Painting skills in the system of professional training of designers of various profiles in modern Chinese universities

Tsi Chzho Graduate Student, Department of Art History and Pedagogy of Art, Herzen State Pedagogical University 191186, Russia, Saint Petersburg, nab. Sinks, 48, room 6, room 51 qizhuo@rambler.ru

In design, the sketch is invariably the first and important stage of creating a product. It can be either monochrome and created through the use of exclusively graphic means, or picturesque, that is, created using paints through various techniques and techniques. In the latter case, the designer has the opportunity to emphasize the color scheme of the planned product, to reveal its shape, interaction with other objects in space, etc. In the history of world design, there are many examples of how designers used painting to fix their idea and present it to the public. In addition, even 3D visualization requires the creator to know how to work with color. Naturally, such a skill determines the need to include painting as one of the basic subjects in the process of training future designers. Currently, there are different areas of design, which, of course, leaves an "imprint" on how this discipline is taught.

Interest in the place of painting in the system of training designers, its role in the formation of basic professional skills is manifested in the works of recent years, namely L.G. Medvedev and V.P. Krasnoborodkin ^[1], S.V. Ryabinova ^[2], M.A. Karnaeva and I.N. Karnaeva ^[3], E.A. Khizhnyaka ^[4], M.V. Kuzmicheva ^[5], E.V. Mikhailova ^[6], I.Y. Rudneva ^[7], etc. In the monograph of 2022, N.V. Brovko notes that painting in design education is one of the urgent problems, as it contributes to the development of aesthetic and project thinking of students ^[8]. In parallel, a number of scientists from Russia are considering various issues related to the teaching of this type of art to designers of different specialties in the spectrum from interior designer ^[9] to, for example, representatives of the fashion industry ^[10]. Chinese researchers who publish in Russian also contribute to this process. So, the articles of Ch. Sintsin ^[11]. There are also dissertations, which are mainly devoted to the study of the experience of the Russian school of design in the field of painting training of students. We are talking about the work of M.A. Derbisova, Y.M. Tyutyunova, D.N. Geveiler, A.A. Vilkova and some others. Despite the powerful theoretical base, there are no studies devoted to the issue of solving this problem in other countries.

The diverse experience of modern China in the training of designers is an urgent object of attention, as it allows you to see how the "eastern neighbor" builds the training of such in-demand specialists in an actively developing economy and industry. The appeal to him also provides an opportunity to consider how, it would seem, the traditional discipline can change depending on the needs and goals of the educational process, as well as those competencies that need to be formed in future designers of various profiles. It is also interesting which exercise systems are most in demand at the moment. The scientific novelty of the study is connected with the conclusions that in modern design education in China, painting can be presented in the form of professional courses, a separate discipline, as well as as a means of mastering the theory of color. It also shows that the content of training varies depending on the specialization (art design, fashion design, architectural design, interior design, industrial design, etc.). This study is limited to referring to the most famous schools and faculties of major academies and universities in China. The research methodology is based on a comparative analysis of the role of painting in the training program for designers of the most popular training profiles in the best Chinese universities: fashion design, art design, building and interior design, industrial and computer design.

To begin with, we note that in professional art education in China, emphasis is placed on the technical side of design. This is explained by the fact that within the framework of industrial production standardization is the main requirement for all operations, therefore, the individual features of the authors' vision, which are emphasized with the help of free graphic or pictorial sketches, cannot take into account all the features of the designed products. Moreover, the development of computer graphics technology, it would seem, should almost completely replace freehand drawing. Meanwhile, Chinese universities remain focused on education based on the acquisition of practical skills and the study of "beauty" in various ways. At the same time, designers are trained in much tougher conditions than painters, so freedom of creative expression is not encouraged to the same extent. Chinese students learn to work according to strict standards and rules of production, which, at the same time, allows them to avoid the danger of creating meaningless and useless, albeit very spectacular works. In painting, they also first master the basic skills of drawing and working with color, and then develop them according to their own aspirations. At the same time, painting occupies a different position in the training system depending on specialization and often appears in unexpected forms for Russian education.

