Website Revamped 網頁更新

Newsletter (Oct 30, 2013) ／通訊 (2013年10月30日)

Website Revamped
We have been urged to revamp the website of Fong & Yeung Studio for quite a long time and we started to do it several months ago. Now that the work has been more than half complete. And we decided to launch it as early as possible to replace the old one.
        The revamped website is an online art gallery. You can see our exhibitions and view the images of all the artworks. You can also place orders for our publications and contact us for price-list. We sincerely hope that all visitors of this website will find it more informative and user-friendly.
       Yes, it's revamped, but not fully completed yet. Modification will continue.
       Please visit us at: www.fong-yeung.com
       Your valuable comments and suggestions will be most appreciated. Please contact us.
網頁更新
        很多朋友早已認為我們要更新楊方創作室的網頁。我們這次全面更新，前後用了好幾個月，現在大體上完成了基本框架和過半數的內容。為了讓新網頁盡早與訪覽者見面，我們決定現在就上載，取代舊有的版本。
        我們盡力將新網頁設計成網上藝廊。在這個網上藝廊，你可以看到我們的展覽，看到所有作品的圖像；你可以訂購我們的出版物，也可以聯絡我們查詢作品價目。我們希望新網頁對訪覽者能提供更多資訊和便利。
        誠然，網頁已經更新，但仍須增加內容及作出改進。
        請點擊閱覽：www.fong-yeung.com
        我們期待你的寶貴意見和建議，請聯絡我們。

忽然作詩？(Poetry, or Mad Proses?)

        從文字轉到圖像之後，已甚少為文，更沒想過寫詩。其實一向只是閑時偶爾讀點詩詞，讀舊體較多，但於聲韻格律卻所知幾近於零。近來因港事蹇非，怒氣難紓，不期然想到魯迅一首舊詩的其中一句：「怒向刀叢覓小詩」，於是拉雜拼湊了若干，現抄錄上載，至於是否符合格律或可有「打油」「抽水」的成份，讓各位看官評說算了。

其一、10月20日即事
        10月中，香港特府宣佈增發電視牌照，三選其二，廣泛認為應獲發牌的香港電視落選，全城嘩然，咸指決策違反事理，並斥特首連同其行政會議黑箱作業，相信背後必有政治因素。20日，逾十萬民眾上街抗議，支持香港電視員工進駐政府總部之廣場爭取公義。出於義憤，往政總撐場，及歸，憤而有作。
        牛豬轉替萬事非，復有豺狼只賣乖。虎狼在前魑魅後，遂教萬人再上街。
        按：(1)1997，牛年，董[建華]上場。(2)2007，豬年，曾[蔭權於2005接替董，之後]連任。(3)狼，港人已有認識。(4)十萬上街，包圍政總，去年就有反國教事件[反對要在學青少年接受洗腦的所謂「國民教育」]，如今又有電視牌照風波。因特府倒行逆施，此種場面肯定會愈來愈多。

其二、讀網友面書來料有解
        10月23日，瀏覽互聯網資訊，見Facebook網友傳來資料，乃知特府頭目放言，聲稱三選二非因政治，只是「順得哥情失嫂意」云云。聞此謅言，也謅編了四句。
        約規民意視若虛，傳媒電視豈等閑？非關哥情或嫂意，實緣北雪已南潛。
        按：社會輿論多認為特府的發牌決定有違政經常規，如此漠視民情亦屬悖理，故事由應是北雪南來。

其三、諷喻弊制三十三倀
        10月25日，立法會泛民主派議員支持以特權法案促使特府公開電視發牌准則，得票27。在畸型結構的立會內，建制派議員佔多數，有33票保駕，維護黑箱決策，反對泛民的動議。因見港運趨黑，再製黑詩一首。
        保皇保黨保黑箱，白黑是非已昭然。港運趨黑連國運，仰息黑朝只認權。
        按：所謂「建制派」，城中亦稱之為「保皇黨」。

        圖像：附載圖像原為木刻版畫Yea and Nay右半之局部。按友人所示，將之重複再重複，湊成33之數。
        (2013年10月28日)

