张永旭性格开朗，诙谐，有点孩子气。他出生和成长在新疆，中央美院毕业后，就不断地回到新疆画画，和新疆有关的题材在他的作品中占不小的比例。张永旭喜欢旅游，他的作品就是他的旅游日记，或者说，他在新疆的作品，既满足了他的旅游爱好，也圆了他追寻童年梦的愿望。所以看他的画，就像是随着孩子气的张永旭，通过他的眼睛，到新疆去享受明亮的阳光，体会阳光透过清新的空气，在自然风景中所产生的光感和透明的色彩感觉，同时体会张永旭童趣般的想象。

　　张永旭在画面上喜欢使用蓝紫与桔红的对比，新疆地处高原，空气清新，阳光直射到的地方，和阴影中天光照射到地方，其色彩呈现出光学上蓝紫和桔红的对比十分强烈。这一半来自新疆特别环境带给张永旭的视觉经验，另一半是现代艺术早期对光色研究带给张永旭的教育成果，但张永旭在运用这些色彩因素上，多不从写生的角度，多率意而为，所以画面色彩不复杂，却也显得单纯和好看。包括他的画面人物造型，也多从他童趣般的想象和趣味出发，如他的《风中“飘”骑》，飘骑不是我们通常说的骠骑，画面着重强调骑手形同飘在草原上的感觉，飘骑的词和画面处理，都很孩子气。类似的画面处理，在张永旭的作品中比比皆是。我以为，色彩的明亮和单纯，造型处理上孩子般的想象，是看张永旭作品的一把钥匙。  

　　ZhangYongxu, an artist with an optimistic character, is humorous and a little childish. After graduated from China Central Academy of Fine Arts, he unceasingly returned to Xinjiang, where he was born in and grown up, to draw pictures. Themes related to Xinjiang account for a large proportion among his works. Mr. Zhang likes traveling and all his works, in a sense, are seem as his travel diary. It may be true to say that Mr. Zhang’s drawings in Xinjiang not only satisfied his traveling hobby but also made his dream of childhood come true. Staring at Mr. Zhang’s paintings is just like following him to Xinjiang. Through his eye, we feast our eyes on the beautiful and wonderful scenery of Xinjiang: bright sunlight, sunlight’s penetration into the fresh air, the sense of light and transparent hue produced by natural scenery, and his childish imagination.

　　Mr. Zhang likes to utilize the contrast of two colors of bluish violet and nacarat in his paintings. Located in highland, Xinjiang’s air is fresh. The hues between the areas directly illuminated by sunlight and those in shadow lighted up by skylight, produce an extremely strong contrast of bluish violet and nacarat. On one hand, his preference arises from his vision experiences, which Xinjiang’s special environment brings him; on the other hand, it is the educational achievement of modern art’s early research on color of light. However, when applying this skill, he usually does not take the standpoint of sketch from nature but does at will. Therefore, the colors in his works are usually quite simple but pure and nice. Most of the mouldings of figures in his creations are of childish imagination and interest, for instance, Gone with the wind. The ‘Gone with the wind’ does not mean riding we usually say but put an emphasis on the rider’s feeling of fluttering in prairie. Both of its name and the painting processing are childish. Further more, similar processing can be found everywhere in his drawings. In my opinion, the brightness and pureness of hues and the childish imagination of moldings processing is the key to understand Mr. Zhang’s works.