Text by Huang Zhong Photos by Liu Zhongcan

The strokes say it all.Yu Xiaofeng dips his fingers into an inkwell and lets them roam nimbly on the page,twirling like a dragon in flight swirling through the clouds.His lithe touch flits flirtatiously over the papyrus-like paper,and in a matter of moments,a speedy sketch with assumedly arbitrary patterns juxtaposed helter-shelter forms into the perfect likeness of Wintersweet shrubs.As it gets close to its completion,branches and twigs,plums,and magpies of jaw-dropping realism jump right off the page.

Finger painting,also known by other monikers such as finger drawing and finger inking,is a singular painting style with a longstanding tradition that uses fingers dipped in ink to paint in lieu of a brush.According to records,finger drawing began in the Tang Dynasty,and today there is only a handful of individuals practicing the art,Pan Tianshou,Quan Songyan,and Yu Yifeng are among its leading exponents.

Yu Xiaofeng’s Artwork 虞小风作品

提手演示，只见虞小风掌指蘸墨，掌走游龙、指点勾勒，不到几分钟，一幅指画腊梅图几近完成，枝桠、红梅、喜鹊栩栩如生，跃然纸上。

指画，又称指头画、手指画、指墨画等，是中国传统绘画中的一种特殊画法，以手代笔，蘸墨作画。据载，指画起于唐代,如今从事指画的已不多，潘天寿、钱松喦、虞一风等是指画的代表。

1949年出生的虞小风师承其父——著名指画大师虞一风衣钵，8 岁开始学画，潜心指画创作和研究数十载，最终自成一体。“十年画鹰，十年画荷，十年画山水。”在位于武汉市江夏庙山的虞一风指画馆内，只见他画的雄鹰搏击长空、浑厚古朴、大气磅礴；他画的秋荷，挂着莲蓬，傲立苍穹，出淤不染；他画的山水则风骨暗藏、韵味悠长。“鹰代表着入世的拼搏精神，荷代表着出世的淡泊情怀，山水则现文人的中庸之道。”虞小风说。

在虞小风看来，指画与笔画相比，用指头、指尖、指背甚至掌纹作画，其线条与笔画有明显不同。其最大的特点是“甲肉半间”，即指画蘸墨画时会产生“双勾”效果，指甲和肉之间的空处会留白，指头点染则会产生半实半虚的罗纹，“虚实之间格外有韵味和美感”。“我总结手指画的魅力在于：残缺古拙的金刚之味，力透纸背的阳刚之气，直抒胸臆的率真之美。”虞小风说。

祖籍浙江宁波的虞小风，2000年客居江夏，创建“江夏画派中国画研究院”。为什么将基地选在江夏？虞小风说，江夏是中国指画发源地，明代山水人物画家吴伟就是江夏人，是吴伟创建了“江夏画派”。……