Oriental Culture. What is oriental? (East Asia…) What is culture? (The arts, traditions, beliefs, and way of life of a group of people.)
What does Sumi-e (oriental ink painting) have to do with the oriental culture?
Oriental culture strives to be in harmony with nature and life. Sometimes looking for the path or middle to be ‘one with the universe’. “Eastern schools of thought were more interested in explaining the natural world via universal patterns (Eastern Philosophy – Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_philosophy)” than Western philosophy.
Ink Grinding. Students will participate in the meditative process of ink grinding. Sit up straight in your chair. Relax and take a deep breath. With the water dropper, place 3 to 6 drops of water on the slate grinding stone, then return the dropper. (Note how the dropper works.) Take the ink stick and with the flat end down grind the ink in a small circular pattern on the grinding stone, while relaxing and becoming one with the process. There should be a lightly firm pressure of the ink stick against the slate. After about a minute move the stick towards the well to allow the ink to collect in the well area. Repeat grinding and collection process. Add a few more drops of water and repeat. You want to create a fine smooth very black ink. The meditative ink grinding prepares your mind, body, and material (ink) for painting.
Set-up preparation for Sumi-e painting. Get a folded piece of black plastic from the white wire rack underneath the paper cutter near the windows. Lay-out the plastic on your table. Get your pencil, a half cup of cold water, a couple sheets of news paper, a platter, a couple of paper towels, a sumi-e paint brush, and a few drops of black ink in a short cup. Lay it out on the black plastic. Get an example sheet of what you will be painting (F-1, orchid plants, and F-2, plum branches) from the supply table.
Start. Get the paint brush wet in the cold water by tipping the water cup on an angle and tapping the brush sideways in the water as to fill the brush with water without damaging the hair of the paint brush. Note: If ink is absorbed into the brush without water it will stiffen the upper hair and damage the brush. Make the hair on the paint brush come to a point, and lean it on top of your pencil.
- Dip brush into water.
- Dip brush into ink.
- Use tray to remove excess ink.
- Wipe off water on paper towels, bring brush to a point.
- Hold brush properly (upright or angled, but not lying sideways) so it can roll in fingers.
- Use good posture and harmonious mind.
- Use free arm movement with brush strokes.
Clean up. Rinse brush in water cup. Take water cup and brush to the sink, and pour out the water from the cup and rinse out the cup. Using cold water and soap, gently wash the brush several times always drawing the brush outwards so the hair does not kink. After checking the brush, if it is free of any ink, the brush should be put in the group holder, hair end up. Cover ink cup and return it to the supply table. Wash and dry the black plastic so it does not get mildew forming on it. Return all remaining items and discard trash. Check your area and clean drips on floor, etc.
SUMI-E
The four seasons or gentlemen (Orchid, Bamboo, Plum Branches, & Chrysanthemum).
Sumi-e value and perspective.
Sumi-e Painting deals with values of light and dark, but does not use “light logic” theory. Leaves or branches that are farther away have lighter values. A scene often fades to nothing (no brush strokes) to imply a mist or fog, or sometime to help imply distance. Sumi-e artists originally used the idea that the mountains are bigger so the landscape paintings have to have bigger mountain, not smaller mountains due to the distance (which is used in western perspective). Western perspective concepts were not used unt