畫虎畫皮難畫骨

The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life.

~William Faulkner

5 minute Crown Pearlscale: One hot afternoon inspiration
"皇冠 5分鐘" : 一個炎熱的午間靈感

畫金魚並不是件難事﹐因為每尾金魚都各具獨特﹐就是同一品系的金魚﹐甚至於同一胎的金魚﹐每尾都是獨一無二的。畫者能大幅度的任由想象力描繪金魚的種種特徵﹐繪出環肥燕瘦﹐體態不同﹑色彩斑斕的金魚來。反之﹐拿眾多熱帶魚與海洋魚類為例﹐魚體﹑各鰭與色彩在各品系中是有嚴格的比例與特徵的﹐要在畫作發揮想象的幅度因而面對一定的局限。

畫金魚其實也並非易事。因為它不是靜物﹔而是活靈活現的水中精靈! 生物畫家得長期觀察生物題材﹐才能在畫作上表達其動感與神彩。已故大畫家陳文希博士最擅長的題材之一便是長臂猿 (您可在每張新加坡的50元大鈔上看到陳博士的成名長臂猿印畫)。陳博士為了畫好長臂猿而經常到新加坡動物園寫生﹐長年累月的細心觀察長臂猿的一舉一動﹐使畫作步入化境而名楊畫界!

同樣的﹐要畫好金魚﹐就得深刻的了解金魚。觀察各種金魚品系的特徵與其婀娜多姿的泳姿﹐才能體會金魚的動感之美﹐從而使金魚畫作更具生動。藝術領域是學無止境的, 我自愧還有很多需要學習與進步的地方﹐如描繪比較有挑戰性的角度﹐捕捉金魚各種姿勢的動態美。是以﹐每年幾個月非繁殖季節的業余時間里﹐我都積極的參考有關金魚書籍與相片﹐嘗試以不同的風格容入金魚的畫作。

俗語說:"畫虎畫皮難畫骨﹔知人知面不知心"。這些年來﹐飼養金魚的嗜好讓我體會到結交一名好友﹐比巧得一尾好魚更為可貴! 就算獲得成千上萬的好魚﹐沒有知交魚友一同品評鑒賞也是枉然﹗可悲的是﹐我熱愛的金魚嗜好﹐也讓我意識到人心險惡的一面。為魚為名為利出賣朋友﹐出賣人格﹐造謠生事﹐背信棄義的人在金魚界里比比皆是。他們的言行舉止在這象征友誼和平的金魚嗜好里﹐相對矛盾格格不入! 所幸的是﹐我也因金魚而結識了不少各行各業的尊師摯友一同分享我的"魚樂世界"。我的日子永不枯燥﹐因為有好多好友同我分享美妙的金魚世界!

愚痴
黃偉業

Drawing goldfish is easy because we can vary the various features of the goldfish to a great degree of our imagination. Unlike most tropical fishes and marine fishes with uniform features across the same variety, all goldfish are unique even within the same variety and same brood of siblings. Their colours, shapes, body proportions, head and finnage proportions are all variables!

My life-long passions ~ painting and breeding Goldfish

生平兩大愛好: 畫金魚與繁殖金魚

Drawing goldfish is difficult because it is everything other than still life. Artists specialised in a living subjects usually take years to study their subjects in order to portray them well. The late Grand Master Artist Dr. Chen Wen Xi specialised in the gibbon (you can see his masterpiece printed in every $50 Singapore currency). Master Chen visited the Singapore Zoological Gardens frequently to observe their behaviour. When the artists feel the subjects in their souls, the fluidity can then be expressed spontaneously from their works. Hence, to excel in drawing goldfish, the best way is to keep goldfish and study them in great detail. There is no ending journey in art and I am still striving to be proficient in drawing goldfish in all composure to depict the beauty of their dynamism.

There is a Chinese proverb: “it is easier to draw a tiger’s skin than to illustrate its bone’s” (畫虎畫皮難畫骨). The companion phrase to this proverb is the cruel cynical truth of life: “it is easier to know a man’s face than to understand his heart” (知人知面不知心). Through the goldfish hobby, I have benefited from the true spirit of friendship and get to know some of my best friends and mentors in my life. Ironically, I have also witnessed and experienced some of the worst examples of greed and betrayal. Nevertheless, I am very fortunate that I have many good friends to walk my life journey with the goldfish.