Oldies & Goodies - April 3 - 16 Japanese art

[azulparsnip]

Hi - Japanese art is one of my favorites - here are a selection to choose from....use for inspiration or copy....

and Here is a link to explore


http://www.ohmigallery.com/

[azulparsnip]

Here is one more

[dianapotts]

I'm not sure how to do this. We can make art inspired by traditional art? My current project right now anyway is very old Japanese architecture one or two of which are National Treasures of Japan. When I do my drawings of those, may I post? Also, may I post one of my photos of Miyajima for you to work from? I took the photos there. Architecture is traditionally taught in art history classes so I am thinking this is appropriate.

One of my backgrounds is in Asian art history and culture so I have a lot to give here.

Diana

[artbyjune]

Hi Diana. I just left a comment on your blog about this project! I see you are here already.

The aim is to study the art of Japan, and make a copy of some Japanese art you admire. Or paint an original composition in a 'Japanese' style as you see it.

Your beautiful drawings of Japanese dolls would certainly come into this project of you want to post one or two here for members to see.

We are very liberal-minded here....anything relating to the project would be welcomed.:D Including links, artworks, text/study info.:wave:

[dianapotts]

Thanks June,

I was wondering when someone would answer. I love this website because it is liberal minded. So am I.

Creativity needs to be free and that freedom is here!

Thanks so much!

Diana

[azulparsnip]

Hi Diana - sorry to be so long in responding. My daughter in the Airforce was visiting before flying out to Germany for a long time.

But YES, anything relating in any way with Japanese art is welcome. I like the stuff but am far from the fields of refined knowledge about it. I know a little about the diet- umeboshi, miso and seaweed. Any little comments would be welcome.

I think I am gonna try and do a 3 layer reduction cut of the sumo wrestlers

[azulparsnip]

I got this drawing done last night (was up till 2am, loving every minute of it!!) and ran off some copies for transfering to the linoleum & playing with the color themes.....so far I have gotten farther than I did on the last challenge.

[artbyjune]

Lovely drawing. I love the individuality in each face!

[trafford]

Azul, so interested to see how you transfer to linoleum and how the print turns out. I just love print making and love to know all about process.

Am looking at the warehouse/store that's been posted. Would love to do something with that, though maybe a little too ambitious. I'll think about it. :heart:

[azulparsnip]

Oh my yes, alot going on in that piece

[trafford]

Went to the library this morning and found a wonderful book "Drawings of the Masters/Japanese Drawings" text by JR Hillier. I liked it so much I'd like to own it. Checked out Amazon and they have used copies, so when I get a few bucks together I think I'll get it.

Meanwhile I'll try a few in my sketchbook......:heart:

[WildGoose]

What a fun drawing!:D

[arnoud3272]

Robin - Nice preparatory drawing. I wonder how you will translate this to lino. My father left me a few lino cuts (from the forties and fifties) and they have all very thick lines and mainly just large black areas. Is that just a style? I always thought one was technically forced to it.

Here is my entry, two carps in pen and ink ...

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/10-Apr-2009/142886-carps.jpg

... after Hokusai

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/10-Apr-2009/142886-carps-ref2.jpg

Thanks for looking.

[artbyjune]

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/11-Apr-2009/106623-ladyfish1a5k.JPG

A quickie a la japanese. Lady with a goldfish in a bowl. But I don't know the artist. Does anyone know?:confused:

[arnoud3272]

June - I wonder what she is trying to do with the fish? But what a lovely drawing!

Cheers,
Arnoud

[artbyjune]

Thanks Arnoud. I love the Japanese ladies in prints...often they don't say the artist though. I wondered what she was trying to do to those fish myself...maybe stirring the water to give it Oxygen, or feeding it with food on chopsticks?

I really admire your fish pen and ink drawing, Arnoud. Lots of beautiful detail in the scales, and sinuous.

[azulparsnip]

Trafford - sounds like a good book -

Wild Goose - thanks

Arnoud - truth be know---I wonder too!! but don't let that stop me........Beautiful pen and ink. Nice job on the shading on the scales . About how long did this take you?

June - she is delightful!!!!

Here is the play by play in photos on getting started with the lino cut.