Painting traditionally plays a key role in universities that specialize in training costume and accessory designers. The content of training in them is reduced to a comprehensive study of modeling techniques and, for example, painting clothes. However, it should be clarified that as such there is no "pure" painting in the course program. Students are required to study the principles of design, construction of lines, proportions and perspective, visualization on a plane, reproduction of human facial and head features, creation of mannequins, fashion illustrations, fabric coloring, color selection, etc. To do this, they master the skills of drawing by hand, drawing classic clothes on human figures. For example, they can draw shirts by themselves, then on mannequins, then in color, and then at different angles and in motion.

At the School of Professional Design in Beijing, students are required to have good artistic and painting skills after completing the Costume Sketch course in order to position their style in fashion design. It is noteworthy that the course "Computer fashion design", which reveals the features of working with technologies, also involves first drawing the future product, but not with hands, but in the program. This is necessary in order to understand the features of the ratio of proportions and lines of different character, the specifics of filling with color and working with textures (Fig. 1), and then to master three-dimensional decorative design and get acquainted with the method of changing the color of clothes using software.

Fig. 1. Lesson on the discipline "Costume sketch" at the School of Professional Design in Beijing. Photo. 2021. Source: https://www.bjjd88.cn/a/zysz/2012/0720/24.html

Students at the basic level learn to draw portraits of the head from different sides, full-face and half-turn, three-quarters (at least 30 drawings), copy and sketch various hairstyles and clothes, use sketches to draw chiaroscuro or learn how to apply makeup. Most often, teachers offer students materials such as gouache, watercolor and markers, but students can choose other paints and tools. As a result, students must use painting tools to visualize a series of clothes for four seasons in motion and with the drawing of various fabrics, textures and accessories (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2. Lesson on the discipline "Costume sketch" at the School of Professional Design in Beijing. Photo. 2021. Source: https://www.bjjd88.cn/a/zysz/2012/0720/24.html

At the next stage, students study color theory, methods of mixing secondary colors and simultaneously master the skills of dyeing fabrics. They explore the possibilities of light and dark colors in combination with various fabrics, learn to correlate the colors of clothes through drawing with colored pencils and markers. With the help of paint, they apply patterns, and then independently, drawings on clothes in the form of plants, animals, cartoon characters, dragons and phoenixes beloved by the Chinese. They also copy famous brands in the form of sketches in order to understand how the color and shape of clothing are related (at least 20 drawings).

Painting is also significant within the framework of the specialty "Art Design", focused on the study of the theory and practice of art design. Of course, the basics of plastic art occupy an important place here. Future designers create a large number of works related to the study of textures. They follow the principle of "trial and error", looking for the right one for themselves in the multitude that teachers offer them. Universal exercises associated with free expression, often on the verge of abstraction, are particularly popular. This is important because the research does not have a predetermined goal, and it arises already in the process of working with materials, techniques, color, which is suitable for literally any profile of design training.

The Tsinghua University Academy of Art and Design focuses on the study of modern painting, its materials, techniques and techniques. Traditionally, training is based first on working on composition, and then on creating works on the already mentioned free topics (Fig. 3). The latter are needed to train the ability to use expressive means of painting, and at the same time to test their creative abilities. The training involves students trying their hand at both Chinese painting and oil and watercolor painting. They necessarily get acquainted with the works of recognized masters, try to copy them. Initially, the work is based on the execution of small line sketches, then the transition to copying using ink takes place. When in contact with watercolor and oil painting, the study of their linguistic means is a priority. Usually students create an image of a human figure, a small plot composition, as well as a landscape and a scene with a human figure.

Fig. 3. Creative work of students of the specialty "Art Design" of the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University. Photo. 2021. Source: https://www.uisdc.com/painting-the-designer-foundation

A very stable position of painting in universities that specialize in architectural design or interior design. For example, at the School of Architecture and Art Design of Southeastern University, it is believed that painting is the basis of the profession ^[12]. Until now, they are sure to get acquainted with the book "Techniques of watercolor Painting" by Li Jiancheng, as well as the works of Dong Xinbin, Zhu Xinjian, Jiang Hongwei, etc. A course of classical painting is practiced here, as well as mandatory watercolor painting in the open air. The principle of learning is very simple: first, students complete the task on their own, and then watch how the teacher does it. Moreover, the level of mastery of visual skills does not matter. The most important thing for the student is to show the teacher what kind of imaginative thinking and logic they have. The result of the course is drawing the so-called "visualization" of an existing building or its interior, where architecture and painting are very closely linked (Fig. 4). In this case, students invariably turn to the work "Textbook on Interior Design" by the dean of the school Gao Xiangshen for help. A similar situation is observed in other universities that train specialists of this kind. In them, painting in combination with other artistic and professional disciplines gradually prepares students for graduation papers and their visualization.

