我是个老北京，出生在京城的琉璃厂，中国著名的文化一条街，父母和齐白石等大师都有较密来往，小时候受到家承的耳濡目染，喜欢上了画画。由于家离前门很近，小时候常到正阳门老火车站、护城河沿儿一带玩耍。城楼、石桥、牌楼、茶馆、老字号店铺及有轨电车等都深深地印在我脑海中，生在北京，长在北京，在我的眼里，每天变化着的北京充满着无穷的魅力，总忍不住将最美的东西留在画纸上，留在心里。我一直在画北京，将目光投向了北京的老街、柏树、四合院、寺庙等旧景，立志用自己的画笔，将北京有观赏性、人文性、历史性的风景画出来，为后人留存下去。
　　我最情有独钟的是国子监街，那里有孔庙等诸多古代建筑和千年柏树。我曾无数次地到那一带去写生，那苍茫的老树根，那干裂的树纹肌理，曾一次次地触动我的心扉，《皇城古柏》这幅画我用散笔法来表现柏树的纹理效果，由上至下，气韵贯通，这种方法在画柏树里并不多见，用打点的方法来点树叶，层层打点积厚，但又注意疏密的关系对比，形成密不透风，疏可走马的效果，而皇城的城墙我则采取皱纸法来做出墙面的沧桑肌理效果，以此来传达出皇城这一历经风雨的历史厚重感，我的创作理念是：一切技法和效果为主题服务，让画面丰富起来，让画面融入人文内涵。
　　近年来，北京城的改造，使人产生了耳目一新的变化。除知名的古建园林、四合院得以修复保存外，还有大量的旧民居、老建筑随着经济的发展而逐步消逝，而慢慢取而代之的是喧嚣的街头、时髦的人群、橱窗里奢华的物品，高层建筑，纵横交错的立交桥，这些景观是构成城市繁华的重要元素，由于在海外呆了多年，看着日新月异的北京，有一种冲动在我心里萌发，就是要用国画的媒材去表现北京的新貌，就如石涛说的：笔墨当随时代。于是我开着车跑遍了北京城，去寻找最佳的表现北京新貌的景观，西直门立交桥，夜景的长安街，都是我热衷描绘的景点，传统的水墨画的弱点是不容易塑造具象的东西，于是我在宣纸和毛笔作为主要媒材的同时加入了丙稀色和排刷，希望能拓宽水墨的表现领域，在保持着线条和水墨韵味的基础上增加了色彩的力度，闪烁的霓虹，华灯初上，行人如织，车水马龙，北京正一步步的向国际化大都市迈进，把北京每前进一步的印记用绘画的形式记录下来，也是人生一大快事，怀着对北京的神圣感情，用纸和画笔，从一个画家的独特视角出发，将北京的景观、尤其是不太被人注意的人文景观留下来，是我一生的夙愿。
　　从1981年，由叶浅予发起，我组织策划的“北京人画北京”画展引起很大的轰动和影响，当时参加的有李小可，李宝林，杨延文等画家，至1989又举办了第二届，这一届由中国美协主办，吴冠中先生带队，赴澳门展出，在当时产生了巨大的影响，2001年的时候，在吴冠中老先生的大力支持下，我又组织策划了一届“名家画北京画展”在北京中华世纪坛展出，也取得了很大的影响，为北京成功申奥尽自己的微薄之力。
　　每一幅画，画里的每一个门楼、每一棵柏树、每一段残桓，都有对北京的眷恋。这是因为自己身上有化不开的、浓浓的北京情结，注定要把画北京作为一生必须做的事。我希望能将北京的一处处美丽景观留在画中，那是自己心中永远珍藏的一份对北京的爱。
　　Love of Beijing
　　I am a native Beijinger born in Liulichang of Beijing, which is the famous cultural street in China. My parents kept close relationship with Qi Baishi, a famous painting master. Under this environment, I began to love painting from my childhood. My home was close to Qianmen, so I often played with my friends at moat and railway station near Zhengyangmen. Towers, stone bridges, decorated archways, tea houses, old and famous shops, and trams have all deeply rooted in my mind. I was born and grew up in Beijing, which attracts me so much with its constant changes every day, so I decided to capture its beauty in my painting and my mind as well. I have been painting Beijing, including its old streets, cypress trees, quadrangle dwellings and temples. I dedicate myself to painting sceneries with ornamental value, humane environment and historical stories and want to keep them for future generations.
　　I have great passion with Imperial Academy (Guozijian) street where Confucian temple is located and thousand- year old cypress trees are there. I have been there for many times to do sketches. The cracked old roots and fissures of the truck touched the bottom of my heart again and again. In the painting “Cypresses in the Forbidden City”, I used a so-called method of scattered dots to depict the fissures which is extremely rare in similar paintings, while for the walls I used the crimpling skills to reveal its weathering nature. It is because I believe that all techniques and effects should be centered on the main themes, to make paintings more profound in humanism.
　　In the recent years, due to the city’s large scale reconstruction and economic development, only those well-known ancient buildings and gardens as well as quadrangle dwellings (siheyuan) have been restored and renovated, but a much larger quantity of old residential compounds and buildings have been torn down and replaced by bustling streets or new skyscrapers, or even modern flyovers. They are typical and important factors for a modern metropolis. Living overseas for many years, I have found that the city is changing with each passing day. So there is an idea bourgeoned in my mind, which is to use the traditional painting to express the new appearance of Beijing. So as what Shi Tao, the renowned painter in the Qing Dynasty said, the painting brush and ink should follow the times. I drove all over the city to look for the most representative places that can demonstrate its new beauty. The places like Xizhimen Flyover and the night scenes on Chang’an Avenue are all my favorite painting subjects.
　　The traditional Chinese ink and wash painting is not an ideal way for depicting concrete objects, so apart from the usual rice paper and painting brush, I also used propylene color materials and broad brush in an attempt to enrich the depicting methods of the traditional Chinese painting and strengthen its color visibility. The flickering neon lights, street lamps, passing pedestrians and cars----Beijing is steadily becoming a modern and international city. It is my lifelong fulfillment to record every step of progress made by my hometown and capture its unique scenes on paintings, especially those rarely noticed.
　　In 1981, initiated by Ye Qianyu, I organized an exhibition entitled “Beijingers to draw the picture of Beijing” It was very successful and caused a sensation at that time. Beijing painters like Li Xiaoke, Li Baolin and Yang Yanwen all joined the exhibition. In 1989, sponsored by China Arts Association, the second edition of the exhibition was held in Macao, with the delegation headed by Wu Guanzhong. It made quite a stir at that time. And in 2001, with the support of Wu Guanzhong again, I orchestrated the third painting exhibition which was held at the China Millennium Monument. It offered some kind of help to the successful bidding of Beijing to host the Olympic Games in 2008.
　　Every painting, together with every gateway, every cypress and relics in the paintings, is a sign of my sentimental attachment to the city. I will capture all the beautiful scenes of the city in my paintings. And that is going to be my lifelong commitment to Beijing.