Tag: how to

The Four Treasures: Inkstone / Suzuri, v

I have a small collection of inkstones / suzuri. A few I have paid a lot for (for me), and others have been incredibly inexpensive. Some are really poor as far as usefulness, some mediocre, and some surprisingly good for the small amount they cost. Several years ago I bought an excellent stone for $5.00 in an artist supply store. It is a real stone suzuri. Another one I bought a few years ago is not an outstanding stone, but a bit of work made it into a very usable stone. That is the subject of today’s entry.

The Phoenix Stone

I bought this stone on eBay about three years ago, paying about $15.00 for a stone which was never used. The gal I bought it from got it in Hong Kong about twenty years earlier, as a memento of her trip. That said, I wasn’t too sure about it, but liked the carving on it and bought it anyway. It must be understood that many inkstones are made for the tourist industry, are not usable, and most will not be worth more than use as a paper weight or other decorative item. This stone measures 5.25 x 8 inches (13.5 x 20 cm).

This stone is actually pretty good – much better than I expected. When it arrived, there was some sort of coating on it, which did not work at all well with hand grinding an inkstick. I decided to re-read some directions I got awhile back about how to make a stone usable – if it could be made usable at all. The goal was to remove the coating, try the stone, and then finish the stone’s grinding surface if necessary.

Buying a New Stone

When buying a stone to use, the first thing to look for in a stone is whether or not there is a slight glint, or sparkle, in the sun. Tilt the stone this way and that. What is needed is a bit of sparkle, and hopefully that sparkle is copper pyrite, which, according to my source in Japan, is necessary for good ink stick-ink stone connection. This stone has that glint.

Preparing to Refinish / Polish a New Inkstone or Suzuri

To refinish a suzuri is not difficult, though it might be rather scary if you like the stone. This inkstone was unused, so this description is for a new stone that does not seem optimal.

Because this stone was not dirty, with old ink stuck to it, I simply washed it soap and water, using Dawn dish detergent as it is good at cutting grease. I let it soak a bit in hot water, soapy water, and then used a 3M brand green scrubber on it. I did not apply a lot of pressure to the surface, but used just a gentle swirling motion. Once washed, I rinsed it, and let it dry a day before grinding sumi. The resulting ink was okay, but not particularly fine. The surface of the stone felt rather rough, so I decided to sand it down.

Polishing the Inkstone / Suzuri

Sandpaper is not to be used on an inkstone, but fine grit wet-dry paper is needed. This is usually a grey-colored paper, available in good hardware stores, and manufactured by 3M. It comes in varying grits, but to begin with, use nothing less than 600 or 800, and do the final polish with 1000-2000. What you choose to use will vary with the stone, and how much energy you want to put into it. I like a smoother finish, but with a coarse-grained stone will require a bit of gentle elbow grease. The paper shown is what I have used, and am pleased with the results.

Before you begin, run your fingertips over the surface of the stone. This way you will know what your stone feels like before beginning.

When I polish a stone, I go outside. With me comes a basin of water, the paper, the stone, an old bath towel, and table. Place the stone on the towel to protect the table, and to collect any dirty water from the sanding process. Put water on the stone’s surface, and using the coarser papers, begin rubbing the surface in light, circular movements. Don’t put a lot of pressure on the stone, but let the paper do its job. Proceed systematically over the entire surface. Rinse off the particles of stone and paper as needed in the basin of water as they accumulate, and continue. Test the surface of the stone with your fingertips – you should be able to feel the difference. Rinse off your stone, wash and rinse again, and let it dry.

Grind some ink, and notice the quality of the particles. Also notice the quality of your inkstick. If you have a poor inkstick it won’t produce particularly good ink – it will be coarse-grained, and take a long time to produce dark ink. There may be rough spots in it. These rough spots are impurities or contaminants, and can actually gouge your stone. Stop if you find something like this, pick it out, and try again. Remember – you can ruin a good stone with an inferior inkstick.

The key element is patience. Sand down the stone, wash and rinse it, let it dry. Run your fingers over the stone, checking for a smooth finish throughout the entire grinding surface. Try your ink. If you are content, stop. If you want a finer ink, continue using finer papers until you are pleased. Don’t try for a shiny, polished surface. There needs to be some “bite” on the surface for the inkstick so it may be ground into fine particles.

The Phoenix Arises!