漫畫刁民 The Comic Daemons

「漫畫刁民」是一個新近成立的組合，成員是一群本地的漫畫家／藝術家。

近日，各方都在談論「普選」、「佔領中環」等社會議題。面對重大社會議題，我們這批「漫畫刁民」因緣際會，決定今年八月在港九兩個場地舉行一個以普選為主題的漫畫展覽，名為「漫人迷普選」。

展場：(1) PubArt Gallery (港島中環贊善里7B地下); (2)活化廳（九龍油麻地上海街404號地下）

「漫畫刁民」現時有成員廿餘人，包括一木、白水、江記、李香蘭、阿平、馬龍、張萬有、智海、莉莉、黄照達、尊子、鍾偉強、Cuson、方蘇、Hark Yeung、Martin Lau、Vvn Ho、 黃國才、 黃志輝、Him Lo、Kit Man＠社漫、小花@社漫、Tman@社漫....... 這次展覽會展出他們多種形式的作品。展覽同時歡迎公眾參與相關的活動及講座。(展期：2013年8月6–31日)

開幕酒會：
日期：2013年8月8日（星期四）
時間：下午 5時30分 ﹣ 8時30分
場地： PubArt Gallery (中環贊善里7B地下)
聯絡及查詢：請電郵comicdaemons@gmail.com，或透過面書專頁 www.facebook.com/ComicDaemons 與 Cathy Lee 小姐 聯絡。

The Comic Daemons is a group newly formed by a number of local comic writers/artists with a view of drawing people's attention to the developments of a major social issue in Hong Kong – namely, the movement of Occupying Central. The group has decided to stage an exhibition entitled “Universal Suffrage Now” at two venues on both sides of the harbour in August, 2013. This is first time more than 20 cartoonists/artists group together to work on a social issue. The two venues are:
 (1) PubArt Gallery (Ground Floor, 7B Chancery Lane, Central, Hong Kong);
 (2) Woofer Ten (Ground Floor, 404 Shanghai Street, Kowloon)

Members of the group include: APink, Brian Chan, Cheung Man Yau, Choi Hoi, Cuson, Emu, Flora@HKSocComic, Fong So, Hark Yeung, Him Lo, Justin Wong, Kacey Wong, Kit Man@HKSocComi, Kong Kee, Lily Lau, Malone, Martin Lau, Rainbow Leung, Richard Chung, Tman@HKSocComic, Vvn Ho, Wong Chi Fai, Zunzi....Their artworks in different forms will be showcased. The exhibition will be on from 6 August to 31 August.

Opening of the exhibition:
Date: 8 August 2013
Time: 5.30 – 8.30pm
Venue: PubArt Gallery (Ground Floor, 7B Chancery Lane, Central, Hong Kong)
Enquiries: Please contact Ms Cathy Lee at comicdaemons@gmail.com or www.facebook.com/ComicDaemons.

Festive Greetings

Festive Greetings  賀節迎年
I have been sending e-cards as festive greetings for some years, using the images from my artworks. Before preparing the e-card this year, I had several images ready. I must confess, most of them are “festively incorrect”. So finally I decided to go further away from “normal expectation” by selecting the most defiant and rebellious one - “The Shoe-throwers”.
Ponding how the image would be perceived, I added the following lines, in Chinese and English, to the e-card:-

Pardon me if I am being “festively incorrect”
for sending greetings with such an image.
But I really want to see the defiant shoe-throwers
of all countries aim their shoes
at the oppressive regimes.

在賀節迎年的時候發送這種圖像，
抱歉於節慶未免有欠正確。
不過，世上偏有某等民賊和暴虐政權仍在肆虐，
我們應樂見舉鞋奮起的人讓他們領受教訓。

The e-card was sent out a few days ago. It was almost immediately uploaded to Facebook by a friend who was among the first to receive my greetings. He did it half a day before I myself. As expected, over the past two days, I have received quite a number of friendly comments and remarks by emails and from the social networking site.
The e-card is posted here. What do you think about it? All comments welcome. Thanks.

(FYI, I have thought about using another image “The Three Men of Virtue”, instead of “The Shoe-throwers”. It's also posted here.)

