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May Pan of HMay Art Supply in China has posted a wonderful documentary article on me and my work. You can see it here and one on the lovely Egyptian artist Tereza Mitry here. Tereza allowed me to post a critique of one of her paintings here.
Hmay Art Supply is a xuan paper manufacturer from Jing county Xuancheng city Anhui province - the birthplace of xuan paper. They produce top grade xuan paper (shuen paper, rice paper) and provide superior quality paper crafts and other art items for Japanese calligraphy, Chinese brush calligraphy & Chinese sumi-e painting, etc. I highly recommend their products.
Hmay Art Supply is a xuan paper manufacturer from Jing county Xuancheng city Anhui province - the birthplace of xuan paper. They produce top grade xuan paper (shuen paper, rice paper) and provide superior quality paper crafts and other art items for Japanese calligraphy, Chinese brush calligraphy & Chinese sumi-e painting, etc. I highly recommend their products.
Virginia receives her package of goodies from China!
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In the spontaneous styles of sumi-e or Chinese brush painting, which I have trained in for the past 40 years, there is no pre-sketching or tracing. The brush dances on the paper, seemingly having a life of its own. While I may have an idea ahead of time of what I want to paint, I never know exactly how it is going to come out. If it is a bird, I start with the eye, the beak and the head. That inspires me to paint the body, but in which direction? Facing front? Facing the side? Will we just see the beautiful back feathers and the wings and tail? If there is a pair of birds, will one be speaking and the other one listening? Surely I will want to establish a relationship between them. How do they fit into the overall composition? I imagine different scenarios, different possibilities without touching the paper, because there will be no changing the strokes once they have been made.
In this video I had decided to paint a kingfisher, but had not decided on the colors or the pose, just trusting that it would come together as the brush spoke to the paper. I captured the dance very intimately with my smart phone, getting closer to the action than a camcorder usually does. I hope you enjoy being in the thick of it!
In this video I had decided to paint a kingfisher, but had not decided on the colors or the pose, just trusting that it would come together as the brush spoke to the paper. I captured the dance very intimately with my smart phone, getting closer to the action than a camcorder usually does. I hope you enjoy being in the thick of it!
- Published on
Prof I-Hsiung Ju demonstrates pine trees
The summer before he died, I visited my teacher Master Painter I-Hsiung Ju at his home in Princeton, NJ. In this video he is demonstrating pine trees for Charlene Fuhrman-Schulz and Sandy Schatz, long-time students and good friends of the Ju family. The audio is the sound of birds outside my studio.
Tips for painting your own pine trees:
Tips for painting your own pine trees:
- Start with light grey on the brush and paint the main trunks and branches. Keep the brush perpendicular to the paper
- Avoid making the trunks rigidly upright and parallel like soldiers
- Add strong black to the brush and create needle groups above the branches, using the side of the brush
- Add outline strokes to the trunks in black, but without making the lines continuous like a cut-out
- Add small branches to unify the groups of needles in black ink
- Keep your brush pretty dry throughout the painting process
- Don't overwork them!
You can purchase Prof Ju's books and teaching videos at ihsiungju.addr.com
Why not try painting some pine trees now? With courage and a good brush, you can do it!
Why not try painting some pine trees now? With courage and a good brush, you can do it!
Hoodoos & Pine Trees by I-Hsiung Ju (wash added later)
