Sumi-e & Ink Painting – Page 7

Hirokazu Kosaka

Hirokazu Kosaka made a series of four videos, all of which are readily available on the different video services. These videos are particularly interesting to me because of their content: the Japanese brush, and calligraphy.

A brief biography of Kosaka can be found at the Montalvo Arts Center, which has this to say about him:

Born in Wakayama, Japan in 1948, Hirokazu Kosaka now lives and works in Los Angeles, where he serves as Visual Arts Director at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center. As a student at the Chouinard Art Institute, where he graduated with a BFA in painting in 1970, Kosaka began to explore the art of performance, looking toward artists such as Wolfgang Stoerchle, Allen Ruppersberg, William Leavitt and Chris Burden for inspiration. As a young artist, Kosaka also began to incorporate Eastern traditions in his art, drawing from his appreciation of the centuries-old traditions of Noh drama and Kabuki theater, his knowledge of the ground-breaking experimental art of Japan’s Gutai Group in the mid-1960s, as well as his own experience with Buddhist chanting and Zen archery.

Today, Kosaka is known for his large-scale, performative pieces, which often use publicly accessible space as a platform for dance, performance, and visual art practice. Kosaka’s work has been seen and performed at venues including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Japanese American Theatre, Los Angeles; the J. Paul Getty Center; the Seattle Art Museum; and the Indianapolis Art Museum. Selected grants and awards include a Creative Capital grant, a Rockefeller Foundation grant, a California Arts grant, and a Los Angeles Endowment for the Arts grant.

In 1973, Kosaka returned to Japan where he completed a three-month long performance piece called “Soleares” and later embarked upon a traditional 1,000-mile Zen pilgrimage called “The 88 Temples.” After completing this spiritual journey, Kosaka remained at a Buddhist monastery and was ordained as a Shigon Buddhist priest. He later returned to Los Angeles where he began to create large-scale, process-oriented artworks infused with the teachings he learned as a priest.

The Alliance for California Traditional Arts writes this about him:

Dating back to the 11th century, Japanese Kyudo – or archery, literally meaning “way of the bow” – has been used as an art of purification in ceremonies within the Imperial Court of Japan and within Zen Buddhism. Practitioners of this ceremonial and contemplative form focus on attaining “the perfect shot.” In order to accomplish the perfect shot, one must have immediate action without any intervening thoughts; this entails proper form, physique, patience, and dedication.

Reverend Hirokazu Kosaka can trace Kyudo in his family’s lineage back multiple generations, and often responds “300 years” when asked how long he has studied the art. His father began teaching Kosaka when he was 10 years old, just as his grandfather taught Kosaka’s father, as was done in previous generations. Kosaka says, “My art, and therefore my life, is the result of centuries of ‘spiritual mutation,’ the manifestation of my experience with Kyudo.”

In 2009, Hirokazu participated in ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program with apprentice Ferris Smith. The apprenticeship deepened Ferris’ training in form, patience, and the historical pursuit and endless search for the perfect shot.

Interestingly, Kosaka does not seem to have a personal web page, and so in a way he becomes an elusive figure. Searching for him on Google, it becomes clear that this is a man who is creative in ways not traditionally recognized, and his art is experiential to a great degree. It makes the search for the evanescent tangible, and should one find a scheduled event, it may be worth the enquiry. I certainly am curious.

The Four Gentlemen: 国画兰花 (Orchid)

According to the Google Chinese translator, 国画兰花 means “orchid painting.” If I plug in the characters, sure enough, that is what I get! There are a lot of really beautiful orchid paintings, both Japanese and Chinese, and some from other parts of the world.

The Four Gentlemen

In learning to paint in sumi, the student first becomes acquainted and accomplished in painting the orchid, bamboo, plum, and chrysanthemum. Practicing each, the student learns critical brush strokes, and while one may become adept at the strokes, mastery is where the artist steps in.

Painting the orchid allows the student the opportunity to practice long movements with the brush. This requires moving with the arm, rather than the wrist, which is very strange to us in the west. Those of us who learned to write script hour after hour in school learned to control our movements. Big, sweeping arm movements were not encouraged.

In addition to learning to control large movements, the student also works with varying shades of ink, from light to dark, to create a dynamic painting. The leaves require darker ink, and the flowers require lighter. In addition to lighter ink, the flowers require smaller, controlled movement. Finally, “dotting the heart” – the black ink at the center of each flower – requires the patience for the ink to dry. Applied too soon, the elegant shape becomes a blurry spot in what might otherwise be a perfect flower.

Besides being an elemental step to learning sumi, the orchid represents spring, as well as the virtues of noble behavior and modesty. In Japanese, the “Four Gentlemen” are called “shi-kunshi. Each plant has a corresponding season and virtue. In contemplating paintings of these subjects – the orchid, bamboo, plum, and chrysanthemum – one also steps into the symbolism of each.