I spent a few days polishing out this stone. I used several grits of paper on it before I was content. This stone produces a dark ink in a fairly short amount of time. The surface is flat, without puddling, and the well holds a nice amount of water. Because there is no slope on the stone, I use the water to dilute ink when painting. I add water from a suiteki or sucky-cup (plastic cup with a built-in straw, made by Rubbermaid) in small amounts as I grind ink. The large grinding surface makes for a relaxing “grind” – small surfaces make me tense up.

This stone has a rather greasy quality to it, which is why it is not one of my favorite stones. I expect it has something to do with the type of stone it is.  Little spots of white appear on its surface for no known reason.  Nonetheless, a stone which was not at all usable, in my opinion, has become functional, and under the right circumstances, pleasurable to use.

Chinese Painting Class: Dragon

What really happened . . .

My last Chinese painting class had the assignment of peony, but that lasted about 20 minutes.  A student requested Teacher demonstrate a dragon, and had brought in a painting by a famous artist as a sample.  This turned into an incredible class demonstration!

Chinese Dragons  龍

Chinese dragons are different than western dragons.   In fact, they really are not dragons by western standards.  The pronunciation for dragon in Chinese is “lóng” – like “long” with a long “o” and a rather French “n” sound, like in “fin” – sort of nasal, by what I recall hearing.  Wikipedia sums it up:

The Chinese dragon or Oriental dragon is a mythical creature in East Asian culture with a Chinese origin. It is visualized these days as a long, scaled, snake-like creature with four legs and five claws on each (though it did not always have five claws). In contrast to the European dragon which stands on four legs and which is usually portrayed as evil, the Chinese dragon has long been a potent symbol of auspicious power in Chinese folklore and art. The Chinese dragon is traditionally also the embodiment of the concept of yang (male) and associated with the weather as the bringer of rain and water in an agriculturally water-driven nation. Its female counterpart is the Fenghuang (usually translated as a phoenix).

Dragon Painting

The original painting, from a calendar of twelve monthly dragon pin-ups, is to the right.  Copying a painting is a traditional method for learning techniques.

When a painting is done with both ink and color, the ink is laid down first.  This ink creates the foundation for the painting, the color is added last.  Different papers have different qualities, some being unsized, others not.  Sized papers resist bleeding.  Our dragon was painted on unsized paper, so Teacher’s brush was very dry.  Even when diluted ink was used, the brush was blotted on paper towels to pull out excess moisture.  When the colors were applied, they were diluted as well, but the brush was blotted, and the wash applied in quick, short strokes.

Beginning the Painting

The initial part of the painting was a rough outline in charcoal, lightly applied to the paper.  Proportions were determined, and placement.  Then the major outlines of the painting were started – the “bones” of the painting.  These lines were both thick and thin, and applied with relatively dark ink.  Even though the face was the starting point, the eyes were not completed until the painting was nearly done.

Take a look at how Teacher holds his brush. This is very different than how we hold our brush in the west. Also look at how his left hand is placed on the paper. Those of you who have done calligraphy, or spent countless hours in the classroom in your childhood during penmanship, remember this position.

Teacher uses his brush vertically, using only the tip, as well as sideways. All of this can be done with a large brush tapering to a fine point. This point can be shaped by wiping it along the edge of the dish, twirling it in the process of removing extra ink, as well as with the fingers. Narrow lines are done with the brush tip, but broader areas of ink are done with the length of the brush.

Using only one brush, Teacher completes the overall lines and shades of the painting before color is added. A sense of depth depends on all these elements working together.

Teacher completes one section before moving on to the next. First the head is outlined, then claws, and twisting body. Below the head, the rest of the dragon develops, body, tail, claws. Paper is left white so clouds, mist, and flame may be represented by light washes and color.

When the dragon is done, the eyes are added, very carefully. Ruin the eyes, ruin the painting!

Adding Color

After the dragon is completed, inking continues. The background is completed, final touches are added here and there. Once Teacher is happy with his painting, he begins to add color to the painting.  He also has switched to a large, western watercolor brush!

One of the biggest challenges in watercolor is remembering that color becomes lighter as it dries. Unsized Chinese paper can become waterlogged and tear very easily. For the best results, the artist has to think ahead. Knowing about how light a color will dry comes with experience. Even so, as the painting develops, the need for darker color will be found. Patience! Let the paper dry, and then add more.

Teacher mixes an ochre, then moves into a cool blue.

Red is added.

Three hours later, teacher has completed his painting.