My Facebook Timeline

My Facebook Timeline
面書的時線
Over the past month, to coincide with two huge protest marches in Hong Kong, I have posted quite a number of images, with captions, onto the Timeline of my Facebook webpage. Some of the images are selected and uploaded here for those who might have missed what I have posted on FB.
短短一個月內，香港就有兩次大規模的抗議遊行。這段時日，我上載到「面書」的網頁上的一些圖像和文字，可視作兩次行動的印記。

七一 今年的七一遊行，規模幾乎可與2003年的七一相比。July 1 The day's event reminded me of the protest march on 1 July 2003.

22/6/2012
「七月的烈燄」: 2003年7月1日是一個很不尋常的日子。那一天，我們創造了歷史。超過五十萬人，頂着酷暑，上街示威。(「七一系列」之一。從今天起，陸續上載。)
The Flames of July: On 1 July 2003, a remarkable day, Hong Kong people made history: in scorching heat, more than half a million people took to the streets. (This is the first piece of the 'July 1' series. More will be posted here.)

23/6/2012

一家四口: 那年的七一，在烈日下，是數之不盡的黑衣服和紅臉孔。

A Family Event: It was a protest of all in black. People marching in black created a new visual icon for Hong Kong.

24/6/2012

韶顏: 那時候，一場奪命疫症剛剛結束，但來勢汹汹的第23條草案仍陰霾密佈......

Glowing Faces: ...We went through a deadly epidemic, but were still haunted by the Article 23 related bill which posed a threat to freedom of expression.

25/6/2012

!!! - 畫面是一群年輕人，畫題是三個感嘆號。有一提議是，可題為「人在幹，天在看」。

!!! - A group of young protesters. Seeing that the piece of work was only given three exclaimation marks, a friend suggested that it should be entitled "Heaven's watching what we're doing".

26/6/2012

一致行動: 人們憤怒了，推輪椅也要上街。與其說那是「傷健同行」，不如說是「傷疲盡起」。今年，人們只是更加憤怒了。

A United Effort: People were angry then. Even those wheelchair-bound joined in. After nine years, people are angrier now.

27/6/2012

並肩: 幾代人走出來，表達他們的憤懣。那時候的小孩，現在已成長了，今年在遊行中會與他們再次並肩。

Side by Side: People young and old showed up to voice their anger and disappoinment. The then young kids have grown up now. You will march again side by side with them this year.

28/6/2012

「為什麼？」- 遊行進行中，警察起了某種作用。可是這些年來，警方大大小小的動作明顯是愈來愈多了。人們都會問："這是為什麼？"

"Why?" - During all protest marches, the police play a role. It's obvious that they have been getting more and more restless over these years. Why?

29/6/2012

活劇: 那年的大遊行之後，撐了兩年，撐出了這個景象。(明天上載的圖片，會給我們很多七一要上街的理由，一個比一個強烈。)

Melodrama: The mass protest in 2003 made a difference. That's what happened after two years. (The images uploaded tomorrow will give us many reasons to take to the streets on July 1, one stronger than the other.)

30/6/2012

傀儡: 第一個是全不濟事，第二個是做盡糗事，跟着的一個只帶來一片昏黑。因此，七一上街是迫出來的。

The Stooges: The first one gained notoriety for failing to do everything, the second one for doing all the nasty things, and the third one for bringing only darkness. So, let's take to the streets on July 1.

1/7/2012
上街! - 令人憤慨的事太多了！今天應該做的就是上街！

Right On! - So much has happened so far! Today, let's come out to show that we are raged!

日前有朋友寫了點回應，說是看到了圖像箇中「悲苦的一面」。由此，我記起曾引述過一段文字：「世上如果還有真要活下去的人們，就先該敢說，敢笑，敢怒，敢罵，敢打，在這可詛咒的地方，擊退了可詛咒的時代！」(魯迅‧忽然想到)
A comment to the images I posted says: "Sad in a way..." That reminds me of the words I have quoted before: "If there are still men in the world who really want to live on, they must first dare to speak, laugh, rage at, revile, fight, and defeat this accursed age in this accursed place!" ("Sudden Notion" by Lu Xun, translated by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang)(I would to like say 'thank you' to all the friends who liked the series over the past week.)