Painting the Orchid

Of the “Four Gentlemen,” the orchid is the most easily learned. The long flowing leaves are delightful to paint. The flowers are as well – a great deal of satisfaction is found in mastering the curves of the strokes. Most difficult is “dotting the heart.”

That said, the mastery of the orchid, or any of the Gentlemen, is a lifetime experience. The expression and shape and composition of such simple subjects becomes increasingly more interesting, and more challenging.

The Video: Painting the Wild Orchid in Sumi-e

Here is a video showing some of my orchid paintings in color, as well as a demonstration in sumi. I have not annotated this video, but am leaving it for you to observe. Let me know what you think!

Painting Wheat in Sumi-e

Fields of wheat are found throughout the world, and it is a grain of significant nutritional importance to many populations. Technically a grass, wheat originated in the middle east, and was the agricultural foundation for a number of early civilizations.

As a subject to paint in sumi-e, it provides a number of interesting lines and planes. Using a diagram of the plant, pictures of wheat found on the web, and dried grasses for arrangements, there are many resources for the artist. I’ve used a combination of all three as references.

Painting Wheat

The first area to be painted is the seed head. It weights down the plant, and gives a graceful direction to the subject. By painting these first, the focal points of the picture may be chosen. As wheat rests on a top of a tall stem, consideration should be given to the composition – is the wheat going to be upright and tall, or bending over in a graceful curve?

The seeds are painted dark to light, with the ink on the brush being used until gone. Next, the stem and the beard may be painted. The beard is lightly done, with quick graceful strokes. The stem may be created with a pause and pressure at the beginning of the stroke, before continuing on and completing the stem in one movement.

The leaves are done at the end, using the side-brush stroke in combination with vertical strokes which change direction and pressure for character. Finally, the veins of the leaves are done in medium-to-dark ink.

My own wheat is rather amateurish in execution, but that is how one learns. Many sumi artists and calligraphers will practice a subject over and over until the right combination is reached, and the seemingly effortless execution of a painting is done.

Painting the Loquat in Sumi-e

The loquat is an evergreen, and can be considered a large shrub or small tree, growing about 12-15 feet tall. The leaves are long and pointy, dark green and thick, with a serrated edges. The sweet-smelling flowers appear in the autumn or early winter, and the fruits are ripe in late winter or early spring. In California, fruits appear April to May. This plant originated in China, was thence exported to Japan over 1000 years ago, and came to the west coast in the 1800s. It is frequently grown for both fruit, and as an ornamental plant.

Loquat fruits, growing in clusters, are oval, rounded or pear-shaped, 2-3 inches long, and can be pale yellow in color to a gold tinged with red. Depending on the type of loquat, the fruit can be rather sour in taste, or very sweet. The seeds of the loquat are lovely, being large and of a shiny brown.

The contrast of the roundish fruit with the wide, pointy leaves makes for an interesting painting subject. Here is my video on painting this lovely plant.

Wisteria Painting in Sumi-e

Down the street from us is a yard filled with wisteria that wanders along the fences.

Painting wisteria is delightful. The sweet smell of wisteria, the graceful fall of the leaves, the thick cascades of lavender flowers, the curl of the tendrils, the twists of the trunk.

Begin with the Flowers

The process of painting wisteria, in ink or in color, is the same. The wisteria is painted in medium tones in general, with dollops of lighter and darker flowers for contrast. I start at the top of the cluster, and use short side-brush strokes that are done quickly. First, press down with the brush, then quickly curve it and pull up. Do this twice, aiming at the center. The outer edge of the flower is thicker than the center. Continue doing this down to the end, decreasing the flowers in size. Place only a few flowers at the bottom – just a touch to suggest the petals. Let the flowers dry so that they are semi-damp.

Painting the Leaves

While the petals are drying, decide where you want to place the leaves. Wisteria leaves are long and slim, and are best painted with a graceful swooping motion. Begin with the narrow tip of the brush barely touching the paper, and then as you continue with the leaf, push down as you keep the brush perpendicular to the paper, and then raise the brush up. It is important to note that the leaves of the wisteria are paired opposite each other, evenly along the stem, and are not staggered. The last leaf is single, continuing off the stem.

Dotting the Flowers and Drawing the Leaf Veins

As the leaves dry, it is time to begin to dot the center of the wisteria flowers. This should be done in dark ink. Just little dots will do. The flowers themselves should be damp-to-dry. If they are too wet, the black ink will bleed into the flower. After you have finished the flowers, return to the leaves, gently creating the center vein with ink slightly darker than the leaf itself.

Tendrils & Trunk

The trunk of the wisteria can be ancient, twisting and woody. This provides a dynamic contrast with the graceful quality of the flowers and leaves. Paint the trunk with a dry brush using dark ink. Lay the brush on its side, and use a hard brush for even more dynamic results. Follow this up with swirls of dark ink to create the tendrils.

Wisteria Painting in Sumi-e – The Video

Above is a colored painting of wisteria I did some time ago. This video captures much of the process I described above. I hope you enjoy it!