荷塘清趣Quiet Pleasures of the Lotus Pond (square)

A square sheet. The ground is washed with lotus leaves in pale ink and pale green, misty and soft, while the leaves in front are splashed in dark ink, brightened with mineral green, their stalks upright. A white lotus opens at the centre, outlined in pale red with a touch of rouge at the petal tips and a yellow seed-pod, cool and clean, and a bud is about to open at the lower right. At the upper right a pair of kingfishers: one dives from above, the other perches on a lotus stalk, blue-green backs, yellow bellies, sharp long beaks, the fine spots on their feathers dotted in white, carefully drawn yet lively.

The title at the upper left reads “Quiet Pleasures of the Lotus Pond”: kingfishers among the lotus, a corner of the pond both still and full of life.

此为斗方。底色以淡墨淡绿渲染荷叶，迷蒙一片；前景荷叶以浓墨泼写，叶上石绿点醒，叶柄挺立。白荷一朵居中盛开，花瓣以淡红双钩，瓣尖略染胭脂，莲蓬点黄，清雅脱俗；右下花苞一枝含苞待放。右上翠鸟一双，一只自上俯冲而下，一只栖于荷梗，翠背黄腹，长喙尖利，羽上细点以白粉点出，工写兼施，神采奕奕。

左上题“荷塘清趣”。翠鸟戏荷，生机盎然，写荷塘一角的清幽与灵动。