反對洗腦教育
Joint action against 'National Education', the brainwashing school curriculum

22/7/2012
我們需要這樣的「國民教育」嗎？......讓思想衝破牢籠！

28/7/2012

2007年「《特區十年》系列」的兩件作品。左邊的一張題為「他們會看得見嗎？」畫中左上角形似飛鳥的二字是普選，但普選卻一再被否決了。老人家望穿秋水，年幼的一代又怎樣呢？右邊的一張題為「給他們更好的明天」，他們是明天的一代。然而，在2012年的特區十五年之際，傀儡特府硬推給他們的卻是要他們洗腦的所謂「國民教育」。

30/7/2012

曾經不此一次畫過扶老攜幼上街遊行的景象，現今的情況是連坐嬰兒車的幼童也成了遊行者。對此，我們應有甚麼感悟？！

It all started with ... (My catalogue notes)

It all started with ... (My Catalogue Notes)

Fong So

*The text uploaded here is extracted from an origninal text of about 5,500 words published in September 2011 in a catalogue to accompany the exhibition entitled The Centenary of China's 1911 Revolution: Paintings and woodcut prints by Fong So.

It is generally agreed that modern China began with the 1911 Revolution (the Xinhai Revolution). A large number of books, scholarly works and general reading materials about the Revolution are available. Nearly all of them start with the story of Sun Yat-sen, the most influential revolutionary of the time.
The life story of a man can be told in many ways. Sun Yat-sen himself told his own life story many times during his life time. In 1923, two years before his death, while giving a speech at the University of Hong Kong, he began his life story with his school years in Hong Kong. Some twenty-seven years before that, in 1896, when he was still a young revolutionary in exile, he told his life story in his first autobiography beginning with what he called the 'late age'.
I didn't think that much about the beginning and the end, when I embarked on this paintings and woodcuts project. From the start I believed there would be some way to present the artworks when they were finished. Then the order given to the series of artworks would tell the beginning through to the end. The project started early last year, with the first piece of artwork appearing in June 2010 and the last piece being finished as late as July 2011. When I started to produce this catalogue, I came to the conclusion that the easiest and most natural way to arrange the whole series was to follow a chronological order. Therefore, my Xinhai project exhibition starts with the 'late age' of Sun Yat-sen and his contemporaries.
In 1896, when Sun Yat-sen was a fugitive sojourning in England., he was introduced to a Cambridge sinologist, Professor H.A. Giles, by Dr James Cantlie, his teacher at the School of Medicine in Hong Kong. At that time Sun had just became a celebrated anti-Qing revolutionary after being kidnapped by Qing officials at the China Legation in London and then freed. He was invited by Professor Giles to write an autobiography to be included in his work A Chinese Biographical Dictionary. He obliged by writing Giles a letter, in which he wrote that he was “born in a late age”. For me, the best way to visualize Sun's 'late age'‚ is to produce an image of what people and life looked like at that time. To do this, I drew inspiration from an old Hong Kong picture of the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), which records the scene of a crowd watching an open-air theatre production. Hong Kong at that time, ceded in 1842 after the First Opium War, was a colony under British rule. I first saw the picture in an old album published in 1970 by the then City Museum and Art Gallery of Hong Kong. In my composition, I cut out the background, focusing on the heads of the crowd and people's facial expressions. The background is replaced by an excerpt from Sun's letter to Giles. It is more than an excerpt: it follows the calligraphy of Sun's letter. Before working on this piece, I had tried to avoid putting inscriptions into my paintings, though it is a common practice for nearly all painters using the Chinese media of brush and ink. I modified their practice by using diluted or 'watered down' ink to copy Sun's calligraphy. That way, it is in 'Sun-style' and I am just a 'copycat'. The portrait of the young Sun Yat-sen is next to those words composed by him (Plate no. 1).
......
