Transcript Slide 1
The Art of
Chinese and Japanese
Sumi-e Painting
Westwood Regional Highschool
Mrs. Duffus
Painting I-IV
2009-2010
Sumi-e
(East Asian Brush Painting)
Started in China, and then in Korea
and Japan…..
Tools
• “The Four Treasures”
– Brush
– Ink
– Ink stone
– Paper
• “Sumi” = ink
• “-e” = painting
• Based on nature
• As few strokes as possible
Created By: Linda Welling
Editied By: Thomas Field
6 principles of Sumi Painting
1. Capture Chi- vital energy
2. Create natural forms and structure with brush
technique
3. Color can differ from object
4. Depict object according to nature
5. Composition
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2/3 space, 1/3 form
No parallel lines
Overlap and create variations in stroke
Oblong paper
6. Develop own style
Subject matter of Sumi Painting
1.
2.
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7.
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Poultry
Birds
Fish
Shrimp
Bamboo
Butterflies
Bees
Seasonal landscapes
Sumi`e Painting &
The Four Gentlemen
Learning to master sumi`e brushstrokes and transform them into graceful forms of
nature.
These plants embody the virtues of modesty, loyalty, purity, and integrity.
Linda Miller
2006
The Four Gentlemen
Japanese Sumi`e Painting
Techniques, Examples
The Four Gentlemen
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The Four Gentlemen are the four plants that are needed to be mastered in order to
become a master sumi`e painter. To master each plant takes years of study under
excellent tutelage.
They are called the Four Gentlemen because of their style and grace.
Each plant has certain brush strokes needed to complete it in the sumi`e style. As
you complete each plant you build on the brush strokes mastered, and learn new
techniques for the next, more complicated plant.
These brushstrokes are already familiar to you.
As we have learned, the Japanese style of painting creates asymmetrical balance,
thus creating empty space, and simplicity.
The Four Gentlemen are bamboo, the wild orchid, the chrysanthemum, and the
plum blossom branch.
The Four Gentleman
Bamboo
Chrysanthemum
Wild Orchid
Plum Blossom
Branch
Bamboo
The First Gentleman
The Father of brush painting, representing simplicity of life and humble spirit.
Bamboo represents Summer and is the most painted subject in East Asia. It
represents strength in the face of adversity, and what the Japanese believe to be the
virtues of the male - perfect balance, upright integrity, and tremendous flexibility.
Bamboo is the “perfect gentleman” because at its center it is hollow, which suggests
modesty, and it is always of service and used on a daily basis.
Real and Sumi`e Bamboo
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www,junglephotos.com/africa/
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Bamboo grows in sections and from each section grows new branches and leaves.
Look and find the simple strokes, and see how the lifting of the brush tip creates the
leaves.
www.susanwagnerglass.com
Bamboo
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Bamboo is the first of the Four Gentlemen because it employs basic brush techniques. It
allows the painter to express most anything in nature.
By pulling the brush and lifting, you can build the sections of the bamboo stalk. The tip of
the brush is then used to accent the breaks in the growth.
The leaves are drawn by placing the tip down, applying pressure to the brush while pulling,
and then lifting up to thin the outer tip of the leaf.
Additional branches are painted the same way but smaller in size and from the growth
joints
Professional Bamboo Examples
Courtesy of Nan Rae
Professional Sumi`e Bamboo
The Wild Orchid
The Second Gentleman
The Mother of brush painting, representing grace, beauty, and a happy spirit.
The wild orchid represents Spring and what the Japanese believe to be feminine
virtues - beauty and grace, yet fragile and gentle.
The orchid invites you to celebrate life because it symbolizes reviving earth’s energy
from the winter.
Real and Sumi`e Wild Orchids
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There are a variety of orchids available but the ones we will focus on are the
orchids that have the long fluid leaves and small, fragile petals.
Wild Orchid
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The wild orchid uses the same basic stroke that is used to make most
grasses.
The techniques used in creating the wild orchid build on the techniques of
the bamboo and its leaves, while the flow of your lines will teach you
steadiness and versatility.
To create the beauty of the turning leaves and the gentle petals, we will
employ different ways of lifting and turning our brush.
Cleaning the brush and adding a touch of sumi on the tip to change the
value of the leaves, truly adding a new dimension to your painting.
Professional Wild Orchid Examples
Professional Sumi`e Orchids
Takumasa Ono
Nan Rae
The Chrysanthemum
The Third Gentleman
The chrysanthemum is the imperial symbol of Japan’s royal family.
The chrysanthemum represents Autumn because it is sturdy and it defies the
brutality of the frost.
It associates fragrant plants with being strong and unwavering with the change
of the season.
Real and Sumi`e Chrysanthemum
Found at Naturgraphics.org
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In the chrysanthemum, simplicity is used in such a way that it becomes
more complex or intricate.
There are many different varieties of chrysanthemums, each with it’s own
beauty.
Chrysanthemum
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The chrysanthemum is the third of the Four Gentlemen and it builds upon the brush
strokes already learned in the previous Gentlemen.
Layering and moving the gentle petals in different directions creates the inner beauty
and complexity that is the flower.
Adding water to the brush or less sumi can create beautiful variations in your flowers’
texture and beauty.