Abstractio

As I wrote a bit earlier in my posts about my Chinese Painting Class, there is a challenge to start painting a subject when the knowledge that is gained by practice and by painting has slid by the wayside.  In an effort to stop feeling frustrated and stressed out by the process, I decided to play.  Play is part of growing up – and part of any art or skill acquisition – a  way to try, explore, experiment, learn.  I forget this way too much!

Relearning

The subject was peonies.  I have done a few good ones.  This is what I did that led to tears.  To put it politely, it sucks.

Becoming very frustrated, I decided to practice some strokes in classical subjects which are the foundation for Asian painting: bamboo, orchid, chrysanthemum, plum.

Some memory returns, but the brush is far too wet.

Break the Rules

Rules exist to be broken. Many sumi painters paint traditional subjects, which are beautiful in variety and subtlety. Others move into areas far beyond the traditional expressions, meeting either excitement or criticism. The beauty of ink is its immediacy, and how it lends itself to spontaneous expression. However, this element of spontaneity comes with practice and experience, and without either, the dilettante remains such. The artist combines the repeated practice, the knowledge, the experience with the moment. All artists are dilettantes and students at times, and other times, they move into that time and space when it all comes together in a moment of mastery.

Next Steps . . .

Given these thoughts, I let it go.

Absorbent xuan paper – washes – diluted ink – pure ink – pure pigment – mixed pigment – water – no water.  Playing with paper, ink, paint is a form of reacqaintance with old friends.  Not having a goal, just going somewhere, and letting it lead you into itself.

I am not an abstract painter, but I am not a realistic one, either.  I prefer suggestion.  Purely abstract adventures are rather frightening – nothing recognizable on which to get a toehold – only a plummeting in, down, out – moving with the moment.

First one done, very timid.  I realize just how much I’ve forgotten!  One thing that is very important to remember is that the color of Chinese paint becomes a lot light – mucho mucho! – when it dries.

These next few, I diluted the paint and ink considerably less. I sprayed the paper in some areas, applied ink and then painted over it, flicked the paint, pushed and smooshed and let the ink or color bleed in.

I rather like the above two paintings.

Continuing along the same path, I remembered that I have some acrylic paints, Golden Fluid Acrylics, which are a dilute paint (not less pigment, just thinner, like cream) and some others with sparkly effects. This painting is ink and dilute acrylic. Unfortunately, the sparkles don’t show up in the photo, but they do add a nice quality to the finished picture below. I’m actually rather pleased with this one. It makes me think of looking up into an oak tree, seeing the leaves against a bright sun.

And finally, this. I think this is my favorite. Unfortunately, the photo is not the best. This one was a bit more planned, with colors more carefully considered, warms and cools placed in some specific areas. Splatters, too, and drips were done with more conscious thought. Not all of it was planned out. Ink was added before, during, and after the colors. The paper was sprayed at various times. The point of this painting was to try to incorporate what I learned from all the above, and work to see if my thoughts would produce specific results.  Did it work?  Yes and no.

How Do I Start Brewing? Part 2

Well, if you’re still reading my posts, it seems possible that you’ve spent some time reading a good brewing book, and may even have found a brewer or two to ask questions of. And now you’re back, thirsty. For knowledge, I mean. Therefore, as promised (if somewhat delayed), here a list of what you should expect out of a starter’s kit. First, there are some things you should already have:

A big pot with a lid

This can be stainless, aluminum, or enameled. Some people freak out about aluminum cookware, but the link between it and Alzheimer’s disease has been thoroughly debunked. If you have an enameled brew pot, the enamel should be free from chips. No matter what pot you use, heavier is better, particularly on the bottom. Heavy pots spread heat better, preventing scorching. The lid will help things come up to temperature more quickly, but you will be boiling with the lid off once it gets rolling. If you do choose aluminum, boil a couple of potsful of water before you use it for beer. This will build up an oxide layer on the inside of the pot, which will prevent a metallic taste in your beer.

I have heard of people brewing in pots as small as 12 quarts, but I strongly recommend a 20-quart pot if you can manage it. You will be boiling your wort for an hour or so, and it will boil over if you give it a chance. The more head space you have in your pot, the better off you will be, and the less likely you will end up having to scrub a sticky mess off your stove. Speaking of that, you will also need…

A stove

Any stove will be fine as long as you can depend on it to boil three gallons or so in a reasonable time frame. If you have a crab cooker or turkey fryer burner fueled by propane, think about brewing outdoors. That way, when and if you have a boilover, cleanup will be much easier. Even after fifteen years, it still happens to me on occasion.

