苏轼，字子瞻，号东坡居士，是宋代著名的文学家和书画家。他的作品不仅在文学领域有着深远的影响，在绘画方面也有独到的见解。《东坡画扇》便是他以绘画为主题的一篇佳作，通过文字展现了他对艺术的独特理解。

原文如下：

东坡居士尝于暑中画扇，或问曰：“先生何不画山水？”东坡笑答：“扇上画山水，人皆知之，无新意也。我画扇，欲使人见而生奇思耳。”遂以墨笔绘一竹，旁题诗云：“宁可食无肉，不可居无竹；无肉令人瘦，无竹令人俗。”

此扇成后，观者无不称奇。有人不解，问其故。东坡曰：“竹乃君子之象，人若无此气节，纵然富贵，亦不过俗物耳。”

翻译如下：

One day in the summer, Su Dongpo drew a fan, and someone asked him: "Why don't you paint landscapes?" Su Dongpo laughed and replied: "Everyone knows how to paint landscapes on fans; there's nothing new about that. I want my paintings to make people think differently." He then painted a bamboo with ink and wrote a poem beside it: "It is better to go without meat than without bamboo; for lack of meat makes one thin, but lack of bamboo makes one vulgar."

After finishing the fan, all who saw it were amazed. Some did not understand why, so Su Dongpo explained: "Bamboo represents the character of a gentleman. Without such virtue, even if one is rich or noble, they are still just common folk."

这篇短文通过苏轼画扇的故事，表达了他对艺术创新和个人品德修养的看法。他认为艺术创作应当追求新颖独特，同时强调个人应具备高尚的品格。这种思想至今仍具有重要的现实意义。