October is “Inktober” to many artists – a time when, around the world, artists focus on ink drawing, from a suggested list of words, or just because you can. Drawing in ink can be done spontaneously, over a preliminary drawing, with pen or brush, with black or colored inks. Ink is ink. And the experience is great.
I’ve been focusing on the list, which you can see below.
When you think about it, it can be really hard to be inspired by the topics. How do you depict “precious”? “Chicken” can be pretty obvious – until you pursue the more obscure meanings of “chicken” – as in cowardly or yellow.
Below are my Inktober drawings through the 11th day. For the last one, the mushrooms just have to have that glorious red – so watercolors were added. And, to be honest, I needed something beyond the black and grey and whites of ink.
By nature, I am quite impatient. Maybe just not patient enough? What I mean is that sometimes I work too fast, rather than thinking ahead. In watercolor, timing is important, as is speed, but with patience thrown in. If I look at what I am doing, some are tight-ass line drawings, and others are just messy and rather free form, without lines. Here, I used a basic tree shape with cutouts to remind me where to not have leaves, so as to have room for sky and branches. I also worked for shadows.
Altogether, I worked too fast. I wanted to make some nice washes of the leaves, to show the color shifts from green to the glows of autumn. I also need to test out colors on a piece of paper. This is painted in a notebook, so the back of the previous page is a good place to do this (I keep trying to remind myself). Accomplishment, though, is no mud.
Colors were fun to use, too. I mixed together an especially interesting mix of Payne’s Grey, Carbazole Violet, and Burnt Sienna. That is part of the pleasure of a sketch book – playtime and exploring.
I will be doing a lot of trees as I move along, but will need to do some stilllifes as well.
Now that I’ve pulled out my brush and sumi again, I start rummaging through the drawers of the internet. I’m not quite sure how I found Yosa Buson, 1716-1784, but I did; I’d forgotten about him. He was both a poet, and an artist, frequently combining the two. As a painter in ink, his skills are more than evident in the work below.
Two Black Crows and a Hawk - in Snow and in Rain
Both Crows and Hawk show many techniques that allow expression of the elements in sumi-e. Snow is painted by going around the flakes – dark ink makes the white flakes fly. Rain is expressed by using a wide brush, such as a hake, that has been dipped in light / medium ink. The ink is squeezed out by hand or blotted on towelling, and the bristles squished between the fingertips to create an uneven edge. Rain is painted in one long sweep; two or three strokes may be all that is needed. These two paintings are very Japanese in approach to working with sumi.
Landscape with Solitary Traveler - 1780
In Landscape with Solitary Traveler, we have a more Chinese approach to ink painting. The theme and constructs are familiar – mountains, water, a path, a bridge, a pedestrian. As in Western painting, Asian painting has its own history and symbolism. The beauty is that these familiar subjects become personal and unique in the hands of the artist. This painting is done in ink, with only a touch of color added to the traveler.
As I mentioned, Buson also wrote traditional Japanese poetry. Here are some translations of his haiku.
coming back—
so many pathways
through the spring grass
in seasonal rain
along a nameless river
fear too has no name
more than last year
I now feel solitude
this autumn twilight
Before the white chrysanthemum
the scissors hesitate
Besides being a master of wash and line (in word and ink), Buson was quite funny. I came across this painting and could not help but laugh. And here, both painting and poetry mingle, albeit not too politely. Dave Bonta writes about this picture quite well. Understanding the language – and the humor in the translation – may be read about here.
Bonta translates the writing,
gakumon wa ketsu kara nukeru hotaru kana
as
All this study—
it’s coming out your ass, oh firefly!
Ink, Yarn & Beer 