A cool, dark place to store fermenting and bottled beer

The “cool” part is very important. If the weather gets warm, your beer will ferment very quickly, but it will also develop off flavors. For the types of ales most beginners start with, an ambient temperature of 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal. If you have a cellar or an interior closet that stays pretty cool reliably, think about using that space as a fermentation area.

Dark is also important, as light exposure can cause “skunking,” also called lightstrike. Hop compounds in beer are fairly fragile molecules, and when these compounds are exposed to certain wavelengths of light, they can break apart and become mercaptans, a class of chemical that smells bad.

The real Cadillac solution is to use a second refrigerator as a fermenting area, controlling it with an add-on thermostat. It’s pretty hard to recommend this approach to beginning brewers, though, given its cost in energy and hardware. The best bet for most new brewers is to find a room or closet that stays pretty cool. If you’re not sure how much the temperature varies in a particular area, get a cheap hi/lo thermometer from Radio Shack or some such and leave it in prospective areas for a few days.

If you already have a second fridge you’re able to not store food in (even in the freezer compartment) for a couple of weeks, you might think about spending the money for a thermostat to keep the inside at about 65 degrees. I would not recommend this unless you’re pretty certain you’re going to keep brewing, though.

A little space for storing brewing equipment when not in use

A closet, a corner of the garage, whatever. No special requirements here. A few out-of-the-way square feet are all you need.

A sink with running water and a drain

If your water tastes good to drink, it will also make good beer. Municipal water supplies in the US are very safe, so there’s really no worry about contamination, but some water has heavy mineral content that can make it taste odd. In this case, you may want to buy spring water to brew with, but you will still want to have a supply of water for cooling.

A big, nonporous spoon

Wooden spoons are full of microscopic holes which can harbor nasty bacteria which can spoil your beer. You want a big stainless-steel spoon with no crevices.

Then, there are the things that will come in the kit. Some of these can be found by a dedicated scrounger, but several of them are pretty uncommon outside a homebrew shop. Still, if you have facility to make or find these somewhere else, more power to you.

Fermenter

This can be a big glass carboy (bottle) similar to a water cooler bottle but bigger, or it can be a food-grade bucket. There are advantages to both, but I recommend buckets to beginning brewers because they are cheap, lightweight (important when paying for shipping) and durable. Glass carboys are of course fragile, and I just don’t think the additional expense is justified for beginning brewers. Whether you use a bucket or a carboy, you should use a fermenter that has a capacity of about six and a half gallons for five-gallon recipes. This will allow room for the yeasty foam that will develop on the surface of your beer as it ferments. If you are scavenging for a fermenter, be sure any plastic you find is food grade, free of scratches on the inside, and does not smell of anything that was previously in it. Scavenged buckets and carboys are almost always 5 gallons in size, so you will want to think about scaling down your batches to four gallons.

If you’re using a bucket for a fermenter, you should also have a tight-fitting lid. It will probably have a hole drilled in it for the airlock. If there’s a rubber grommet fitted in the hole, I suggest you remove it and replace it with a stopper – I have seen many grommets fall into the beer as the airlock is pushed in. You may find you have to cut a larger hole, but plastic lids are easy to drill.

Hydrometer and test jar

A hydrometer is a carefully-balanced device that floats in a sample of your beer to determine its specific gravity, or density. It’s pretty common for homebrew wort (unfermented beer) to have a specific gravity of about 1.040 to 1.060 before fermentation starts. This is called Original Gravity, commonly abbreviated as OG. Pure water has an SG of 1.000 – dissolved malt sugars and other materials account for the difference. The more sugars you have in your wort, the higher your OG and the higher the eventual alcohol content of your beer will be. By comparing your OG to your FG (Final Gravity, the significant gravity after fermentation is complete) and doing a little arithmetic, you can get a good approximation of how much alcohol your beer has in it.

You should also have a test jar, which is a tall, narrow (about one inch in diameter) container for floating your hydrometer.

Bottling bucket

This is another plastic bucket just like the first. It may have a spigot mounted low on one side, which will make it easier to fill your bottles. Once the main part of your fermentation is complete, you will transfer your uncarbonated beer into this bucket and mix in a measured amount of priming sugar, then fill and cap your bottles.

Airlock

This is a plastic device that allows gasses generated by the fermenting beer (mostly carbon dioxide) to bubble out of the fermenter, but keeps outside air from getting in. There are two types, and both work well. Use whatever your brew shop includes in the kit.

