Tag: Japanese

An August Project

It has been crossing my mind for quite some time that I want to use ink and brush as a means to relax, focus, and ground myself. Traditionally, calligraphy has been one means to do this. For August, I decided I would attempt to do the Heart Sutra.  Nadja van Ghelue has a wonderful site, The Art of Calligraphy, about doing just this – as well as showcasing her own beautiful work – and has published a book with the Heart Sutra in seal script.  On her site, she also shows her work, and that of others, of the Heart Sutra in kaisho, as well as a section dedicated to writing the sutra as a form of meditation.

Van Ghelue is, in my opinion, a very accomplished calligrapher.  Her videos – 0nly three in number – show a lissome flow of brush work.  As you watch her, observe how her brush moves about the paper, up and down, a pause, pressure.  Her wrist remains straight with subtle movements to create the brushwork needed for a point, to turn a corner.  There is a gracefulness and serenity in her movements where other calligraphers may be more dynamic.

H.E. Davey is another accomplished calligrapher from the west.  He writes in his books, The Japanese Way of the Artist, and Brush Meditation:  A Japanese Way to Mind & Body Harmony, about Japanese calligraphy as a form of meditation.  Davey has been involved with Japanese cultural arts his entire life, and is currently the director of the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts in the San Francisco area.  Historically, bushido encompassed mastery in the arts beyond war.

Certainly, there are benefits to focusing on what one enjoys.  Expertise, finesse, internal, external, integration.  Artistry.  Joy.  Self expression.  Moving beyond present skills.  Expansion.  My own project is for meditative purposes, but it is also a journey into refinement of my own skills – an exploration of my own adventures in ink, brush, and line.

Painting Day, 03-13-2010

A Bit of Frustration

The other day I pulled out watercolors and paper – you saw the results in my last post.  Yesterday I spent most of the day painting. Suffice it to say that the watercolors were a total disaster – my impatience, as always, got in the way. Or, from another perspective, when it comes to watercolors, the paper is not absorbent like xuan, and as a result, I cannot be as spontaneous and as controlled with the brush at the same time. For me, I think my best results in watercolor come when I am far less impetuous, and thinking more graphically. Happy splattering never occurs for me with sized paper! So, after feeling frustrated (but still in a painting mood) I pulled out my large table of rice paper (12 x 18 inches) and a bottle of Japaneses sumi ink.

Moving from watercolor – wait, patience, think – I messed up a few sheets of the rice paper. My ink was not loaded into the brush, just solid black. My brush choice was poor. My attitude was pretty crappy after a disastrous watercolor experience, and it showed. Still, that energy also started to mellow out – I love the feel of ink and paint on absorbent paper! Finally, a few kinks worked out, I set about to using just the ink itself, and sometimes coupled it with the washes I’d made using my Pelikan pan paints.

Three Out of Four Gentlemen Show Up

To warm up, I used a large, soft brush and a finer, coarse hard brush. I did the plum. The large brush was loaded with a lot of light grey wash, and then the tips were slightly covered in dark black ink.

The next painting was the orchid. For this one I took out a large hard brush and loaded it with ink. This was for the leaves. I then used a medium choryu brush (soft on the outside with hard hair in the center) for the orchid flowers. I used the small hard brush for the orchid centers.

For the bamboo, I took the large, soft brush, again loaded with ink. I used it filled in different ways to get the four stalks. On one of the bamboo, I went in with just a solid wash, and came back later with a darker wash, doing thin strips down the left side. The joints in the bamboo stalks was done with the small, hard brush; I used this same brush for the bamboo leaves.

Palm Trees in Sumi-e

When I looked back over the logs for this blog, I realized with a bit of horror how much time has passed since I received a request for palm trees painted with sumi. I apologize for that, but unfortunately my life got too busy for such endeavors. So, here, at least are some palm trees.

I am not an expert in palm trees, so any mistakes here are my own as far as determining what kind of palm is what. Given that, let’s proceed.

