Sumi Painting

Also called Sumi-e Painting, Chinese Brush Painting or Ink Wash Painting, this is deceptively simple looking but requires great skill. An average of two colors of ink on rice paper, meet through crafty brush strokes. The brush is stocky with a wide bunch of sturdy bristles.

The Japanese have a ritual around sumi-e painting, believed to be undertaken in a calm, clear state of mind. The brush strokes are expected to be spontaneous, with little planning. This results in natural strokes and lets the observer's mind fill a lot of the details of the subject. Popular subjects are bamboo, twigs of cherry blossom and cranes.

I took the traditional approach and chose to paint fish (apparently, my favorite subject these days). Well, the first few brush strokes looked like wavy water plants in an aquarium and I just went with the flow!

Trivia: How many fish are in the painting?

Answer: Two. Can you find them both?

Silk Painting on a Sun-catcher

After a long hiatus from blogging (and plenty of artistry during these years), I'm back to write about some more beautiful art forms.

It is no news to anyone who owns anything silk, that stains love the material. Most liquids, especially colored ones that cause us grief, ooze into the fabric as far as they can go before drying. For the most part, human reaction to such disastrous events has been shock, panic and desperation to break the chemistry between the notorious stain and a treasured silky possession. Fortunately, someone far up our lineage turned these phenomena into works of art - by bringing acceptance, order and pleasure to the otherwise chaotic human emotions. Thus was born the art of Silk Painting!

A piece of silk cloth is held taut with the help of a frame or an embroidery hoop - or, as in my showcased picture below, a sun-catcher. The subject is outlined using a pen or needle-tip bottle containing a special water-based paint called a Resist. Thin ink-like paint is dabbed inside areas bound by the Resist. It's that simple!

The Resist is the magic ingredient that herds the paint within bounds. It is, therefore, extremely important to ensure 'all-loops-are-closed' lest the sneaky paint find its way out into uninvited territories. Two colors not expecting to meet, may throw a loud tantrum that can't be missed - an artist's worst nightmare! However, some color meet ups are intended - the violet fading into the red, in the fish, is a deliberate attempt to let the colors mingle and celebrate.

If you want to take this one step further, you can create swirls and marbling by sprinkling a few salt crystals in wet paint. Salt crystals absorb and repel the wet paint to cause unexpected patterns in an otherwise plain texture - the fish fins in my picture.