Throughout his life, RAN In-ting devoted himself to depicting Taiwan's unique rural and folk landscapes not only with words, but also with brushes. Rural life and understanding have always been his lifelong creative themes. He is not an artist who mainly focuses on depicting "characters", but the "people" in his works may be far more than any other artists among his generation.



RAN In-ting's "Honorable Return" may not seem very suitable at first glance, but when you steady down and gaze at the work, the characters in the painting appear lifelike. Between the S-shaped country roads, the pond is sparkling and a team is marching forward in a mighty manner. The people amongst perform their respective duties, those who walk in the forefront hold red satin plaques. Some of the followers are holding umbrellas, wearing bamboo hats, carrying lanterns and long bamboos in their hands. And some are carrying sedan chairs with their waists bent, while others stood or squatted to rest. In the last end, two people were seated in the sedan chair, they pulled away the drapes to curiously look out, as if excitedly viewing the scenery of their hometown that they had not seen for a long time, while the elder one is sharing the story of his childhood to the young one. Along with the rich body language of the characters, the marching team seems to be moving rhythmically, enabling the viewer to immerse in the scene. Undoubtedly this is such a magnificent work of depicting the characters.



In addition to the vivid depiction of the characters in "Honorable Return", overviewing the works of the artist, the crowd in the temple fair, the village women rubbing clothes by the river and the people rushing in the rain in the small town are all classic scenes of RAN In-ting. He is always capable of describing the scenery from his sight with simple and flexible brushstrokes, the characters under his brushes are full of dynamism and storytelling, which is so admirable. His portrayal of the characters also reminds me of the paintings from another famous landscape painter Wu Guanzhong. Wu often adds characters as the finishing touches to the alleys with small bridges while water flowing underneath, and white walls contrast with black tiles. Both of them employ brushes leading us to appreciate the most beautiful scenery in their eyes. And people are assuredly the lovely and interesting part of that landscape.