The manipulation of virtuality and reality in birch forests and their surroundings in landscape painting is a core method for artists to construct layers and artistic conception through brushwork, composition, and white space. This interplay of virtuality and reality not only embodies the realism of natural space but also carries the artist's subjective choices and emotional expression of the objects. In birch forest paintings, this manipulation of virtuality and reality often revolves around the interaction between the trunks, branches, and background, creating a visual effect of balanced density and a coherent flow of energy.
The virtuality and reality of birch forests is often achieved through the contrast between the trunks and branches. The trunks, as the main subject, are often outlined with thick ink to emphasize their upright form and texture, while the branches and leaves are dotted with light ink or lighter colors, creating a sparse and varied transition between virtuality and reality. For example, the artist might scrape off some paint with a steel knife to simulate the mottled texture of peeling bark, giving the trunk a "solid yet ethereal" texture. The branches and leaves are then applied with granular foam to create a hazy, layered effect, avoiding the dullness of overly realistic rendering. This approach both highlights the unique form of the birch forest and preserves the dynamic nature of the brushwork.
The relationship between the real and the imaginary of the birch forest and its background requires harmonious composition and white space. A clear and distinct subject represents realism, while a blurred background represents virtuality. Painters often place the birch forest in the center or foreground of the painting, using heavy, bold colors to emphasize its presence. The background, such as distant mountains, mist, or water, is rendered with lighter or lighter colors. Through the simplification of color and brushstrokes, a blurred effect is achieved. For example, when depicting the relationship between the birch forest and the stream, the nearby tree trunks and reflections are rendered with solid brushstrokes, while the distant mountains are rendered with light, shady strokes, or even blank spaces are left to suggest the presence of diffuse mist. This approach creates a clear visual focus while also imbuing the painting with an ethereal atmosphere.
White space is a key technique in landscape painting's manipulation of real and imaginary, and is particularly crucial in depicting birch forests. White space not only represents the sky, water, or mist, but also enhances the sense of space through contrast with the real scene. For example, a painter might leave a large expanse of white space above a birch forest to convey a clear sky, or intersperse white space within the trees to suggest sunlight filtering through the branches. The interplay between white space and ink is equally crucial: white space next to heavily inked tree trunks can accentuate their three-dimensionality, while white space within a lighter background can create a sense of depth. This technique of "using white as black" imbues the painting with boundless imagination within its simplicity.
The lightness, heaviness, and wetness of the brushstrokes are direct means of modulating the sense of reality and illusion. Thick, heavy ink represents concreteness, while thin, light ink represents illusion. When depicting a birch forest, a painter might use thick ink to outline the nearby tree trunks, using a dry brush to rub the bark texture. Distant trunks might be painted with a light, wet brushstroke to create a blurred effect. The same applies to the branches and leaves: near leaves are dotted with thick ink, while those in the distance are swept with light ink. The artist might even omit specific forms, using only color transitions to convey depth. This interplay of reality and illusion imbues the painting with a sense of rhythm and rhythmic beauty.
The contrast of warm and cool colors, as well as light and dark, can also aid in conveying the concept of reality and illusion. A birch forest, dominated by white trunks, creates a natural contrast against the dark background. Painters might enhance this contrast by adjusting the color purity: the trunks are primarily white or light gray, while the background is rendered in darker tones such as cyan, ochre, or indigo. This play of reality and illusion not only highlights the subject but also creates atmosphere. For example, a birch forest in the early morning is depicted in cool tones, with a light blue-gray background to highlight the pristine whiteness of the trunks. An autumn forest scene is depicted in warm tones, with ochre or vermilion accents and a light yellow background to create a warm interplay of reality and illusion.
The introduction of dynamic elements can disrupt the static composition of reality and illusion, enhancing the image's vitality. For example, adding birds, flowing water, or falling leaves to the birch forest, using blurred strokes or white space, creates a contrast with the static trunks. The dynamic trajectory of the flying birds is depicted through light ink or blank spaces, creating a sense of "realism within the void" in the painting. The ripples of the flowing water are expressed through varying density of lines, with the near solid and the far virtual, guiding the viewer's gaze deeper into the composition. This combination of movement and stillness, virtuality and realism, allows the birch forest to no longer be isolated, but rather blend into the natural ecosystem.
The ultimate goal of this manipulation of virtuality and realism is to convey the artist's emotions and artistic conception. The purity, uprightness, and loneliness of the birch forest are often enhanced through the contrast between virtuality and realism. For example, an artist might use thick ink to solidify a main trunk, while using light ink to blur the surrounding branches and leaves, leaving the background blank, to convey the birch's loneliness. Or, the contrast between the dense, solid brushwork of trees and the blurred, distant mountains conveys the vastness of the forest. Here, virtuality and realism are not merely technical techniques but rather the artist's interpretation of the relationship between nature and the self, allowing the painting to transcend the physical form and become a vehicle for emotion and philosophical reflection.