The first thing I always notice about a palm tree is the trunk. Some are smooth, some rough. Coconut palm trees seem to be tall and smooth, with leafier, more graceful fronds. Date palms have thicker trunks with an obvious roughness where palm fronds have fallen off. The fronds tend to be stiffer and less flexible than those of the coconut palm. What they do have in common, though, is the way in which the serrated areas of the frond meet at the center. This gives a clear line in the middle which seems to have a space between it and the serrated areas. If you look at pictures of palm trees, you will see what I mean. To paint them means leaving that gap there, or using a very fine line to connect to it, and then using a steady sweep of the brush, much like you would do with an orchid leave. Pushing down on the brush – smooshing it – creates the wrong impression of the frond. However, you can turn the brush and create bent areas – palm fronds are pretty messy. A hard, dry brush is really good for expressing the ragged edges of some of the serrated “leaves” in the frond.

This is a palm frond, done first to consider how to do the structure of the frond itself. I used some of the colors from my pan paints as well, mixing it with different dilutions of ink.

This next one is from a picture of a coconut palm. The trunk was done with my choryu brush, loaded with a light and medium ink, and tipped in black. I laid the brush sideways, and did a quick stroke for the entire trunk. I then came in with the small, hard brush for the texture found at the base of the trunk and into the trunk itself. I used the choryu brush for the center lines of the fronds and for some of the paler frond leaves. I used my large, hard brush for the darker dry brush fronds. Before dipping it into the ink, I spread out the bristles, and then dipped only the ends into the ink, keeping the brush perpendicular to the ink. I painted the frond leaves the same way, using a quick flick while doing the best to avoid any pause on the paper. As the brush lost its load of ink, this became easier.

The next palm is a date palm. Its trunk is considerably coarser than that of the coconut palm, and its fronds are stiffer and messier. They were all over the ground around the palm tree in the photo I used as a reference. To paint the trunk I used dabs of medium ink, and then began using various loading combinations of light / medium / dark. I ended with the hard brush and undiluted dark ink. For the fronds, I used much the same approach as I did with the coconut palm, but worked to make sure I caught the more upright and clustered qualities of the fronds, as well as the shorter leaves along the frond itself.

Maple Trees with Chinese Paints

With all my washes from the watercolor painting excursion exhausted, but still in a mood to paint, I found a picture of some maple trees in Vermont, brilliant in their autumn foliage. I used the bottled sumi ink for the trunks, and then used yellow, orange, and red from my box of Marie’s Chinese colors. You can see how opaque they are in comparison to the Pelikan paints. I diluted the colors in some areas, mixed them together, smooshed them around. Other areas will show you the individual colors as dabs. Different layers from red-to-yellow can be found, as well as orange or yellow or red on top of everything else.

Altogether, I had a fun day painting. The best paintings are those done in sumi-e. I really like the palm trees and the frond, more so than the orchid, bamboo, or plum. The texture of the plum trunk was enjoyable to do, but the blossoms are too blotchy – you can see where the paint plopped down and spread. I must admit, too, that I find pictures I have done with Marie’s paints never satisfy me – the colors are too garish. I do know, though, that Teacher does lovely stuff with them, and when I work hard at it, I can produce paintings which appeal to me.

My own approach to sumi-e and Chinese painting is certainly influenced by being trained in Western art. I find my best connection is with sumi ink, brush, and paper, and feel it is closest to my own personality. Still, the mastery of watercolor is one of those lifetime goals, and for me, my best results are when I employ patience and thought, which is very different than immediate results of sumi painting.

John Marshall: Works in Fabric, ii

My first contact with John Marshall came about when I discovered his book Make Your Own Japanese Clothes.

For anyone interested in traditional Japanese fabrics and clothing, this book is an incredible resource of information.  You learn how to construct Japanese clothing using traditional fabrics (which measure 13-14 inches wide), and how to sew them using traditional hand-sewing techniques.  Of course, you can also sew them by machine, but that just isn’t the same!

Garment construction is given for kimono, haori, hanten, various tops, vests, pants, obi, and tabi.  Not only do you learn how to make these, you also learn about the construction of sleeves, hems, collars, and the use of lining and padding.  All of these, combined with illustrations and photographs, give window to both traditional clothing, and a window into creating your own clothing with a modern cast.

I made the hanten, hand-stitched using traditional kasuri, and totally enjoyed the process.


John Marshall: Works in Fabric, i

John Marshall, of Covelo, California, is an incredible fabric artist who designs clothing using the traditional Japanese katazome and tsutsugaki techniques to color the fabrics he uses in clothing he designs and sews himself.