[azulparsnip]

Using a copy from an older style copy machine ( that uses toner? not sure what the black powder stuff is called) Place the print face down and wet it on the back with the oops. I got it a little too wet but the shapes are adequate. Touching the forms up with a pen. Tape the copy up in a window , looking thru the back for details as I cut. Begin cutting. Worked on this about 40 minutes. It was slow going for the lino was cold. I cut myself......AND now I have a heating pad to use to keep the linoleum warm next time I start cutting. Lastly a crayon rubbing to see what it is looking like.

I surely won't get this finished by friday ..".One foot up and one foot down, that's the way to London town " is my motto.....

[artbyjune]

My goodness, its so wonderful to see how you do these lino cuts azul. I am tempted to try it some day...And how many prints can you take from a lino cut like this?? Is there a limit?

[arnoud3272]

June, Robin - thank you for the encouragement.
I did not keep an account, I guess it took me about 10 hours. After finishing the outlines, rendering the scales went rather fast. A kind of controlled scribbling along some pencil guidelines, and then just stippling and short cross-hatches. All from imagination, indeed I saw when finished that I had done far more scales than in the reference.

Robin - very interesting process. Thank you for showing it in detail. I look forward to the final artwork, I hope you will post it.

Cheers,
Arnoud

[trafford]

Everyone is making such good progress...

arnoud, the carps are beautiful and delicate.

Tried to find Lady with Goldfish June, but it seems the Japanese loved painting goldfish, and as you probably found, there's tons of them. But who cares? It's a lovely little painting.

...and thank you Azul, for showing the progress of your lino print. I'm very interested in your transfer method. Glad to see a heating pad can be used for something other than my aching back. Looks like it will really turn out well. Can hardly wait to see the finished print.

Now I better get going and do some ART or start something before Friday.......:heart:

[arnoud3272]

Janet - Thank you for your appreciation.
Looking forward to your artwork.

Cheers,
Arnoud

[New breeze]

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/14-Apr-2009/163099-w4.JPG
Hi,
This is japanese art from my end , hope it's ok.

[artbyjune]

She is beautiul, New Breeze!!

[arnoud3272]

Very nice indeed, New breeze :clap:
I like how you adapted it to the different medium while keeping its feeling.

Cheers,
Arnoud

[trafford]

Really lovely new breeze. Love the colors.

Here are a few sketches I did from the Japanese Drawing book.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/14-Apr-2009/42757-japanese_lady.jpg
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/14-Apr-2009/42757-japanese_mouse.jpg
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/14-Apr-2009/42757-flower_seller.jpg

Am having so much fun with this, that I have to get some colored water color paper and a new brush. Thanks, Azul, for setting me off on new and strange paths. :)

[arnoud3272]

Nice sketches, Janet, it is clear you enjoyed the references. Very humorous that mouse :lol:. Must be an interesting book you found.

Cheers,
Arnoud

[WildGoose]

Duplicate!

[WildGoose]

Arnoud-

Wish I knew enough about the history of printmaking to tell you... but I can tell you that your drawing is a very fine one!:)
You suggest the shadowing on the backs of the fish with precision and a convincing sense of depth...
I"m not surprised at your time commitment, it's easy to see that your scales are much more intricate than in the original...you've certainly made the piece stylistically your own!

June-

Quick, but flowing and deftly done...get a real sense of surety here about your use of line..

Trafford-

That pen and ink mouse is GREAT!!:thumbsup: :D

New Breeze_

Wonderful blend of colour choices on the lady!

AZUL-

Zowsers!:eek:
That's some big piece of lino!
Thanks for posting the working shots...enjoyable to follow..and the hand-coloured crayon proof is lookin' good!:thumbsup: :D

[arnoud3272]

Thank you Chris, for you kind comments and encouragement.

Cheers,
Arnoud

[New breeze]

Thankyou all for your appreciation.

[azulparsnip]

New Breeze - she is so coy......good spirit there

Trafford _ what characters, love the black with red scarf woman - I'm going to have to get that book, by the looks of these drawings!!!!!


Arnoud - thanks for the encouragement.....you bettcha I'll post it when it is done.


Wild Goose - the linoleum is a 12 inch square......and I don't think this gold linoleum will lend itself to the reduction approach so I'm going for a black and white print.....still cutting on it.......probably finish mid next week.

[gakinme]

Oh, I didn't know there is this thread. This is my first time posting in this section. Beautiful pieces here.