Fig. 4. Visualization by means of fine art of the building and interiors, performed by a student of the Faculty of Interior Design of the Southeastern University of Science and Technology. 2018. Source: https://id.tnu.edu.tw/zh_cn/page1/2018%E7%AC%AC12%E5%B1%86%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%B8%E9%99%A2%E6%A0%A1%E5%AE%A4%E5%85%A7%E8%A8%AD%E8%A8%88%E7%B3%BB-%E7%A9%BA%E9%96%93%E8%A8%AD%E8%A8%88%E7%B3%BB%E5%AD%B8%E7%94%9F%E7%AB%B6%E5%9C%96%E5%A4%A7%E8%B3%BD%E6%A6%AE%E7%8D%B2%E4%BD%B3%E4%BD%9C-75968870

At the Faculty of Architecture of Xi'an Jiaotong University, the purpose of teaching fine art for interior design specialists is not to educate artists, but to develop the ability to perceive form and space, as well as the ability to express drawing and the ability to coordinate their feelings ^[13]. Drawings in color teach to recognize, experience and appreciate beauty, improve aesthetic perception. This gives students the opportunity to gain basic skills in the implementation of the idea. Sketches of existing interiors and buildings occupy an important place so that students can feel the real space, its physical features. At first they go from simple still lifes, and then move on to drawing interiors in order to understand the design comprehensively.

The International School of Design in Beijing offers training for designers in many areas, including such as industrial design. In the first academic year, students study the so-called "subject basic cognitive course" and modules of the professional basic course ^[14]. The first includes psychology, sociology, aesthetics, ergonomics, mechanical construction, photography and the science of color. Industrial design is a cross product of various disciplines, technologies and aesthetic concepts. For this reason, the position of painting within the course is not strong. So, in this school, she is advancing thanks to the theory of color. In her crayfish, students perform many small sketches of products in different colors and with different textures, angles and the nature of lighting.

In other universities, especially non-art ones, students are not required to have any initial training in the field of drawing and painting. Therefore, when the painting course begins, students face big problems. To smooth them out, teachers intentionally reduce the number of creative works, and those that remain are reduced to copying with an exact ratio of perspective, spatial position and contour of the product. They don't go beyond that. Meanwhile, the lack of elementary drawing skills leads to the fact that future specialists poorly understand the mechanism of transition from basic geometry to modeling of complex mixed forms, the principle of expressing the shape of the product and the modeling structure in design ^[15].

There are also areas of design education in China in which painting is presented in a very compressed format. We are talking about computer design and visual communications. In this area, there is an acute shortage of professionals who understand the technical side of the issue. Chinese universities strive to meet the advanced technologies of the industry and offer specialties such as film and TV post-production, editing, game design, game development, user interface design, commercial illustration, etc. Students who necessarily have preliminary artistic training are recruited for the specialty. This allows you to significantly reduce the time for the formation of visual literacy. When studying in the first two courses, students first draw and then work with color. It usually doesn't come to oil painting. Students perform several still lifes and depict figures using watercolors or gouache, more often with markers or pencils. It should be noted that expressive possibilities fade into the background, as the emphasis is on mastering the ability of structural analysis of surfaces and shapes of objects. At first, students work with black, white and gray, gradually introducing other colors. With their help, they learn to draw volumes, details, achieving the integrity of the image.

In the field of computer design, there are areas that closely intersect with the visual arts, for example, animation. Naturally, not every link here requires qualified drawing skills (for example, in post-production, the use of software skills is more important), but the spatial and aesthetic skills acquired as a result of learning to draw are still necessary. Most animation majors are based on the academic capabilities of a particular school. For example, art academies have strong drawing and painting, while in engineering colleges the shift is still towards computer technology and software.