Professional Chrysanthemums
Found at ClearHarmony.net
Professional Chrysanthemum
Courtesy Nan Rae
The Plum Blossom Branch
The Last of the Four Gentlemen
The plum blossom is the symbol of hope and endurance.
It represents winter because it perseveres with life and
beauty within it.
The plum blossoms are the first to bloom, signaling the end
of winter.
The beauty of the plum blossom lies in the contrast of the
gnarled, rough trunk and the soft, tender blooms.
Real and Sumi`e Plum Blossom
Branch
www.theorientalcaravan.com
Plum Blossom Branch
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The Plum Blossom Branch is the last and most complicated of the Four
Gentlemen.
This plant incorporates all the strokes the artist has built on and takes it just a
step or two further.
The addition of creating the textured, gnarled branches takes some practice, as
well as manipulating the very tip of your brush to create the very center of your
blossoms.
The texture in the branch, the delicate flowers, pistols and stamens, they all take
advantage of the knowledge you have learned with the previous three
Gentlemen.
Professional Plum Blossom
Branches
Professional Plum Blossom
Branches
http://studioartcenter2.hypermart.net/wilders_sumie_we
b.jpg
The Four Gentlemen Project
Using your prior knowledge and
additional practice, each student will
create a sumi`e painting of with two
of their favorite Gentleman.
Credits
Music by Steven Pasero
Professional Art Work courtesy of
Susan WagnerGlass
ASIJ High School
Kodomon Inc Korean Arts.com
Falun Gong practioner at Chongyang Festival
Tietracks.com Nature Graphics
Majka Broulik
Silver Dragon Studio
Carol Chaplin The Oriental Caravan
The Sumi’e Book, by Yolanda Mavhall
End
Linda Miller
Art Educator, 14 years
Gordon-Bibb and Benjamin Davis
Magnet Elementary Schools
Decatur, Alabama
35601
Su Dongpo
(1036-1101)
•Influential during Song Dynasty
•Talents and abilities were displayed in
tightly composed images, but they
lacked sincerity
•Literati- Scholars , but amateur painters
•Paintings were religious and
philosophical
•Changed aesthetics of Chinese Painting
•Interesting story
Su Dongpo in Straw Hat and Wooden Shoes, Muromachi
period (1392–1573), second half of 15th century, Japan,
Artist Unknown
Hanging scroll; ink on paper 42 3/4 x 13 1/8 in. (108.6 x
33.3 cm)
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/08/eaj/ho_1975.268.39.htm
Wu Zhen
(1280-1354)
Bamboo in the Winds
Yuan Dynasty
Hanging scroll; ink on paper 109.0 x 32.6 cm (43
x 13 in.)
Collection of Freer Gallery
http://www.chinapage.com/painting/wuzhen01.html
Xia Chang
(Chinese, 1388–1470)
Bamboo in Wind, Ming dynasty, ca. 1460
China
Hanging scroll; ink on paper 80 1/4 x 23 1/2 in. (203.8 x
59.7 cm)
•Use of calligraphy
established by
Zhao Mengfu
(1254–1322)
•Bamboo is a
symbol of integrity
and strength
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ming/ho_1989.235.1.htm
Attributed to Tosa Mitsunobu
(Japanese, 1434–1535)
Bamboo in the Four
Seasons, Muromachi
period (1392–1573)
Pair of six-panel
folding screens; color,
ink, and gold on paper
68 5/8 x 150 1/4 in.
(174.3 x 381.6 cm)
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/seim/ho_1975.268.44,45.htm
Dong Qichang (Chinese, 1555–1636)
Landscapes, dated 1630
Album of eight paintings; ink on paper 9
5/8 x 6 5/16 in. (24.4 x 16 cm)
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ming/ho_1986.266.5.htm
Nagasawa Rosetsu (Japanese, 1754–1799)
Landscape and
Chinese Figures
Pair of six-panel
folding screens; ink on
gilded paper Each 67
3/8 x 146 3/4 in.
(171.1 x 372.7 cm)
JAPAN 1600-1800 - Timeline
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah
/ht/?period=09®ion=eaj
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/09/eaj/ho_1975.268.75%2C76.htm
Huang Binhong (Chinese, 1864 - 1955)
Landscape at Madangshan, ca. 1940s
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on paper
39 x 13 1/4 in. (99.1 x 33.7 cm)
R. T. Miller, Jr. Fund, 1994
AMAM 1994.10
http://www.oberlin.edu/amam/Huang_Madangshang.htm#
Shibata Zeshin (Japanese, 1807–1891)
Autumn Grasses
in Moonlight,
Meiji period
(1868–1912), ca.
1872–91
Two-panel folding
screen; ink,
lacquer, and silver
leaf on paper 26
1/8 x 69 in. (66.4 x
175.3 cm)
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/10/eaj/ho_1975.268.137.htm
Shibata Zeshin (Japanese, 1807–1891)
Autumn Grasses in
Moonlight, Meiji
period (1868–1912),
ca. 1872–91
Two-panel folding
screen; ink, lacquer,
and silver leaf on
paper 26 1/8 x 69 in.
(66.4 x 175.3 cm)
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/10/eaj/ho_1975.268.137.htm
Shibata Zeshin (Japanese, 1807–1891)
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/10/eaj/ho_1975.268.137.htm
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