Over six decades, Tung Pui Sun's brush has given life to countless stories. Here, in his own words, he reflects on his journey, his craft, and the worlds he has created.
六十餘年，董培新以筆墨為無數故事注入生命。且聽他娓娓道來，談創作歷程，談藝術心得，談他親手建造的那些世界。
In His Own Words
細說新語
On Receiving Jin Yong's Trust
“Mr. Jin Yong said to me: 'You may paint freely, don't feel pressured. Paint however you think best.' These words moved me deeply and gave me tremendous creative freedom..”
對金庸的信任之感言：
「。。。金庸很快地回复了五个字“放心去画吧！”
“在那么多年的创作中，金庸先生没有向我提出任何意见，我们之间从没有讨论过他的作品，更不用争执，多谢查先生对我的信任。」
Source: 成都商报 (Chengdu Commercial Daily) via 新浪收藏 (Sina Collection) Title: 董培新画说金庸:他让我放心去画 Date: October 15, 2014
Link: https://e.cdsb.com/html/2014-10/15/content_492960.htm
On Early Film Art Direction
“I entered the industry as a teenager and painted everything. Hong Kong cinema was booming then. I worked as art director at Xianhe–Kong Lian Company, painting movie posters, designing sets and costumes. *Old Master Q*, *The Woman in Black*—all from those years.”
"My film training taught me to think in terms of camera lenses. Composition, lighting, angles—these things later found their way into all my work, from editorial comics to large-scale ink paintings."
「幾十年的繪畫生涯中，我有好幾年兼職電影美術指導、廣告宣傳、海報設計工作。。。構成影視的元素是影像、對白、音響，加上時空活動所組成。圖畫就像定格的畫面，觀眾可以隨意慢慢欣賞，細意推敲畫中的故事，感受畫面裡的語言。一張畫所描述的內容，電影、電視可能需要花幾分鐘時間來陳述表達。」
Source:
Book: Tung Pui-sun's Paintings on Jin Yong's Martial Arts (董培新畫說金庸).
Section: Author's Preface (自序), often titled "Painting Jin Yong: My Journey" (畫說金庸：我的歷程).
Image Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYF4PaSf96I
Source:
Book Title: Tung Pui-sun's Paintings on Jin Yong's Martial Arts (董培新畫說金庸)
Section: Author's Preface (自序)
Publisher: The Commercial Press (H.K.) Ltd.
Context: In this preface, Tung reflects on his early career in the 1950s and 60s, describing the intense pressure of daily newspaper deadlines and how his background as a film storyboard artist influenced his unique "cinematic" ink wash style.
On His Prolific Output
“I never counted how many I painted. Some say hundreds of thousands—probably about right. Back then, I had to paint every day; newspaper serials couldn't stop; readers were waiting..”
「畫了多少幅，我從來沒有數過。有人說幾十萬，大概差不多吧。那時候每天都要畫，報紙連載不能停，讀者在等著。」
On Creative Philosophy
"My method for choosing subjects is simple… I only paint what I remember—and if I still remember it after decades, it must have left the deepest impression…"
"Illustrating novels is different from fine art. Illustrations serve the text; they must accurately convey the plot. But with the Jin Yong series, I approached them as independent creations. I wanted to capture the spirit of the novels, not merely serve them."
「我選題材的方法是很笨的，我跟蔡志忠不同，他記憶力很好，我是記性很差。記不到的我不管，有記憶的我就把它畫出來，而且可能是幾十年前的記憶。那麼久的事情還有印象，就表示它特別深刻。」
On Not Setting Goals
"I don't like setting goals for myself. If you set a goal and fail to reach it, that sense of failure will hinder your future development. My only goal is to do every single thing well, and never let myself off easy…"
「未來的事情，我不會自己訂目標，最不好的就是訂目標，因為要是你訂了目標而達不到，那個挫敗感會打擊你以後的發展，這不好。所以我的目標就是認真做好每一件事情，不放過自己。我唯一的目標就是這個。」
