臺大教授畫臺大
NTU Pictures by a NTU Professor
台湾大学教授が台湾大学を描く
臺大校園導覽畫冊」緣起
2007年，我想把李嗣涔校長請我寫給臺大學生的電子信系列編纂成書，以做為通識課的教材。我心想，一封封電子信雖然都是出自內心的人生道場體驗，但全都是白紙黑字，豈不令讀者覺得乏味？不如加上一些圖畫，既能給讀者的視神經較大的衝擊，更可以傳達文字所不能傳遞的絃外之音；畢竟A picture is worth a thousand words。
既然對象是臺大學生，最直接的畫面可能就是他們天天身處其境的臺大校園了。因此，我決心在2007年間觀察臺大校園內的景緻變化，並加以記錄。記錄的方式不外攝影與繪畫，臺大校園的攝影，多少年來早已汗牛充棟，恐怕只有繪畫才能稍具特色。於是，我決定還是用最原始的工具—2B鉛筆、小朋友使用的八色蠟筆與十二色彩色鉛筆，一方面盡量縮短作畫時間，另一方面則是希望以小朋友童真的線條與顏色來呈現校園風光。一個老大不小的教授拿著寫生本站在校園一角，面對不會說話的樹木花草，埋頭繪畫，時間一久，恐怕有人會認為這傢伙是不是「阿達」一族？後來，我自己發展出來的模式就是用半小時畫下輪廓與色彩，同時用電子相機拍下所畫的目標，回家再根據照片加以細部修飾。不過，原則上還是盡量採用比較單純的景象入畫，以節省作畫時間。告訴你一個小祕密，我的工具還包括「立可白」，我不是用它來修改，而是用來強調白色的物體，例如流蘇花、生態池裡的石頭以及生態池天空的雲彩，因為「立可白」的白色具有光澤，又有立體感。
臺大創校於1928年，2008年正要慶祝80週年。這80年來，世事更迭，校園裡不同時期有不同形式的建築，現代及古典並立，從最古老的臺北高等農林學校(小小福附近的古老教室） ，臺北帝國大學時期的古典式建築，二戰後的傅園，近代的總圖書館，生命科學院到剛落成啟用的社會科學院大樓，這些建築形式的演變正可以反映出臺大經歷的歷史和滄桑。校園裡一年四季緋寒櫻、杜鵑花、流蘇、鳳凰花、臺灣欒樹……輪流爭豔，生態池更保留了荒野美景。 我把臺大的四季景色與校園建築結合，呈現「天時」與「人事」所構築出來的臺大風光。
臺大出版中心的編輯更將這些校園景色串連成一個導覽地圖，您只要走到地圖上的景點就可以看到畫中的景觀。
沒想到門外漢的所畫這一系列塗鴉，成為「臺大真好玩」一書的插圖，意外的頗受歡迎。這本書目前已經三刷。許多老師跟我提起，這些插圖讓他們重新發現了臺大校園。不少老師拿這本書當成贈送訪賓的紀念品，因為能代表臺大的紀念品還真難找。
最近，管理學院李副院長又跟我提起這件事，觸發了我把這些校園風光單獨編纂成一本臺大校園的導覽畫冊的念頭。這本導覽畫可以讓訪客手拿着畫冊，隨着導覽地圖，找到畫中的景點，一邊參閱該景點的文字說明（中，英，日語），一邊按圖索驥，欣賞畫中的景色。當然，它應該也是具有臺大特色的紀念品，大家不用再煩惱找不到贈送訪賓的紀念品了！
臺大校園見了！
臺大教授 
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How it began
I started writing emails to students in 2005 upon request of Prof. Lee Si-Chen, the president of National Taiwan University (NTU) then. It later occurred to me that the emails, sharing various life experiences, served as good materials for liberal education, so I started compiling them in a book in 2007. A book of words only might not be appealing enough to readers. To create bigger visual impact and more importantly, to convey meanings beyond the words, I thought of adding some pictures. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Then which pictures are suitable for such a book? Since the book addresses NTU students, pictures of the NTU campus with which they are most familiar might bring the biggest impact. I therefore was determined to spend the whole of 2007 observing and recording the campus. Photos of the campus can be found everywhere. Drawings instead are rare, so I decided to record the campus by painting and selected tools that kids use for drawing using 2B pencils, a box of crayons of 8 colors, and a set of colored pencils of 12 colors as my instrument. The drawing kit, on one hand, shortened the drawing time and on the other, helped depict, with simple lines and colors, the campus from the perspective of a naïve child. On seeing a professor in his fifties stand in front of some speechless plants and bury himself in painting for hours, students passing by might start to doubt his sanity. So, I normally spent no more than 30 minutes drawing the contour lines and coloring roughly before I went home to add details based on the photos I took with a digital camera. As a matter of principle, I only selected scenes that are relatively easy to draw as my objects to save time. A little secret here: white-out is also one of the tools I used for drawing. I did not use it for correcting, but for depicting white objects such as white fringe tree, stones in Liugongjun Pool. As clouds over Liugongjun Pool for the white fluid is glossy, once dried, it creates a bumpy kind of texture that helps emphasize the object.
Established in 1928, National Taiwan University was celebrating the 80th anniversary in 2008. The campus therefore hosts various types of buildings, classical and modern. All the buildings, from the oldest block where Taihoku Senior School of Agriculture and Forestry (the aged classrooms next to Xiao Xiao Fu Commissary) was located, the classical buildings preserved from the period of Taihoku (Taipei) Imperial University, Fu Si-nian Memorial Garden built after War World II, the modern buildings of Main Library and Life Sciences Building, to the newly designed College of Social Science Building, tell stories of what the university has been through in the past 80 years. Architecture aside, the campus is also rich in botanical resources. With seasons changing, Formosan cherry, azalea, white fringe tree, flamboyant tree and Taiwanese rain tree on campus blossom one by one through the year. Liugongjun Pool preserves the unpolished beauty of wilderness. While drawing, I tried to picture the buildings against scenery of the four seasons so as to present the campus as a combination of human work and nature.
To visit the buildings and scenery mentioned in the book, readers can follow the campus map edited by the University Press which introduces various spots on campus.
The paintings of a layman were then introduced to readers as illustrations to the book Emails to NTU Students. The book was surprisingly popular and has been reprinted twice. Many NTU teachers rediscovered the campus through the book. They even gave the book to guests visiting the university as a souvenir as it was not easy to find a souvenir that represents the university.
Recently in a conversation with Prof. Li Shu-Hsing, Associate Dean of College of Management, the book was brought up for discussion again. I started thinking seriously about editing the paintings into a guidebook of the campus. The map and paintings in the guidebook help visitors identify and appreciate attractions on campus. With notes in Chinese, English and Japanese, visitors can know more about the story behind the scenes. The book is of course another souvenir that represents the university so that one no longer worries about what to give to visitors.
See you on campus ! |