Very little visual material is left from the 1911 Wuchang uprising. We know that it was the rising in revolt of the Qing New Army soldiers that fired the first shot of the revolution. Old pictures now available are mostly those poorly-equipped New Army soldiers. We also know that an 18-star red flag, symbolizing the unification of China's 18 provinces at that time, was used by the insurrection army. As the Hubei Viceroy's Yamen, the Qing government's headquarters in the province, was destroyed by artillery fire in the uprising; the newly-founded Hubei Military Government turned the building that housed the provincial assembly into its headquarters. Here, in my attempt to visualize the 1911 Revolution, I have combined the insurrection soldiers, the 18-star red flag and the insurgents' headquarters, known among the locals as the Red Mansion, with Sun Yat-sen's remarks about this uprising (No. 12). According to Sun, the success in Wuchang came as an 'accident'.......
Sun Yat-sen was on a tour in the United States of America when the Wuchang uprising broke out. While stopping over at Denver, Colorado, he read in a newspaper that the move in Wuchang turned out to be a success. He continued his tour to New York, then Britain and France, before returning to China. Shortly after his arrival, he was elected the Provisional President of the Republic by the provincial delegates. On 1 January 1912, he went to Nanking to assume the post and inaugurate Year One of the newly founded Republic of China. The oath he took, a piece of his calligraphy, can be found reproduced in various publications. In the portrait I did of Sun, I have his oath copied next to him (No. 14).
......
The Provisional Governemnt in Nanking (Nanjing) operated for just three months, from 1 January to 31 March 1912. After the abdication of the young Manchu Emperor Xuantong, an official ceremony was held in Nanking in which Sun Yat-sen, the Provisional President, led the officials of his Provisional Government to the Ming Mausoleum to pay homage to the founder of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the dynasty before the Qing. My composition of the Provisional Government is based on the old pictures left from that special occasion. In this composition (No. 16), Sun is in the middle of the front row; at his side is Huang Xing, the Minister of the Army. Some other ministers of Sun's cabinet are there, but there is no need to name them one by one. The three big characters carved on the gate of the Ming tomb, as well as the titles of the Provisional Government's gazette and the Provisional Constitution, form the backdrop. Also in display is the five-colour national flag used by the newly-founded Republic. The flag continued to be in use until 1928.
......
Revisiting Hong Kong, Sun Yat-sen gave a speech at the University of Hong Kong on 20 February1923. He told his audience that Hong Kong was his intellectual birth-place and the place where he got his revolutionary and modern ideas. A good pictorial record of the occasion is a photograph taken outside the Great Hall (now Loke Yew Hall) after Sun's speech. This is the photograph on which my largest-ever woodcut is based (No. 21). In this particular piece, I focused on the section in the middle; only those around Sun were included (my apologies to those cropped out). I added only one thing not seen in the photograph: the clock tower above the Great Hall.
......
According to my parents, they had to recite the testament of the Founding Father of the Country (Sun Yat-sen) at school during their school years. That was some seventy years ago. The testament is copied in my work “The Last Wishes” (No. 23), but not in full. It is in 'Wang-style' calligraphy, as the testament was drawn up by Wang Jingwei at Sun's dictation or composed by Wang with Sun's approval. Wang was then a high-ranking Kuomintang leader among Sun's entourage and was one of the very few non-family members who were allowed to be there by Sun's sickbed.
......
