Japanese Ink Painting - The Art of Sumi-e

98 Pages·1997·13.41 MB·English

by  Naomi Okamoto

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3Q3nese
Ink Paintin
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of
Arr
The Sumf-e
.
.
Naomi Okamoto
II
stmblgPubliobing ce.,IDe. NewYork
Tt11U1hutd by1:t1sabtthE. Rtlnrrstf\J.nn
Okamoco.Saord. 19' 1-
Uap;anlscM: Tuschnukrd ft!rEinmiatT. t:nltish)
j'pl ndr ink p;&1t1nng:thc=art ofsumi-r-' N.tOmlOb m
p. em.
Includn icdtx.
ISBNl).8069.O832·7
L Swnit- Trchniqur. I. 'rule.
:'\OH62 .03813 1995
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CONTENTS
"
L'ffilO DliCTION... .. ... ... ... 6 RolOring'h, Handk oj,heBru'h J9
THE&ISICS.. .. ...... .. .. ... . 8 The Crocus 39
Em"", Tulip iO
8a<"xr"ondand oj
Magnolia 'II
]apttnt:$(Ii'll!Alfnril'gl ........ 8
LaWArtasPclnud in Two
PciInri'lSUttl'l$lls 10
- hi 5,roJru....................... 'fJ
mIOlum<. Tht Bru..h ..... .......... ... 10 I", 'fJ
GrindingInk 11
Anthurium 4.5
Ink- TheL1quldProduced
!tomtheInk Srick 1J RoughOudlJt'lwithOnt Srroltt 46
AdditionalAlds " 12 Promonotry 7
TittPGiMfngSurJac-.c PA1:-<'TlliOGBJECTS 48
Choroc""" lcsandeffects.... 1J SrillLlJ'I. r~ !IllnrinS' 48
Paper '" 13
Landscapeisn'n_Paintings 56
P'p<' 0' Suk.... .. .......... 13
ASrudyof Trees ' 7
HowInk 8<ho"e. on
Thd lUdr of Rocks _ 62
UntreatedGucn-shi 16
Spacetn • Ltndscar. ' 61-
\\brill.swl,h1.~ and Brush 18 TheComposition0 aPlinring64
•
GrindingandPreparinglnk 18 Rdlcctionsin theWater 66
FUlingthe Brush... ... ... ... 19 SDO"SClpt.... ....••.. .. ..•• 66
BrushCon""I-II owto Hold Mort'Landscapes..•••....••• 70
theHandleoraBrush .. 19
Brushjeehntque 19 FromSkttddngCDA:rniriftg 73
PAINTINGTECIll\~QlifS 22 PAll\'TlKGWITHCOLOR...... 77
PracticingLints.............. 22 11,1Ro,l ojColo' ........... ... 77
The FirstStrokeSteorne!il
WhIchColo' IsAppropria,,' ..... 78
Fish 23
The SecondExperiment:The PR.ICT1CEMOTIFS 82
Orchid 2' ~::;M:'riJ'.a~~. ~u.
the ThirdExperiment: M•. 87
BlUllboo......•... .. ... •.• 27
}IOlJl\'TlNGA Fll'l<SHED
TheFourth Experlmenr.The
PA"'\'Tl:-lG 90
Plum-Tree8nnch 30
Addll1onaP1ro<uce 32 MOlmtfgnInstnlCrio,lS 91
Excmsa Jo' C""ring Spo" J7 Howto Can·t 4 Stal 92
WflhLhtSnuhHeld41 anAngle. IVhcrt10PIac, rlttStol 9J
AI ' flo,on rlt' !Ill'<' J7 My Scols 9J
Poppy J7
"" CONCLliSIO:-l............. 94
","'DElC .. ..... ... .. •...... ... 96
INTRODUCTION
Some tlme ~'O. 1decided thai J cheerful;rather; it is the result ofa indMduallywhat seemedunlamiIW
"~.mted to write a bookaboutjapa mentalprocess. &ea:ut)·is• giftof andbytransformingand bl<ndingIt
neseink painting.alsoknoo"i\-as rn•.presem"~ry day.gmngJo}' "1mthe traditional. In orderfor
,.umf-f. In thebeginning. I thoughtI and hopetolife. It cxpreS5tS tht )"OUto gainaccessto thissryleof
..-oudJ fi", d,,~lop my own 51)i< character of the artist; it IsJO\".t painting. you"iII eeed dear in
and use the pictures I painted in Thissubjtcti\ -eundcl'$tandingofthe nructicms. t believethat it would be
that .5[}-k asa meansofintroducmg il6thnicsofbeautyhasa!v'l.}"been helpfulfor me to shue "ith }"OUthe
the art ofJapaDC'Kink painting to at the hem of DJ)'work.IS a Stu expeneecesandInsightsI "" ..
