One spoonful at a time, the flowing folk art of sweetness
When talking about sugar paintings, many people’s memories will be immediately dragged back to the temple fairs in their childhood, or at the entrance to the park.
There is a small cart made of wood, with dragons, phoenixes, flowers, and birds of various shapes and sizes made of sugar inserted on it. Next to it is a circle of children with eager eyes. These children are holding a few cents tightly in their hands, waiting for the pointer on the turntable to stop rotating so that they can see what kind of patterns they can get.
With such an art form that uses sugar as ink and a spoon as a writing instrument, it has a more affectionate name among the people, that is, "sugar pourer".
It is not just an edible snack, but also a unique folk art style that carries sweet memories of several generations.
This craft seems to be quite simple on the surface, but in fact, within that small scope, the skills and wisdom accumulated by the artist over decades are hidden.
The Origin and Tools of the "Candy Pour Man"
The history of sugar painting can be traced back to the Ming Dynasty. At first, it was related to folk sacrificial customs, and then gradually evolved into a kind of street art.
Why is it called "Sugar Pourer"? The reason is that the artist "pours" the boiled syrup on the stone slab, and then "draws" the shapes of various characters or animals in one go.
The tools used are extremely simple, just a spoon and a shovel, but they can transform numerous and diverse worlds in the hands of the artist.
The thing used as sugar is usually red and white sugar. Add a small amount of caramel sugar to it, place it in a small copper pot, and simmer it slowly over a slow fire.
The heat when boiling sugar is the key to success or failure. If it is too thin, the sugar will not be able to form. If it is too thick, the sugar will not flow. It must be boiled to the state where it can be "pulled". The so-called "pulled" state means scooping up the syrup with a spoon. When it drips down, you can pull out slender threads that will not break. Only then can you be qualified to cast the mold.
The creative process of “using a spoon as a pen”
The creation process of sugar painting is very ornamental.
The artist scooped up a spoonful of golden syrup from the pot. His wrist first sank and then rose. The sugar liquid poured out on the smooth marble slab like a golden thread.
The entire process needs to be quick, as the syrup will solidify quickly as it cools.
According to the composition, the artist must control the tilt angle of the spoon and the speed of movement of the spoon to shape the thickness of the line, the turning of the line, and the pause of the line.
If it is a side profile of a character or animal, it will mostly be outlined using lines and completed smoothly and smoothly; if it is a frontal image, like the head of a tiger or a lion, sugar must be stacked layer by layer to create a three-dimensional effect similar to a bas-relief.
Sugar has unique fluidity at high temperatures, which results in a certain degree of randomness in each creation. Even if it is the same artist, even if it is the same subject, it is difficult to draw two completely identical works. This is the charm of sugar painting art.
Rich and diverse themes and meanings
The themes of sugar paintings are extremely broad and can be roughly divided into several categories: one is characters from traditional novels and operas, such as Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Guan Gong, which are very popular among children; one is auspicious flowers and fruits, such as pomegranates, which means many children, peaches, which symbolize longevity, and grapes, which represent a good harvest; and the other is birds and animals, with dragons, phoenixes, fish, and butterflies being the most common ones.
The artist will create according to the customer's request or the pattern pointed by the turntable.
In terms of styling, folk artists have summed up a unique set of aesthetic rules.
They have the ability to make good use of the characteristics of sugar, and pursue fullness, symmetry, and smoothness in lines, resulting in the entire picture being both freehand and free and dynamic without losing details.
This kind of artistic treatment, which originates from life but is higher than life, transforms the original ordinary sugar juice into pieces of folk art that can be appreciated for a long time.
Styling techniques and style features
The modeling techniques of sugar paintings can be summarized as "focusing on lines and combining lines and surfaces".
Focusing on the beasts or characters living next to them, the focus is on depicting the external shapes and dynamics through smooth lines, which is similar to the line drawing in traditional Chinese painting.
If it is a frontal image, like a rooster with its head raised high or a dragon circling around, it would be based on the line shape, and the "sugar pile" operation would be implemented on key parts such as the comb and the faucet to create a relief feeling, thereby making the image more three-dimensional and prominent.
This unique technique requires extremely high skills from the artist.
They must know clearly the temperature and consistency of the sugar. At the same time, they must also have solid painting skills and modeling abilities.
While creating, the artist's wrist keeps turning, sometimes faster and sometimes slower. As the spoon dances, the sugar juice instantly condenses on the stone slab to form a painting. The entire process is smooth and natural, full of rhythm.
The perfect finish from slate to bamboo sticks
After the sugar painting is completely cooled and set on the stone slab, it enters the final finishing stage.
The artist will use a small Blade , carefully scoop up the sugar painting from the slate.
This action must be clean and neat, as the slender sugar thread may be broken if you are not careful.
Then, stick a stick on the sugar painting Bamboo stick , as a handheld part.
The newly completed sugar paintings are crystal clear and glow like amber in the sunlight. They are inserted on straw handles and attract passers-by.
For children, getting a sugar painting not only satisfies their appetite, but is also a kind of luck and pride.
They will hold the sugar paintings in their hands and look at them carefully for a long time, reluctant to open their mouths to eat. Until the sugar gradually begins to soften slightly, then they will take a lick from the edge with extreme caution. The sweetness can be sweetened deep in their hearts.
Sweetness and inheritance in memory
Nowadays, due to the standardization of urban management and changes in people's lifestyles, sugar painting stalls on the streets are no longer as common as they used to be.
But every time during the Spring Festival temple fair and every folk culture festival, sugar painting artists will show up with their tools and their unique skills to surprise people.
This ancient folk art has not only not been forgotten, but has been given more cultural connotations.
For children, it is regarded as a delicious snack, and for adults, it is a sweet symbol of tradition and nostalgia.
Sugar painting has a unique charm. Its charm lies not only in its characteristics of being both sugar and painting, being edible and edible, but also in the fact that it carries folk wisdom and contains the taste of life.
There is a clever movement in that spoon and shovel, so there is such a kind of beauty flowing out. It is the simplest, but also the most touching, and belongs to the beauty of life.
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