ok so here in the united states, sumi-e and its cousins are known only to a few people. this blog's intentions are to make more information about the asian art of ink painting available to the western world.
to start off with i am from the united states and have only been practicing sumi-e for about a year now. i am not of asian descent, however i have developed an interest in the far east particularly japan.
ink painting is as it sounds, using ink to paint on paper or silk. but the paper used is much different than common paper you might find in your printer. in the western world the paper used is called "rice paper" also called xuan paper. it is made with almost no glue, this makes it super absorbent. this is important because it is what makes ink painting unique, the ink can then move freely through the paper creating many shades rather than sit on top of the paper and stagnate like it would on printer paper. the two main styles of ink painting that i will cover in my blog are sumi-e, the japanese term, and shui-mo hua, the chinese term. also it is important to note that the chinese started ink painting and through trade it made its way to japan, there are a few subtle differences that i will discuss in another post.
2 comments:
Thank-you for you explanation of the two forms of this ancient art. I am starting a course in Shui-mo in January at the University of Calgary, and found your blog information helpful.
Too bad there has been no recent updates :(
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