peopleofOther cultures. E\"tn dent ofWestern painting and even gained. TheywillSCI'\'t asguidesas
thoughmanythought dl!scouldn't beforet began Illy Intensein\'Oh-r }"OUcontinueto de\-eloprour an. l
be done. 1btlir\yd it was possible mtnt wah ink palmJng. Iamcon· lfke to compare thisprocesstoa
b)' pointing to w-hatJapanese ink seemlyU)ing to IncrtI.K my under growingbambootree that de\'tl.ops
painting lw in common ...h..hother standingofthe secretofbeauty." newnodulesas it gTOW'S.
.t}i.. ofpalntlngand by palingat
Allthisstarted whent rcaltud that Inthisspirtt, the knowledg. of
tendon to oursubjecdvetmpres
.ions. Mer all,paintlngis basically in the:absenceofanistic skillsand sumi-t that 1havegained50 faris
an immediateexpressionofthesub beauty, p3indnglU it Lspresently contained in this book. It ismy
pra used in the West can onl)' be wish thatthe discussionsthat£allow
jecdve: humanfeelingsart not all
thatdifferent. &tsldcs. the Spontll seena5 an expresstcn ofeccentric be received byyourheart. 1hope
necus. expreestve character and the Ideasand a deplcdonofproblems. yeu willbeable to develop a 5C:Nt
•
• visual ..esthedcsoCink painting suchas the portrayalofthe superfi ofthe Intuim-c processas you be
ctsl. On the other hand, I am aware come mort and more familiarwtth
make it \'fl')' accessible to the mod
that in theWest.too, people long thl"an form.
em Western\1e-we.r1believethat
forquiet, freedom. harmon)..and
suml-t,,111continueto stem str'.J.ncg Let', be on our wayl
!>taut)"asantidotesto the alienation
115longaswetry to understand It
so prevalent inour ttchnologicalse
I su:lcd)' froman Intellectual, rhecrer
det}·. In spue ofthe Claorthat our
kal point ofvtew.In addition to its
culturalbackgrounds are differtnt
subjccd\"tSfnsld\1t)..ItSp ee and
btll Ut)' (sdUofgreat signifciancein and Wt }"OUapproachart from a
difJ'retnt viewpoint. rou. tOO. are
theJapaneseculture}could be the
fascinated b)-the dear forms that
commonground on which to meet.
arecreated in the empdnessof
t am cominctd th::uwhatever seems
space.ccnr'qingthepresenceof
foreignin ink ~Inrings can be
eternalquitt. Regrettably, Itun't
~"trcomc b)' diKo.-rring rheir In
been unablt to find mr cen form
herent btaut)'.
ofexpresstcn. Xt\'trthdw . t ha\'t
•
Ajapanese philosophu cnce said. been able to create paintings OUt to
"Beauty is not onlywh.n looks Japaneseculture b)' incorpor.ating Onfist\\11)'
6
git
I
,
•
•
•
, 7
THE ptct OO\\-er5b.irds. and landscapes dons,mirroringthe intenstt)·ofthe
are:sopopular. interest thepainter bringsto the
work. In asense, it is tht procns
ThisSlYle ofpainting. heavllyInflu
BASICS thatgi\"essvmf.cits expresslonistic
encedby Zen Buddhism,usesonly
character.
blackink. Hcwever, accordingto
Orientalundemanding.blackInkIs In addition. the "itite: surfaceofthe
Background not simply black.It has IIWl)" dif picture is DOtsimplyan open space
ferent shades. representingthe le&afterthethemeofthepicture
highestlevel ofcolorstmpllficadcn. hasbeen established.asis often the
and Essenceof
case in Western paintings. instead.