A bit about John, from his website:

John Marshall is an internationally known textile artist working with techniques of paste resist dyeing. He produces a wide range of sophisticated and colorful designs, many of which show the influence of his years of study in the Orient.

John grew up in the small town of Florin, just outside of Sacramento, California. Before wartime evacuations, Florin had been one of the largest Japanese-American communities in the United States; after the war many returned to reclaim lost years and property. These are the friends and neighbors John and his five brothers and sisters grew up among.

John’s Godmother, the late Mary Tsukamoto, was a great influence in his life: teaching him to read and write the Japanese language and sharing with him her great love of her cultural heritage.

At the age of seventeen, having worked and saved toward his goal for many years, John was off on his own to discover Japan. His eagerness to learn secured him private instruction under a variety of specialists in doll making, centered around the Yamato style. John was intent on studying the many facets of these shell-faced dolls, such as carving, weaving, dyeing, and sewing, to name just a few. His knowledge of the Japanese language proved to be of great benefit in understanding the subtleties of the culture.

The internationally published paper artist, Kunio Ekiguchi, took John under his wing and saw to it that he received the proper introductions so necessary in Japan. Mr. Ekiguchi arranged an apprenticeship for John with the late Matsuyo Hayashi, a master dyer in the bingata style of paste resist. Through her insight and careful instruction, John became truly fascinated with this ancient art form. Mme. Hayashi had long dreamed of sowing the seeds of her art abroad. Upon her death, John discovered she had willed much of her lifetime collection of work, supplies and equipment to him. John was determined to fulfill her wishes by bringing her techniques to the West.

Continuing his research into ancient cultures and dye techniques, John aims to interpret the sensibilities and aesthetics of the ancient and ethnic world through the Japanese paste resist process, using the actual plants and insects employed in making the original dyes. John’s research so far has taken him to Japan, Thailand, Italy, Indonesia, and the Yucatan. Through the generosity of collectors, he has had the opportunity to view first hand a wide range of ancient and ethnic textiles and artifacts which have served to influence his fabric designs.

Today John is in the midst of renovating an old flour mill in the Old West town of Covelo, nestled in the remote mountains of Mendocino County of Northern California. A generous 12,000 square feet, the new studio is used to display the full range of his work intermixed with art pieces collected at home and abroad. Situated on an acre of land complimented with over 300 wisteria vines gracefully covering a redwood arbor, this sun-filled space is also used to host lectures and as a classroom for teaching a wide range of Japanese crafts: dyeing, bookbinding, doll making, paper crafts, sewing, color theory and production, and textile history.

John has also taught programs for the past twenty five years for a wide range of institutions including a number of years at the Pacific Basin School of Textile Arts in Berkeley, and through UC Berkeley Extension Services, as well as lecturing extensively to large groups through museums, guilds, embassies, and universities internationally. He is currently working on a project to teach his design concepts to Japanese students of kimono design in Tokyo.

Specializing in one-of-a-kind works of art, John takes on commissions and new challenges. He produces primarily large interior hangings and luxurious clothing. All of John’s work is designed, dyed, and constructed for actual use. All hues are colorfast to repeated washings and to light. Personally executing all stages going into the creation of each piece is one of his great joys.

John Marshall’s work is collected internationally. He has done commission work with traditional kimono in Japan and also produces pieces for stockbrokers, professors, art collectors, and many international figures including European royalty. He travels regularly, showing to his private clients throughout North America and Asia. His work was also carried by leading galleries throughout North America.

John is writing a series of instructional books. The first was published by Kodansha International, 1988, on the subject of Japanese sewing techniques and design concepts for use in the western world. The title is Make Your Own Japanese Clothes: Patterns and Ideas for Modern Wear. This will be followed by a number of other books, including one on his unique dye techniques. His video, Japanese Textile Dyeing: Introduction to Paste-Resist Techniques, released through A/zo Productions, covers the basics of using natural dyes with Japanese Paste resist methods.

John is eager to share information and ideas, with the hope of helping the seedlings of Japanese dyeing and crafts to grow and enrich all our lives.

I have had the privilege to take dyeing and katazome classes from John, and appreciate his warm, friendly personality and the structure and organization of his workshops and classes.  I hope to continue learning from John in the future.