The next piece “The Prolonged Enmity” (No. 26) is a pictorial summary of a long history. Featuring Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong, I summarized the hostilities between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in a single piece. On the left side, Mao is shown in three stages: first as a 'red bandit' in his Jiangxi period (the early 1930s); then as the communist leader winning the civil war (1946-49); and lastly as the great leader of the CCP and the country until his death (1949-76). On the right side, Chiang is also shown in three stages: first at Sun Yat-sen's side commanding the KMT army; then as the 'Generalissimo' of the country during the war against Japanese invasion (1937-45); and lastly as head of the KMT government ruling Taiwan (1949-1975).
......
Two woodcuts are made to wrap up this centenary series: “Waiting” (No. 34) and “The Arab Spring” (No. 35). As things and events related to these two pieces are so fresh, there is no need to explain everything in detail.All inscriptions are of remarkable origins. I hope they can stimulate thought and contemplation. After working on these pieces, I became fond of Solveig's Song and jasmine.
There are some short stories I should like to recount before ending my catalogue notes
Over the past year, while I have been working on this project, a question has been frequently put to me. The question is: “How did the project come about?” The answer is: “It all started with a casual chat some time early last year (2010) among friends, most of them old acquaintances going back to my university years.” Over tea or wine, one of them exclaimed: “Now that it's the year 2010, the next will be 2011. A hundred years have gone by and things are still like this!” There was no need for further explanation; we all knew what he meant to say. The casual talk then turned into a preliminary exchange of ideas about my plan to produce a painting and woodcut series to mark the centenary of the Xinhai Revolution. Some of the friends joining the casual talk later became the members of my Xinhai task group.
The conclusion of our casual talk on that day was a straightfoward one, as offered by one of the participants citing the words of Sun Yat-sen: “The revolution has not been successfully concluded yet; comrades should strive on!” I later carved a seal based on this well-known saying by Sun, but leaving out the words “revolution” and “comrades”. The seal print now appears in some of the brush-and-ink paintings in this centenary series.
Another short story is my fond memory of my old mentor when I was a small boy living in Gaungzhou. His name is He Xia. I met him by chance at the age of ten, while I was making a sketch of a painting in an art gallery. He was then a retired old man of about seventy. He introduced me to the art of the Lingnan masters, in particular that of the founder of the School, Gao Jianfu. He later introduced me to another Lingnan master, Professor Chao Shao-ang, who would became my painting teacher when I moved to Hong Kong. Professor Chao had been the student of Gao Jianfu's younger brother Gao Qifeng, another famous Lingnan master. I know very little about my old mentor He Xia, except that he had been a soldier working at the side of Sun Yat-sen when he was young. He did not paint; he practiced calligraphy. He showed me his collection of calligraphy and paintings. I remember that a piece of calligraphy hanging in his study was penned by Sun Yat-sen. Some time last year, while digging out some old stuff in my studio, I found by chance that I still kept a letter written to me by my old mentor some 45 years ago. It was years after I moved to Hong Kong that I came to know the extraordinary life story of Gao Jianfu (1879-1951). He happened to be a member of the Revolutionary Alliance when he stayed in Japan in 1906. In the 1911 Canton (Guangzhou) uprising in April, he was one of the team leaders of the enlisted revolutionary fighters. He took refuge in Hong Kong after that failed attempt and continued to be an activist. After the Xinhai Revolution, he became a modern master promoting the 'New Chinese Painting Movement' and founded the Lingnan School. I very much share his guiding principle of 'New Chinese Painting': “brush and ink should follow [the development of] time.”
(Contents of the exhibition catalogue include: colour plates of all 35 artworks; chronology; an essay by Louie Kin-sheun; biographical sketches of over 50 historical figures; Fong So's catalogue notes and selected bibliogrphy.)

