Original Sumi-e Style Enso Painting - Haiku
sumi-e circle
in colors of the rainbow
God is eternal
Image and poem © Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved.
In spite of some protests from me, a friend convinced me to accompany her to a SUMI-E art class a few years ago. I used every excuse I could think of, but mainly I felt intimidated and thought I would make a fool of myself seeing as I had not used a paint brush since high school! However, from the first day of class, I became hooked, and SUMI-E painting is now one of my favorite passtimes.
So what exactly is this art form that I have embraced? SUMI-E simply means black ink painting in Japanese. The art form developed in China and was adopted by the Japanese, so sometimes it is called Chinese brush painting, ink wash painting, or literati painting. Each stroke of the brush is very important, and it is said that we are capturing the Spirit Of the Brush with each stroke. In fact a group I belong to is called the Hisshin Society, which means Spirit Of the Brush Society.
The style is not meant to capture the exact form of the subject matter, but rather the essence of it. Although the brush strokes are very controlled, SUMI-E is an expressive and spontaneous art form. So, there are considered to be no mistakes in SUMI-E. Less is considered more in this style, so it is very minimalist.
Very important in SUMI-E painting is the way you load the brush with ink or colored pigment, and also the way you control the brush strokes. There are four main brush strokes to learn, and they are fondly called the Four Gentlemen.
In this painting, using traditional Chinese watercolor paints, I created the ensō, a circle created with one expressive brushstroke, depicting one moment in time. In Zen, the ensō symbolizes enlightenment and the universe. The circle can be open or closed, but once drawn must not be changed, as it shows the character of the artist at that point in time. A closed circle represents perfection.
The seven colors of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) were added to my brush and then the circle was drawn – capturing my character for that moment on paper!
At one of our Hisshin Society meetings, a speaker taught us how to combine our art form with haiku, so today I am sharing with you the first of many examples of my work, along with a haiku poem to go along with it. I hope you will enjoy them both!
The artwork is also available as a stock image at Getty Images
Thanks for taking the time to read this! I appreciate it.
To check out my art prints and stock images online, please visit my website.
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I had never heard of this style of art very interesting
Tip!
Hi @tattoodjay! You have just received 0.1 SBD tip from @dmcamera!
@tipU - send tips by writing tip! in the comment, get share of the service profit :)
HEHE! I sent it right back to you. I wasn't being rude and ungrateful, I just happened to put an exclamation mark in the wrong place. LOL!
This is so funny! I feel like this is something I would do too....
I couldn't figure out at first how it had happened, but when I looked back at the wording, I saw that when I thanked him for the tip, I put an exclamation mark after it, which meant I was sending one. LOL!
Does it take the money right out of your wallet?
No. You put some money into it. :-)
Wow! Thanks for the tip! It is basically the art you see on Chinese wall calendars and the like too. Often you will see cherry blossom and sometimes simple mountains. You first learn to paint bamboos using black ink only. All the different shades of gray and black are loaded on the brush at once. Each brushstroke involves using the whole arm and not just a flick of the wrist!
Interesting that its called Black Ink and you used all the colors.
Was this a wide brush done in a single stroke? Thanks for all of the information about this art style - I find it pleasant to read things I know nothing about!
Yes, the term is used for both black ink and Chinese watercolor. It is done in one sweeping stroke with a special brush made for sumi-e painting. you can't use ordinary watercolor brushes for this style.
One stroke the whole painting! I think my brain must not have registered that part very well - thats amazing 😲
It takes a lot of practice. The old masters used practice one simple stroke for years before being allowed to progress to the next!!
Oh wow, the four gentleman, years of practice, I'm frequently glad I am from this century, where most of life's mysteries are available in e-book.