衡水内画是现代中国内画的代表，行业内人才济济，各有专长的一流画师就有十余人，其作品豪爽奔放，富有诗情画意，肖像着色清淡，层次分明，富有质感。但目前衡水内画只有王习三的师徒传承谱系，此外并无系统的文字记录或著述，若不制订出具体保护措施加强管理，这一特色技艺将难以为继。
Hengshui neihua paintings is a traditional Chinese art. It refers to the artwork of painting inside snuff bottles around Hengshui city and its surrounding areas in Hebei province.
衡水内画是一门中国的传统艺术。这是指河北省衡水市的一种鼻烟壶内壁绘画技艺。
Hengshui neihua paintings refer to the artwork of painting inside snuff bottles around Hengshui city and its surrounding areas in Hebei province. As a result of its superlative craftsmanship, neihua painting has been praised as an incredible craftsmanship for its expressive picture within only a square inch of areas.
衡水内画是指河北省衡水市的一种鼻烟壶内壁绘画技艺，主要分布在衡水市及其周边地区。其工艺精妙异常，”寸幅之地具千里之势”，如同鬼斧神工，被外界认为不可思议。
The art of neihua painting in snuff bottles first appeared in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). In 1696, during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, the first state glass factory was set up to produce snuff bottles, which were presented to the royal members, senior officials, and foreign ambassadors. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, in addition to glass and porcelain, other materials such as ivory, amber, coral, agate, crystal and bamboo roots were also used for making snuff bottles. In the Jiaqing Period of the late Qing Dynasty, Peking neihua paintings appeared with its unique styles and further developed during the Xianfeng Period. The paintings are made using such techniques as writing, drawing, cutting-out, carving, engraving, heating, welding, chiseling, grinding, mounting, embedding, casting, pasting, painting, and mould pressing.
鼻烟壶的内画技艺产生于清代，1696年，康熙皇帝设立了第一个玻璃工厂，专门制作鼻烟壶，赏赐给王公大臣和外国使节；乾隆时扩大了烟壶的选料范围，由料器（玻璃）、瓷器发展到象牙、琥珀、珊瑚、玛瑙、水晶、竹根等。嘉庆年间，具有特定风格的京派内画开始出现，咸丰时有了进一步的发展，其制作工艺包括写、画、雕、刻、镂、錾、烧、焊、凿、磨、镶、嵌、铸、错、粘、漆及模压等技术。
During the late Qing Dynasty, a number of neihua painting masters emerged in Peking. Among them, Ma Shaoxuan, Sun Xingwu, and Ye Zhongsan and his three sons are particularly good at painting human figures, while Zhou Leyuan, Ding Erzhong and Zi Yizi are skilled in depicting landscapes, flowers and birds. Hengshui’s snuff bottle neihua painting belongs to the Ji (the short for Hebei Province) School, which has its origin partly in the Jing School (Peking neihua painting). Wang Xisan, the founder of the Ji School, had apprenticed himself to Ye Xiaofeng and Ye Fengqi, the third and fourth sons of Ye Zhongsan, a famous snuff bottle master handicraftsman. In the 1950s, on the basis of the Ye’s handicraft arts and widely assimilating other craftsmen’s merits, Wang Xisan applied the meticulous “brush-tearing” technique of traditional Chinese painting to snuff bottle neihua painting. He also invented a paintbrush unique to the Ji School, namely “Xisan Hook Brush”. The direction of the brush can be changed easily by turning the hook.
晚清时京城出现了一批内画大师，其中马少宣、孙星五、叶仲三父子善画人物，周乐元、丁二仲、自怡子等善画山水花鸟。衡水内画号称冀派，与京派有着密切的联系，其创始人王习三是京派老艺人叶仲三之子叶晓峰、叶奉祺的第一位外姓弟子。20世纪50年代末，王习三熟练掌握了京城”叶派”的内画技法后，将中国画中的工笔”撕毛法”引入鼻烟壶内画。他自创了冀派内画的特殊工具金属杆勾毛笔，即”习三弯勾笔”，笔杆直弯，可随意改变方向。
Hengshui neihua painting integrates many techniques of traditional Chinese painting, such as chapping, scraping, dying, touching, delineating and tearing. In 1981, masters of Ji School tried using oil colors to create neihua paintings and through trial and error, they successfully used oil colors as an alternative to water colors, making the first of its kind by blending the eastern and western skills. The exquisite and elaborate interior paintings, with profound meanings, careful compositions, varied drawing skills, coordinated colors, and setting-off calligraphy, are simple and elegant, treasured by all.
衡水内画把国画的皴、擦、染、点、勾、撕等技法引入内画。1981年，该画派试用油彩作肖像内画，经过摸索掌握了油彩内画技法，打破了传统水彩画的局限，完成”中西合璧”的创举。衡水内画立意深邃，构图严谨，线描技法丰富，设色协调精润，书画并茂，雅俗共赏，深为世人所重。
Hengshui neihua painting is a remarkable representative of its kind in China. This interior painting field never lacks talents, and the works of the dozen top-level masters are both ebullient and poetic. The light-colored human figures demonstrate good texture and distinctive layers. However, currently the Hengshui neihua painting is only practiced and carried out by Wang Xisan and his apprentices. There are no systemic documents recording this unique art. It would be very difficult to preserve this form of art without specific protection measures.
