In terms of techniques, the accumulation of ink and color and the accumulation of layers of dyeing create a vigorous trend. Although red is the main color of the picture, ink is still an important background and outline. After the ink-accumulated landscape is completed, it is dipped in cinnabar and gradually dyed from shallow to deep.
Mr. Keran uses cinnabar as ink, using exactly the same brushwork and ink method, so that color and ink blend naturally. I saw that cinnabar was slightly shallow, and ink floated up, and the ink color melted into the alto. In the brightest place, thick cinnabar was lit. The final tone effect of the whole picture has the characteristics of picking red rhinoceros lacquerware in Ming Dynasty, which is extremely solemn, bold, simple and elegant.
Li Keran's landscape paintings attach importance to the cohesion of images. His landscape works in the 1940s are a linear brush and ink structure. After the 1950s, the works changed from linear pen-and-ink structure to block-like pen-and-ink structure, with ink as the main part, which was simple and rich as a whole, heavy and profound.
Li Keran's landscape paintings introduce light into the picture, and are especially good at showing the effect of mountain forest backlighting in the morning and evening, which makes his works hazy, confused and wandering. Generally speaking, Li Keran's landscape paintings are closer to the perceptual reality of the object than those of Ming and Qing Dynasties, which weakens the independence of meaning and form and interest in a certain sense.
Li Keran's figure painting is dynamic and implicit, exaggerated but not ugly, simple but not Gu Zhuo, full of humor, wit and interest in life.
The cows painted by Li Keran are very interesting in life. They walk, lie or lie on the backs of cows in the water. Children are really carefree shepherds, watching mountains, talking about the sky or running races, and a few strokes tick off a simple and vibrant pastoral scene.