一切都始於...... (作畫札記)

一切都始於...... (作畫札記)

方蘇

*原文刊載於2011年9月配合題為《辛亥百年現代路：方蘇繪畫及木刻版畫》的展覽而出版的畫冊，此處上載於網誌的版本為部份段落的摘錄。

現代中國應以1911年辛亥革命為起點，這是大家都會同意的說法。論述辛亥革命的書籍很多，學術著作、普及讀物，多不勝數，絕大多數會從孫中山的生平說起。
一個人的生平，可以有種種方式去講述。孫中山在世時，就曾一再講述自己的生平。1923年，他去世前兩年，曾重訪香港，並應邀到香港大學去作演講，那趟他就講自己的故事，故事開始是他曾在香港受教育，而香港對他產生了很重要的影響。在那趟演講之前二十七年，他也述說過自己至那時為止的生平，當時他是個流亡海外的革命志士，年僅三十，第一次應邀寫自己的自傳，他就從自己所生的世代說起。
我在動手繪製這個水墨和木刻版畫系列時，沒有想過這個系列的起始和終結。我只是一件又一件地製作，起始和終結的問題，我一開首就認為最後自然會有答案：到展示時總要有先後，那排列順序就會定出起始和終結了。我這項目從去年(2010)初開始，第一件作品在去年中出現，最後一件則遲至2011年7月才完成。最後到編製這本目錄時，我認為最簡單而又最自然的順序，莫過於把畫作按史事的年月先後排列，因此這個系列也就從孫中山所說的「晚世」開始。
時維1896年，孫逸仙人在英國倫敦，身份是亡命者，因為他經由香港西醫書院教師康德黎的介紹，認識了劍橋大學一位漢學家，漢名為翟理斯。那時孫在倫敦蒙難之事剛剛結束，他剛從滿清駐英公使館的禁閉中走出來，成了令人刮目相看的革命家。翟理斯教授邀約孫寫一自傳，編入其著作《中國人名辭典》(又名《古今姓氏族譜》)之中。他函覆翟理斯教授，信件內容就是他自己的傳記，一開始就說自己是「生於晚世」。對我來說，要描繪孫所說的「晚世」，最好就是能以圖像顯現當時的黎民百姓的生活面相。我的圖像構思源於一張清末的香港舊照，照片攝錄了香港一處露天劇場看戲的人群。那時香港處於英治之下，割讓香港是1842年，在第一次鴉片戰爭之後。我第一次見到這張照片，收錄在一本1970年出版的圖冊裏，出版者是當時的香港博物美術館，圖冊名為《百年前的香港》，按此推算，也就是距今一百四十年前的香港。我處理原圖的辦法是大幅剪裁，背景統統去掉，只截用人頭，重新組合，結果是一大堆頭像，面容各異，表情複雜，擠滿了畫面。此圖背景改用文字，錄寫了孫逸仙的函件其中小部份。在此之前，鑑於大多數使用水墨為媒材的畫人都在畫上題款，以證書畫同源，我卻認為可以另闢蹊徑，書畫分家，於是盡可能不在畫作上題字。這趟既要採用文字，我想也應有點不同，因此我改用淡墨，翻尋手蹟印本，臨摹「孫體」，我只是依樣畫葫蘆，不是寫書法。畫面所見，「孫體」字的盡頭，就是孫年輕時的畫像 (圖版編號1) 。
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辛亥武昌起義留下來的視像材料甚少，有之就是起義成事後的若干圖片，多數是裝備簡陋、衣衫粗劣的士兵。為人所共知的一個事實，就是打響革命第一槍的是屯駐武昌的新軍士兵，而新軍是清廷設置的軍隊，因此是新軍士兵起來造反。義軍使用的旗幟，是紅地的十八星旗，十八星代表全國十八行省聯合。當時清政府的湖北總督衙門毀於炮火，革命後成立的湖北軍政府把新建的省議會大樓用作總部。我描繪武昌起義的木刻，把義軍士兵、十八星旗和軍政府總部 (當地人稱之為紅樓)併合在一起，再加上孫中山後來對武昌首義的評述，作為注腳(編號12)。據孫所說，武昌的成功，是「成於意外」。
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武昌首義之際，孫中山仍在美國奔走募款，他得知起義成功，是在科羅拉多州的典華市 (後譯丹佛)看報紙時見到的。他繼續行程，轉赴紐約，再越洋造訪英、法，然後才乘船返國，先到香港，再北上上海。他抵埗不久，即被各省代表選為行將建立的共和政府的臨時總統。1912年1月1日，他到南京宣誓就職，宣佈成立中華民國。他的誓詞手蹟早已廣為流傳，印在各種書刊內。畫作所見，我在他的畫像一側，臨摹了他的誓詞手蹟(編號14)。
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設都南京的臨時政府，為時僅三個月，由1912年1月1日至3月31 日。清帝宣統2月遜位，民國臨時總統孫文曾率臨時政府官員到南京明孝陵祭告明太祖。那次祭告活動留下了一些照片，我就用來打稿，繪畫臨時政府。畫面所見，臨時總統孫文居中，身旁是他任命為陸軍總長的黃興，其他內閣總長不必逐一細數。背後門樓上刻着「明孝陵」三個大字；臨時政府的公告和宣佈的臨時約法，也以大標題顯現；還有民國最早通過使用的五色旗也是背景一部份(編號16)，五色旗一直到1928年仍是民國國旗。