Differtnt degrees in tone do not
it is an essentialpan ofthe:pleturt.
represent different shadesofUghtor
Japanese Ink Whitesurfaces comealh-eandpin
brightness:rather. theyproduce an
depthwhenthq. becomeonewith
ofcolor b).creating.
Painting P":I.rtnUS an object and a ttchnique.crnting
contrllJt..ith the:..-bitesurface. This
aform.
iswhat gl\-e:s• paintingthe appear
anceofcolor. Thetonesalso S(J"'e Forexample.supposechatasyou
In order to get a clear KnK of 15 an immediateexpressionoferee- ...-.atch a wild flower yourheart 15
what ink painting Isall about..I
think It isUSf(ulto look at the dif·
ferences between this style and
\\~stcm paindng.The gOliofclas
steal W~tcm paintingis to depict
theworldand its objectsas rulisti .
all) ' aspossible. To aeblecethar
goal. it hasdeveloped a prectse
structure offoreground. background.
and central object. creating a three
dimcrislonal perspective. Thisstyle
ofpainting needsUgh.tshadow.
and. most ofall color. Inkpainting
usesnoneof these aids. Even
I thou&ith. 100. depicts a \;C'\\ ' of the
. world.irsgoal is not to produce a
• fu 1istic pictureofit. but ratherlin
expressionofthe perception
II
painter wants to coD\"t)."It is an at
tempt to capture. in condensed
form. the65C'n c ofan object, a
pt:I'SOO, or a landscapeas seen
th.rou&theh' q'csoftht patnrer, For
that reasce, "'ggatlon pb).. . ke)'
role. Suggestion and simplification
in a paintingimpl)'reality.
InJlpmt:Stink paintings "'C!«
the traditionalaestheticsofstmpllc
it}' combined'\lith a distinct em
phasison intuitive ~xpres!ion. A
senseofharmon)'. sot)l'icalin-jap
aneseculture. J)([\"3d6 everyscene.
Thisexplainswhypaintings that de-
8
TH l BASICS 9
touched1»' Its\1ta1ll)" As the raeli· "white space" Isa directexpression thedistance.Thi5is a moment
ante:oftheink I.suansfe:rre:dco the: ofTaolsmand Zen'Buddhlsm. The whenyoubtgin to becomeone
paper"'iUtchtstrOkeofa brush. understandingoftTlO\m-eent. ofthe with the newer.
the Ilewer in )"OUl'piCWR seemsto "real" nCMing and d.Isshoing InfO
Or think ofmusic. Landscapes,
"breathe," and thisbreath begins to ··nothingncss.·· and the existence of
birds, and rocksan: notes created
till the white spacesunounding it. "emptiness' are ofcentralsignU.i
just as It docsIn nature. in ink cance to bothbeliefs. in nature. First )0'00 studythe notes.
nextyoupracticeon}'0Uf instru
paintings. a linedocs not represent
Theessential character ofink paint. ~nt. and then }"OUermotionsplay
thecontour or W outer edgeoft
Ing.expressingthe d)'tWll1cso(!Ue, these
form:rather; it represents the inner DOtrS.
is. quitepcwlbl}".a forc:tgnconcept
JXW'"ttoftht paintedform itself. It When )'OUexperiencehowthe
for Westernartists.because}"OU
representssoul.spirit. and life gentle, tender shades ofthe ink and
havetobecome one \\;th the object
rhythmill at once, a simplt lint, created froma state
in the palnung, 1n Western paint.
ofInnerquiet. ere tramformed and
Aher thisan form arri\-edin Japan ing.s.)"OU.arc not the ~·er. HO'"o'
expttSSthe mostpo'I-Ieorfulen.trgy.
f",m ChIna,It ..... hca\11yInDu· ever, picture)'OUl><lCpainting OUt·
enced1»T'aoismand cspccla1Ibyy stde. Sensethe nl)'S ofthe .sunon )'00 \\;ll ha\~ • senseofwhat these
philosophiesarcill ahouL
ZenBuddhism.Theconcept of )"OUtskin;let )"OW'C)'Csget lnto