Drilled stopper

Choose an appropriate size to allow you to put your airlock firmly into the opening in your fermenter. If you’re using glass carboys, this is probably a number 7. If you’re using a plastic bucket, use whatever size best fits the hole int he lid without risking falling in.

Racking cane

This is just a piece of rigid tubing with a crook formed in one end, and usually with a plastic standoff fitted to the end. This is used to siphon beer from one container to another, and the standoff helps keep too much sediment from getting sucked up.

Vinyl tubing

This should fit securely onto the crooked end of your racking cane. Four or five feet is probably about right.

Bottling wand

This is another, shorter piece of rigid tubing with a valve on the end. You will use this when you are filling bottles – the valve opens when gently pressed to the bottom of a bottle, and closes when you lift the wand a quarter-inch or so. Most are spring-loaded, but I have also seen and used  a type without a spring – the weight of the liquid in the tube itself keeps the valve closed.

Capper

Once your bottles are filled, you will need to put caps (also called crowns) on them. There are several types of cappers.

Wing cappers or two-handle cappers are the most common. To use this, a crown is placed on the mouth of the bottle and the die of the capper is placed on the cap. The two handles are rotated downward firmly, which will press the die down on the crown, clamping it around the lip of the bottle.

Bench cappers are the deluxe option, but cost more than wing cappers. To use a bench capper, a filled bottle is placed under the capper’s die and the handle is pulled firmly downward. The die clamps the crown around the bottle’s lip exactly as the wing capper does.

If you are offered a hammer capper – a cap die on a handle which you strike with a mallet – DO NOT accept it. You will hurt yourself and possibly others. I think the danger of swinging a hammer toward glass bottles is pretty clear, but this actually used to be a widely-used tool – thank goodness we have better choices today.

Caps

Most starter kits come with a baggie of crowns. You’ll need to make sure to keep these in stock, so make sure you pick some up whenever you buy ingredients. Lots of places will have a variety of colors available, making it easy to color-code your beer. Crowns are cheap and reliable; I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad seal

Sanitizer concentrate

For many years, the de facto standard sanitizer for homebrewers was unscented household bleach. While it has its advantages – it’s cheap and readily available everywhere – there are much better options available to the homebrewer today. Any sanitizer containing chlorine will require rinsing, which opens the possibility of recontamination, so I always recommend iodophor or Star-San. Your beginner’s kit may come with another sanitizer like One-Step or C-Brite. These are also fine, as long as you follow the directions on the packaging carefully. Eventually, you will need more sanitizer, so think about buying iodophor or Star-San when you need a refill.

Iodophor is similar to the tincture of iodine you may have dabbed on cuts years ago. It is widely used in the dairy industry to sanitize tanks and utensils. It has the advantages of being fairly cheap and needing a very small concentration to be effective (12.5 – 25 ppm), as well as not requiring a rinse. The film that is left on wet fermenters will have no effect on your beer.

Star-San is a proprietary sanitizer manufactured by Five-Star Chemicals. It’s based on food-grade phosphoric acid. This is also an effective no-rinse sanitizer, and will have no effect on your beer when fermenters and tools are used wet; in fact, the chemicals in Star-San become nutrient for the yeast. While it is also not terribly expensive, it is slightly more so that iodophor is when you consider that more is needed for each gallon of prepared sanitizing solution. I also find that it makes glass parts very slippery.

And finally, there are some things which you may not already have, and which are not included in most kits, but which you will need.

A clean jar or bottle to act as a blowoff capture basin

Some ferments are very vigorous, and can cause the foam on top of the fermenting beer – called “krauesen” – to reach the top of the fermenter and even through the airlock. In extreme situations, the airlock can even get plugged up, causing the stopper to blow out of your fermenter or the lid to fly off your bucket fermenter. This is a Bad Thing, as foam can get splattered all over walls, cielings, furniture, and wahtever else is around.

To avoid this, replace your airlock with a blowoff tube when you see signs of vigorous ferments. This is nothing more than a piece of tubing jammed in the stopper and leading down to a clean jar with a couple of inches of water in it. The ferment gasses with still bubble out just fine, and nothing will get into your beer, but any foam will end up in the jar instead of all over your kitchen wall. Change the water in the jar daily to avoid drawing fruit flies.

Bottles

If you drink bottled beer today, you already have a ready source of bottles to package your beer in – just start saving your bottles instead of reycling them. When you pour yourself a beer, rinse the bottle well and let it dry neck-down. It may take several rinses to get it clean – rinse it until it no longer smells like beer. What you want to avoid is any kind of opportunity for mold or bugs to grow on any dregs.