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1923年，孫中山在重訪香港時，曾應邀在2 月20日到香港大學去作演講。他對出席的聽眾說，他從前在香港讀書，教育是來自本港，並直言其革命思想係從香港得來。他那次演講有很好的照片留存，就是演講後在大禮堂 (今陸佑堂) 外的集體照 。我至今為止最大的一件木刻，就用這張照片為底本。因為場景較大，我的畫面只截取了正中央那三分之一，僅有照片中較近孫中山的那些師生才能收入畫面 (未能收入的諸君子，只好在此向他們致歉) 。我的木刻只加了一件照片上沒見到的實物：大禮堂上的鐘樓(編號21) 。
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聽父母那代人說，他們小時候上學讀書，背誦《國父遺囑》是例行公事。這份遺囑，現在臨摹在畫作上(編號23，遺願)。因畫面空間及構圖的考慮，並未抄錄全文。1924年底孫中山到北京，汪精衛跟隨北上。最後孫臥病，除家人以外，准許隨侍病榻的人為數甚少，汪是其一。孫的遺囑由汪寫成或筆錄，由孫簽名，再經多人列名證明。因遺囑由汪精衛執筆，故此畫面上臨摹的也就是「汪體」。
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「對峙」(編號26) 是以一串圖像去概括一段相當長的歷史，繪畫的內容是國共或蔣毛兩造長期敵對的狀況。畫面一分為二，一邊紅，一邊藍。左邊紅色再分三截，呈現毛澤東三段時期：由下而上，先是毛被稱為「赤匪」的江西時期 (上世紀三十年代初) ，之後是中共在內戰 (1946-49)取勝之前，再之後是毛由建政到去世那廿多年。右邊藍色也分三截，呈現蔣介石三段時期：由下而上，先是孫中山在世時蔣隨侍其側(1925之前)，之後是抗日戰爭(1937-45)勝利在望時的委員長，再之後是退守台灣後的國府首領(1949-1975)。
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最後，要用兩張木刻版畫作這個百年系列的終結：「等待」(編號34) 和「阿拉伯之春」(編號35) 。因為兩者都是很近期的事，所以不必細作解說。兩圖的文字都有來歷，留待觀眾仔細咀嚼。完成了這兩件作品之後，我很喜歡《蘇薇姬之歌》和茉莉花。
結束這篇作畫札記之前，還可以講點小故事。
第一則故事，我用來回答開始這個系列之後經常被問及的問題：「你這計劃是怎麼搞出來的？」答案是：「就從一次閑談開始。」那是去年(2010)初，幾個老友碰頭，多數早在大學時經已認識。茶酒之間，有人感嘆：「轉眼已是2010年，來年就是2011年。一百年了，還是這種樣子！」無須解釋，大家都知道他說什麼，那趟閑談就變成了啟動這個百年項目的前奏，並且開始就我提出的打算製作一個水墨和木刻系列交換意見，尋找資源。之後，好幾個參與閑談的朋友就成了這個自發的辛亥項目的成員。
那趟初步討論的結語很簡單，就是孫中山留下來的名句：「革命尚未成功，同志仍須努力」。後來我繪製這個系列時，刻了兩個印章，其一就錄下了孫中山此一名句，不過我的印章去掉了「革命」和「同志」這四個字。這兩個印章，我用來做水墨畫作的壓角印鑑。
另一則小故事，聯繫到我對少小時候一位師長的感情。他名叫何俠，人如其名，確有俠者之風。那時我住在廣州，認識他時，我才十歲，而他已是七十開外。我們初見的地方是廣州一處展覽廳，我正在看畫描稿，引來他的注意。他後來引導我認識一些畫人的作品，主要是開創嶺南畫派的先輩高劍父的作品。再之後，我移居香港時，他寫信引介我去見嶺南大師趙少昂教授，我因此得以成為趙教授門下弟子之一。趙教授早年學畫於高奇峰，高奇峰是高劍父的弟弟。我跟隨何俠時，因尚年少，對他所知不多，只知道他曾是軍人，早年在孫中山身邊做過事。何師並不繪畫，只寫點書法。他給我看收藏的字畫，讓我臨摹。他家裏有一小幅題字，是孫中山書贈，掛在書室內。我去年翻找舊物，竟然找到他寫給我的一封信，那是老人家四十五年前的手蹟了 (插圖6)。
離穗來港多年之後，我才知道高劍父 (1879-1951) 絕不尋常的生平。原來他1906年在日本學畫時加入了同盟會。1911年廣州的反清起義，他是一隊志士的領軍隊長，失敗後曾避居香港。辛亥之後，他成為現代中國畫大師，提倡「新國畫運動」，創立嶺南畫派。關於「新國畫運動」，他有句格言，我極有同感：「筆墨當隨時代」。
(此一畫冊的內容包括：整個系列35件作品的彩圖；年表及作品編目；雷競璇撰寫的專文；五十多個歷史人物的小專；方蘇的繪畫札記及參考書目。)