower, fruit, insect and fish in ancient paintings have entrusted the author with strong feelings. Paying attention to emotion, meaning and interest makes the essence of traditional literati painting more lyrical and definite. Being able to feel the feelings in the painting has reached the second level.
Third, observe their feelings and understand their reasons.
China's ancient paintings convey this cultural tradition with his own feelings and truth. There is a saying in China: A layman watches the excitement while an expert watches the doorway. The doorway of ancient painting is not only the technique and naive method, but also its ideological and philosophical nature, that is, what kind of information the author wants to achieve. Through painting, it is the most rare thing for painters to express deep truth, which is the third level.