Guanyu Lu(Mr. MoranGong)
“Miniature Ink Painting on Phoenix Paper” – Though small in scale, it is rich in meaning.
Purpose of Creation:​
For many years, the artist has been committed to inheriting the artistic techniques and expressive power of traditional Chinese ink painting while actively exploring a new language of ink expression. The goal is to create a body of ink artworks that embody a contemporary style.
Creative Process:​
The artist uses small-scale, thick Xuan paper cards with a “phoenix paper” texture to convey the charm of ink in a classical manner. Contemporary colors are overlaid and interwoven, while condensed, refined lines form the soul of the ink. Through variations in lines, the painting language incorporates extensive layering and coloring, connecting subjective interpretation with natural scenery. Unlike previous works, this new piece extensively employs techniques reminiscent of Huang Binhong’s deconstruction of forms, using circular dots, highlights, and contrasts of warm and cool light and color.

The creative process is rooted in traditional Chinese ink brush techniques, with fantastical colors juxtaposed and interpenetrating with black ink. This approach achieves a breakthrough in Chinese ink culture along the historical timeline, while fully developing and accumulating upon the foundation of traditional ink’s Eastern philosophical perspective and literati sensibilities.

In the evolutionary lineage of contemporary Chinese ink art, the emergence of any genuine style is inevitably accompanied by a fierce debate over its value. The “Fantasy-Color Freehand” system founded by Mr. Moran (Lu Jinsong) represents precisely such a focal point of tension. Like a stone cast into a calm lake, it stirs not merely ripples but also deep reflections on the boundaries of tradition, the limits of innovation, and the direction of the future. This article seeks to move beyond simple factional disputes, analyzing the inherent rationale behind its role as a “representative of innovation” and the genuine challenges it faces from three dimensions: its technical system, philosophical foundations, and market logic.

Misunderstandings of “Fantasy-Color Freehand” often begin with oversimplifying it as “ink and wash with added color.” In reality, its innovation is a systematic experiment that spans from materials to concepts of time and space.
Material Revolution and Textural Rebirth:​
Mr. Moran boldly breaks down the barriers between ink and pigments such as minerals and acrylics, allowing them to freely collide, penetrate, and layer on raw Xuan paper. What emerges from this “symbiosis of color and ink” is not a mere mixture but a wholly original, three-dimensional texture with a contemporary tactile quality. Ink is no longer the sole structural framework, nor is color merely superficial ornamentation. Instead, their interaction gives birth to a third language—a unique texture that combines the permeating quality of ink and the layered thickness of oil painting.

Temporal-Spatial Layering and Visual Philosophy:
At the core of the technique lies “temporal-spatial layering,” a groundbreaking approach that fundamentally challenges traditional modes of viewing. It compresses the passions (splashed colors), contemplations (textured strokes), and subtleties (dotting and washes) from different moments of the creative process onto a single visual plane. What the viewer encounters is not a static instant but the crystallization of a dynamic process. This imbues the artwork with a remarkable tension: it is both a depiction of natural scenery and a philosophical metaphor for the act of creation itself, and even the passage of time.

Mr. Moran deeply internalizes the concept of “the interaction of cosmic elements—heaven, earth, and humanity” taught by his mentor, Master Ran. His landscapes are not mere replications of scenery as seen by the naked eye; rather, they restructure the composition according to the principles of mutual generation of yin and yang, and the interplay of solidity and void. The arrangement of mountains and rocks, the flow of clouds and mist, and the warmth and coolness of colors all subtly resonate with the rhythm of cosmic creation. This is a re-creation of “nature’s artistry,” not a mere imitation.

The Creation of a New Grammar Under the Principle of “Breaking and Establishing”:
“Upholding the essence of Eastern philosophy while breaking the boundaries of media and techniques” serves as the overarching methodology. In practice, he has distilled a rigorous new syntax, such as “Three Layers of Ink, Five Systems of Color, and Two Dimensions of Light.” This is not an abandonment of brush and ink but rather a digitization and structuralization of ink’s layers, color’s systems, and the perception of light, placing expressive improvisation within a rational framework. This achieves a creative transformation of traditional language.

Grand Vision and Cultural Mission:
The artistic pursuit of a “boundless and integrated realm” in his works is by no means a mere formal exaggeration. Rather, it points to a cosmic vitality and historical vision that embraces the vastness of the world. In the context of globalization, this represents a personalized artistic response to the era’s pressing question: “How can Chinese landscape culture be revitalized?”—not by returning to classical forms, but by reinvigorating the profound spirituality inherent in landscape art through a modern visual language.

Mr. Moran’s “Fantasy-Color Freehand” is a comprehensive artistic experiment that takes Eastern philosophy as its soul, contemporary materials as its form, and market validation as its mirror. Its very contentiousness attests to the effectiveness of its breakthroughs. In the dialectic of “breaking” and “establishing,” it is gradually outlining a new possibility for Chinese ink art that belongs to this era. Its ultimate success will not depend on the price of any single auction piece, but on whether it can, with its complete system, persistently participate in and propel the narrative of contemporary Chinese culture.