The dean of the Animation School of the Beijing Film Academy, the first art academy in China to create an animation school, Li Jianping believes that "animation specialists need talents with solid basic drawing skills, but without impulsiveness" ^[16]. Currently, the school headed by him has five bachelor's degrees: animation art, computer animation, comics, game design and animation for mobile applications. Drawing here is still vital for studying movement and creating characters, working out their appearance, because there are no other tools that could solve these problems. For example, both 3D and 2D animation require stereoscopic character modeling using the Autodesk Maya program, and the action setting is synthesized with the scene, sound, etc. However, at the stage of drawing key and intermediate frames with characters and scenes, the artist must be able to draw, not to mention the classic frame-by-frame animation.

The basics of fine arts at the Academy include basic professional courses such as "Fundamentals of Modeling", "Fundamentals of Color", "Fundamentals of Composition" and "Comic Techniques". Students study the very basics of art, such as sketches, sketches, perspective, color, etc.; human anatomy and movement; master the structural relationship between character modeling and movement, as well as scene design methods. The result of the training within the module is the design of the scene in different atmospheres and the staging of the body and shape of the character, with different looks, hairstyle, accessories, clothes, poses, etc. (fig. 5).

Fig. 5. Drawing characters from the cartoon "House" — the thesis of Bai Baijian. Beijing Film Academy Animation School. 2021. Source: https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv11946814/

The nature and content of teaching painting to future designers in Chinese universities varies greatly:

– By analyzing the experience of universities that train fashion designers, it is clear how the usual exercises with drawing lines, textures, exploring the features of color combinations, portraits and human figures in motion can be combined with exercises related to the future profession. Moreover, painting in this case literally goes beyond the picture frame and becomes part of costumes and accessories, turning into paintings or patterns.

– Within the framework of art design, students perform figures, landscapes, interiors and story compositions, exploring the linguistic possibilities of this type of art. From the point of view of teachers, this expands their creative potential.

– During the training of specialists in the design of buildings and interiors, the basics of academic painting are given, and the final work of the course is the visualization of real objects by pictorial means. Of course, modern hardware and software completely replace artistic tools. Sketches in color are perceived no more than a tool for visualizing the designer's ideas at the first stages of work. The continuation of the life of painting as a discipline is explained by the need to develop the ability to aesthetically perceive and present their ideas.

– Industrial design also involves an appeal to painting, but in most universities at the level of simple and accurate copying of individual objects, including their color ratios. However, now there is a reduction in hours for painting, which leads to the fact that trained specialists simply cannot understand how to bring complex forms of objects to life.

– In the field of computer design, painting is perceived as the basis for ensuring the smoothness of subsequent professional training. It occupies a special place in animation design, but not in all specialties, but only where it comes to working with characters and scenes.

In other countries, a similar picture is observed, since the same models of design education operate in them. Each of them assumes a different understanding of the role of teaching painting skills. Moreover, universities, including in Russia, independently choose the principles, content and methodology of professional training of designers, but in accordance with existing standards, which also determines the appearance of specific features. Currently, we can say that painting classes can be conducted in accordance with academic traditions, and transformed in accordance with professional specifics, and be present only in the form of acquaintance with the theory of color and in an indirect form in other artistic and creative disciplines. In Russian universities, future designers can practice painting skills within both the basic (mandatory) and variable (profile) parts of the program. Taking into account the fact that painting as an independent discipline is not present everywhere, and not all universities consider it necessary to acquaint students with the basics of working with pictorial material, then students' interaction with it gradually goes into an invariant and variable (profile) component, as well as into the sphere of independent creative searches. Chinese universities of all training profiles follow the path of including such studies in research and practical activities, which is a mandatory component of training.

Thus, in modern design education in China, painting can appear as an integrated beginning in professional courses, be an independent and rather isolated discipline, and also be used as a means for mastering the theory of color. In direct dependence on the specialization, or rather, its proximity to plastic arts, the content of training also varies. In art design and fashion design, exercises with color and artistic materials are correlated with subjects related to mastering practical skills in the profession. In architectural design and interior design, an academic approach is relevant, and in industrial design everything boils down to copying the works of famous artists and designers in order to hone the vision of proportions and perspective.