Media Experiments
Japanese Ink painting or Sumi-e
The 2000 year-old art form of Japanese brush painting is spiritually rooted in Zen Buddhism. Sumi-e's earliest practitioners were highly disciplined monks trained in the art of concentration, clarity, and simplicity. These early Zen Masters dedicated themselves to the art form with spiritual intensity through long years of serious reflection and strict discipline. Respect for Sumi-e's demands shaped their aesthetic direction.
From: http://www.drue.net/sumi-e-history/
The Philosophy of Sumi-e is contrast and harmony, expressing simple beauty and elegance. The art of brush painting, aims to depict the spirit, rather than the semblance of the object. In creating a picture the artist must grasp the spirit of the subject. Sumi-e attempts to capture the Chi or “life spirit” of the subject, painting in the language of the spirit.
Patience is essential in brush painting. Balance, rhythm and harmony are the qualities the artist strives for by developing patience, self-discipline and concentration.
Ink painting has evolved from the elegant Calligraphy of China. The stroke that forms the character for number one, becomes the trunk and branches for the bamboo tree. If you look closely at the Chinese word for horse, you can see the legs, tail and mane.
The 2000 year-old art form of Japanese brush painting is spiritually rooted in Zen Buddhism. Sumi-e's earliest practitioners were highly disciplined monks trained in the art of concentration, clarity, and simplicity. These early Zen Masters dedicated themselves to the art form with spiritual intensity through long years of serious reflection and strict discipline. Respect for Sumi-e's demands shaped their aesthetic direction.
From: http://www.drue.net/sumi-e-history/
The Philosophy of Sumi-e is contrast and harmony, expressing simple beauty and elegance. The art of brush painting, aims to depict the spirit, rather than the semblance of the object. In creating a picture the artist must grasp the spirit of the subject. Sumi-e attempts to capture the Chi or “life spirit” of the subject, painting in the language of the spirit.
Patience is essential in brush painting. Balance, rhythm and harmony are the qualities the artist strives for by developing patience, self-discipline and concentration.
Ink painting has evolved from the elegant Calligraphy of China. The stroke that forms the character for number one, becomes the trunk and branches for the bamboo tree. If you look closely at the Chinese word for horse, you can see the legs, tail and mane.
Sumi-e technique
Chinese Hua Tunan is a contemporary artist. He uses ink in a completely different way from Sumi-e. He creates realistic imagery by painting with the ink. He then blows and flicks the ink to create a dramatic explosion of lines.
Hua Tunan, Crouching Tiger, Ink on paper
Your Task:
You are to create a folio of abstract experiments using different methods and media. Think about composition techniques learnt from previous tasks to make your abstract works appealing to the eye. The aim of this task is to introduce you to a wide variety of mediums, methods of experimentation and understanding of aesthetics. You will begin by looking at Asian ink techniques and then at European Abstraction and working with acrylic mediums.
Process:
1. Experiment using inks. Try creating different effects using different brushes and brush strokes. Create a series of experiments. Then try to compose your ink work making 5 experimental compositions both abstracted and real or combined.
Process:
1. Experiment using inks. Try creating different effects using different brushes and brush strokes. Create a series of experiments. Then try to compose your ink work making 5 experimental compositions both abstracted and real or combined.
Abstract Art
In European art
Fred Williams, Silver and Grey, 1969, oil on canvas, 137 x 152cm
Christian Lock, One Sheet of Strawberry Fields, One Black Caravan, One Last Coffin Ride, 2007, acrylic on canvas, 180 x 210cm.
Your Task:
Examples of abstract media experiments:
- Rubbing alcohol and ink on acetate
- Gesso. Mix with a range of found items. Use with a palette knife. Mix with sand. Scrunch or lay tissue paper into it.
- Scraping paint
- Creating own tools
- Poured paint
- Enamel paint dipped in water
- Dry brushing
- Rubbing back paint in areas. This is good to use with a textured surface. Apply the paint and then rub off. The paint will stay in the cracks of the texture creating an aged look.
- Sanding or even carving back
- Experiment with acrylic paint and creating textures. Mix acrylic paint with sand, ashes, wood shavings etc. What interesting textures can you create? 5 experiments. Make two of these experiments with contrasting textures.
- Experiment with mixed media
Using gesso, tissue paper and a palette knife. Allow to dry. Paint a gold/brown colour. Use a thin wash of dark brown over the top and rub back with a cloth or paper towel.
How to Compose an Abstract Artwork
Here are some ways that you can get started with making an abstract artwork. These are ideas to get you started only:
1. Take an image, it could be anything, a person, animal, building and abstract it. Reduce the colours, lines, forms, textures to create a simplified version of it. It is up to you what you remove and how you do it. You might cut parts of the image up and re-arrange them to further the abstraction.
2. Use shapes, colours, lines, and any of the art elements. Use these elements and arrange them to create a pleasing image. In a work like this, it is about the relationship between the elements on the page. Try using some of the techniques learnt from the Composition task.
3. Express an emotion. You may use a song/music to help.
4. Create a set of rules to follow. It may be that you can only draw circular lines with your left hand. Or, drop paint on a page and then outline the blob in concentric patterns until the page is full.
1. Take an image, it could be anything, a person, animal, building and abstract it. Reduce the colours, lines, forms, textures to create a simplified version of it. It is up to you what you remove and how you do it. You might cut parts of the image up and re-arrange them to further the abstraction.
2. Use shapes, colours, lines, and any of the art elements. Use these elements and arrange them to create a pleasing image. In a work like this, it is about the relationship between the elements on the page. Try using some of the techniques learnt from the Composition task.
3. Express an emotion. You may use a song/music to help.
4. Create a set of rules to follow. It may be that you can only draw circular lines with your left hand. Or, drop paint on a page and then outline the blob in concentric patterns until the page is full.
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In this experiment blue and red ink was applied to a damp page. The page needs to be damp to get the colours to blend on merge on the paper. While the ink was still wet salt was scattered on top leaving the light feathery patches.
Once this was dry a sketch of a face was drawn over the top with varying thickness of pen.
Once this was dry a sketch of a face was drawn over the top with varying thickness of pen.
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Again ink was applied to damp paper to get similar sold blurred edges where the paint was dropped and the colours allowed to merge with each other. Once dry Purple ink was applied as a wash with two circle shapes left to create focal points in the image, giving it structure.
What other composition techniques can you see?
What other composition techniques can you see?
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The same technique is used again, this one with salt like the first example. Then a leaf was draw in pen over the top. A brown wash was applied to the background with areas darker to help draw the eye towards the leaf. Last of all white highlights were added to the leaf with white pen.
Student Examples
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These quick gestural drawings were creating using ink and a pipette.
A sketch with pencil was drawn
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The sketch was photocopied and ink was squirted and blown to test an idea
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Another ink test with the ink blown across the page, this time the colours were lightened so that she could add music notes to the ink patch.
This is another ink composition. For this, the student had to use paper as the painting tool instead of a brush. Different textures were created by the way the paper was used.
