March 11, 2010 March 12, 2010

Yesterday was very busy with meetings. I was able to paint sporadically as I ran in and out of the house going from meeting to meeting. I wanted to experiment with the learnings I had earlier in the week so I tried painting Orchid with various materials and processes. In this first painting I sprayed my 140# Arches watercolor paper and splashed on some color after using a small amount of mask to put in some (hopefully) natural shapes. Then I tried to paint an orchid with the Sumi-e brushes and watercolor. My paper was cold press and this paper and the brushes were a mis-match. I would run out of paint right after starting and would lose my stroke. I had to do a final touch-up with watercolor brushes to finish.

Watercolor paper, Sumi-e brushes

For the second exercise I used watercolor paper, brushes and paint. I tried to use the Sumi-e grip and stroke throughout.

Watercolor paper, paint, brush - Sumi-e stroke and grip

I think I’ve decided to focus on learning Sumi-e and delay experimentation. This approach seems like it may be a more efficient use of time.

March 10, 2010 March 11, 2010

Yesterday was a disaster and I accomplished nothing but I wanted to post one final orchid painting from Tuesday. It is slightly larger than the painting from March 9. I like the delicate look of this piece. Three meetings today but I hope to get in some painting!

Orchid #1

I am having some problems with brush loading and need to work on achieving the small stems that support the flowers…but that’s the opportunity to learn, right? Have a lovely day!

PS I just noticed that the one dark flower almost looks like a butterfly…

March 9, 2010 March 10, 2010

I recently had a revelation and realized that to make art a routine part of my life I need a routine. As you all know life interfers with our best intentions. I want to use Mondays to learn and practice Sumi-e and Fridays or Sundays to draw, draw, draw. Painting, exploring materials, doodling will be part of the schedule any day, any where, any time. I just need to set aside some specific time for Sumi-e and drawing which I see as major skill builders. Well, of course, life stepped in and Monday we ran errands and worked outside and played with the dogs in the sunshine. Since my Tuesday drawing class with Irina is over, yesterday became Sumi-e day. Using newsprint and lamp black and charcoal watercolor (I was almost out of ink) I practiced the curving strokes needed to make dots, dashes, flower petals. I have four small prints that I bought from a catalog years ago. They sit at the top of my stairs to greet visitors and are of Chinese calligraphy for words like laughter and friendship. I looked at these and decided that two were too difficult for me to copy but that two had potential for my current learners skill level. I practiced and practiced. I am not sure if I am making all the strokes appropriately but here is my last attempt.

Laughter

I also worked on the painting of an orchid. The orchid is part of the Four Gentlemen that are used to teach the basic strokes. The four are bamboo, orchid, chrysanthemum, and plum blossom (preview of things to come!).

Orchid #2

Now the neat thing is that my order from Oriental Art Supply was delivered late yesterday so I was able to use better paper for my final practice. Both of these paintings were done using double shuen practice paper, Black Magic ink and charcoal watercolor. The book I am using is The Chinese Painting Handbook edited by Viv Foster that I bought at Barnes & Noble.