You should try to collect amber (brown) bottles with pry-off lips. Twist-off bottles tend not to seal well with the equipment homebrewers use. As I don’t know any brewer with a professional bottling line in his garage, it’s easiest to look for bottles that require an opener. You can also use clear or green bottles, but as they block less UV light than amber glass does, you’ll need to be more careful about storing them int he dark to avoid skunking.

You’ll need 55-60 12 oz. bottles to be sure you have enough to hold a five-gallon batch. If you feel like you’ll have trouble accumulating thiat many, ask a few friends to save their empties for you, or even ask a local barkeep if he will put aside a few cases for you. A promise of a few bottles of homebrew down the road will usually get you willing co-conspirators helpers.

You can also buy bottles from most homebrew shops if you want, but it’s way more expensive to do it this way. Most brewers I know end up scavengin most or all of their glass.

Ingredients

Most good homebrew shops will have a variety of kits available. I would avoid any kit which is a can of prehopped malt extract with a yeast packet taped to the top. Today’s quality kits are much more likely to contain a bag or jar of dry or syrup malt extract, some crushed specialty grain (depending on style), one or more packages of hops in whole flower or pelletized form, and a yeast culture in dry or liquid form. Choose a kit which reflects a style you’re interested in drinking, and you should have everything you need to make five gallons of delicious beer. Again depending on the style of beer you want to brew, the ingredients should cost you $30 to 60.

So where do I buy all this stuff?

There are a number of reputable online retailers – among them Northern Brewer (Minnesota) and Beer, Beer & More Beer (California) – which have a selection of starter kits available. I suggest you start with a basic kit; it keeps startup costs low, and you can always expand and replace things later on if you decide the hobby is for you.

If there is a good homebrew shop local to you, though, it’s probably worth visiting them to see if their offerings are competitive. Homebrew shops (good ones, anyway) tend to draw other brewers and provide a source of good information. Brewers are generally nice folks, and I am consistently surprised how many people have great information and help I would not get if I ordered all my supplies online.

This has turned into a giant wall of text, so I am going to stop now. I will defer the question of what you should brew for your first batch to Part 3 of this series. Suffice to say, though, that there is no shortage of good beer that can be made, even right from the start.

Chinese Painting Class, 23 May 2009 – ii

A week ago, our Chinese painting class met, as it does, once a month. This month’s subject is officially the peony, but we moved into something else….that story shall follow. Let us stay on track, though!

The Peony

The peony is an incredible flower, long held in esteem in many cultures for its beauty.  In general, it prefers a cooler winter than we have in California, but one of my classmates mentions having success locally.  Beautiful photos of the flower make you want to grow some!

The Teacher

Mr. Ha – whom we frequently call “Teacher” – or Harris – arrives from some distance by 9:30 a.m., to our classroom in Oak Park.

The Class

We drift in. Paulina has supplies if we need some. Classmates pick the subjects to paint (such as the peony for this month), or ask Teacher to do a painting or calligraphy demonstration.

As I mentioned in the earlier post in this series, it is traditional in Chinese and Japanese schools to copy a painting to learn how it was done. This means looking at the painting closely, and analyzing it. For myself, this is really difficult – I don’t consider analysis part of painting. But, with analysis, comes practice, and from practice comes skill, and finally mastery of the subject. The work develops the mind, the hand, the kinesthetic memory, and from this can flow a spontaneous painting which is simple in content, yet masterful in execution. It is worth the effort.

The Books

Publishers are always producing new “how to” books about watercolor techniques, or impasto, or drawing, or whatever. Asian publishers are not any different, though for some strange reason, they tend to publish a lot of books about Chinese or Japanese painting. These books cover traditional subjects, such as the peony, and often have an entire book devoted to one subject. Step-by-step, a final painting is demonstrated. How to load the brush, and which colors to use in this process are shown. Brush stroke direction is indicated, or sequence.

The painting originally chosen for this session was quite complex, with peonies in many different colors; you can see the painting to the right, or for a larger one, here.

Teacher chose a simpler one for class demonstration, which I think was far more effective than the original because it is less overwhelming. What needs to be remembered is that we are watching Teacher as he paints. This means we need to observe his brushwork – how he maneuvers the brush on the paper, what colors he chooses, and how he loads his brush. As students, we can practice from Teacher’s demonstration, and then move on to copying a more complex painting when alone in the studio.