Ink splashed with wit of the brush

In the process, he gradually formed his own understanding of art, and his works gradually showed their unique artistic characteristics and style.

Talking about his "luck", Dong said: "As the saying goes, working hard is the only thing I can do. Just leave the rest to God."

Dong applied the splash-ink skills of Zhang Daqian, a co-founder of the club, to his landscape paintings, and creatively merged some Western painting techniques to it, forming his own "heavy-color splash-ink landscape painting style".

The techniques of splash-ink painting are very difficult to master,as the flow of ink and color have to be carefully controlled. Even for those who are proficient, the success rate for paintings is very low, about 10 percent. It requires not only ideas and skills, but also energy, physical strength and time, and a larger painting will take months or even longer to finish, Dong said.

He added: "Inspired by techniques of previous artists, I am trying to give full play to my own strengths, hoping to carry forward the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation and the cultural heritage of the splash-ink painting school with my new heavy-color splash-ink landscape painting."

Commenting on Dong's works,Shi Yunxiang pointed out that,although they might seem spontaneous, the creation of a splash-ink landscape painting is highly rational. The artist should have a clear idea before splashing ink onto the paper about what kind of painting it will be and what effect is trying to be achieved.

"This is the so-called wit of the brush, and Dong has extraordinary basic skills in this respect, good painting skills, with the ability to create and represent the form of things," Shi said.

Dong can create layers of visual effects in his splash-ink paints forming a sharp contrast between the virtual and the real, as well as coordinative effects of different colors. It takes solid basic skills,deep understanding of the splash-ink techniques and long-term practice to make the most of this innovative, seemingly casual way of painting.

Man Weiqi, director of the Chinese Traditional Painting Academy,said Dong developed a new way to express natural phenomena by using ancient painting techniques and Western painting skills. The combination of color, ink and landscape not only shows the exquisite Chinese culture, but also integrates the artistic essence of Western paintings.

Dong said he intends to continue to explore new possibilities in painting skills to bridge Chinese and Western painting.

Xue Shanshan in Beijing contributed to this story.