李 宁
在现实主义绘画中，生活之真、感情之善、境界之美是评价作品优劣的准绳，真善美的和谐统一是前辈们一贯坚持的审美理想，也是我在画面中一直努力却难以企及的境界。
创作《渔人与白鸥》的想法缘起自一次写生活动，期间驻留在一个还未被现代都市文明完全占据的小渔村。这里的原住民世代与海为伴，对大海寄予全部的生活希望，并赖以生存。渔人每天带着生活的希望出航，载着大海的恩赐归航，日复一日，年复一年，他们在朴素的生活里学会对海的尊重，而大海也从未辜负世代的渔人。这种单纯、质朴、人与自然和谐共生的状态令我神往。之后多次往返，感受也随之变的明晰、具体。这种和谐自然的生存状态成为作品着力表达的内容。
素材的选择是个自然生发的过程。置身于那片净土之上，远观海天一色的背景下，穿着连体水衩的渔人在阳光的沐浴中满载而归，白鸥驻足身旁，一幅至美的画卷就这样呈现在眼前，我由衷的感叹“造物”之神奇，“天地有大美而不言，四时有明法而不议，万物有成理而不说”。在这里体现的淋漓尽致。昔日里在画布上为了寻找出路而纠结在方法、形式、题材、观念的困惑顷刻间化为乌有，需要做的工作只是记录眼前所见。思路清晰了，画笔也就有了着落，对我来讲创作的整个过程是愉快的。会带给观者怎样的感受，我实在不敢妄言，但像“柯罗”所说 “现实是艺术的一部分，只有感情才是艺术的全部，如果真正地打动了心灵，我们这真挚的感情是会传播给他人的。”
李 宁
2011-11于山东
Fisherman and Ivory Gull
The truth of life, the good of emotions and the beauty of realm are the disciplines to judge works in realistic painting. The harmony of truth, good, and beauty is the aesthetic ideal of those seniors, as well as mine, though I have exerted myself but still haven’t achieved that.
My plan to paint Fisherman and Ivory Gull originated from a sketch I once had, when I stayed in a small fishing village, which has not been occupied by modern urban civilization. For generations, boongs there make a living and place their hopes on the sea. Fishermen sail out with hopes every day and return with bestowals of the sea, day after day, year after year. They learn to respect the sea in the plain life style, while the sea never lets them down. I was enchanted with the purity, simplicity and the harmonious symbiosis between human beings and nature. My feelings turned more distinct and concrete after several more visits. The harmonious and natural living conditions became the focus of the painting.
The choice of materials was spontaneous. Placing myself in the pure land to watch the sea and the sky merged into one, I unfeignedly admired the miracles of Nature, in which the fishermen return fully loaded in the sunshine and ivory gull halted nearby. The wonder of Nature is thoroughly presented in the scene. The entanglement about techniques, forms, themes and conceptions in the past vanished into thin air in the turn of a hand, and what needed to be done was simply to record. Brushes danced as my train of thought moved, and it’s a great pleasure for me to paint. I’m not sure about the experience of audiences, but just as Corot put it: “Reality is part of art, whereas emotion is all. If it stirs people’s heart, our sincerity is sure to spread.”
Li Ning
November 2011 in Shandong