Robin, your sumo wrestlers have great postures and your using only limited colors accentuated each of their character. Very cute! So will you be doing the entire piece again with linocut? It is so good to see print making in modern terms.

Arnoud, incredible koi fishes there. Great details. So nice to see pen rendering without color too! Wow, 10 hours. That's very committed!

June, your piece is by the following guy. You gave it a nice color over!

A Bust Portrait Of The Courtesan Wakamurasaki Of The Tsunotamaya Playing With Goldfish
by
Chokosai Eisho (1790-1799) (http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&sa=1&q=A+Bust+Portrait+Of+The+Courtesan+Wakamurasaki+Of+The+Tsunotamaya+Playing+With+Goldfish&btnG=Search+Images&aq=f&oq=japanese+woman%2C+goldfish%2Cwoodblock)

newbreeze, thanks for leading me to this thread. I was following your postings to get to know you. You have a very cheery colored piece.

trafford, your mouse is so whimsical and the flower seller is so contented with his smoke! Nice loose feel to the courtesan.

I'll post a few that I have been doing after this post. You don't know how much I want to show my work but I have nowhere really to do it all in one thread with the many media I use.

[gakinme]

This is a wood block print by Utagawa Kunisada on two actors in Kabuki play. This is the largest I've done so far on a drawing 18x24 inch on newsprint. Gallery Oil pastel for most of it except the black fan on the top that has a bit of carbon pencil and the black clothing part were enhanced by black Prismacolor pencil. You could see more of his work here (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Utagawa_Kunisada). I don't do acrylic or watercolor and so this is the closest I could get in coloring a piece this big with oil pastel. This one, my daughter already claimed it for her bedroom.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/17-Apr-2009/86669-utagawa_kunisada_kabuki2actors.JPG


These are all on Hokusai's work with changes here and there. Chinese brush and Chinese ink.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/17-Apr-2009/86669-chinesebrush_japgirl.JPG

Color is Japanese brush pen.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/17-Apr-2009/86669-sketch_japanese1.JPG

Color is Elmer's Paintastics.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/17-Apr-2009/86669-sketch_japanese2.JPG

Color is Japanese brush pen.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/17-Apr-2009/86669-sketch_japanese3.JPG

Color is Derwent watercolor pencils.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/17-Apr-2009/86669-sketch_japanese4.JPG

This one is my favorite piece. Inktense and pen following Hokusai's great wave. You could follow this thread to see my props for it.

Tsunami (http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=548096)

Since then, I have tried to develop other waves. See the bottom of the thread of page 1.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/20-Feb-2009/86669-tsunami_color1.JPG

[trafford]

Wow, gakinme......great work :thumbsup:

Got my used Japanese Drawing book in the mail today, from a seller through Amazon. Just $5.00 + s/h, and it's in better shape than the library one, looks brand new with a sleeve to stick it in. I'm thrilled :clap:

[gakinme]

Thank you, trafford. Would you be drawing more now that you have your Japanese drawing book? Which one is it?

[artbyjune]

Trafford, I love your sketches. The mouse is terrific. So energetic.

Gakinme, your work is marvellous. I especially love the bold work in man with his tongue out. And the smile on the woman about to bathe!! And much thanks for the info on the artist who created the woman with the goldfish. I will go and look at the link.

[gakinme]

You are welcome, June. And thanks for your comments.

[trafford]

Thak you all for the comments on my face washing mouse.

Gaknme the book is "Drawings of the Masters/Japanese Drawing from the 17th Century through the 19th Century." Text by J. R. Hillier. Published in the 60's, there are still used copies around.

:clap: for the Japanese Art Project. Thanks, Azul. :angel:

[gakinme]

Thank you, trafford, for the name of the book. I just requested it from my library too and I should have it in 3 or 4 days. Where will you post your sketches? This thread? If not, come to my thread and we could compare notes ? I'd love to talk to someone about these Japanese masters' craft.

All Media On-Going Sketch Thread (http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=556426)

Some accident happened over there while merging threads. It used to have 12,000 views on that thread alone, not just a thousand something.

Otherwise, if you are using only Chinese/sumi-e brush, then perhaps at the Post Your Chinese Brush / Sumi-e Paintings here (http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7783825#post7783825).

[azulparsnip]

Sandra , lots of good work posted , I hoped there would be some other admirerers of the Japanese way.........Sounds like your daughter is alot like mine when it comes to putting dibs on stuff. I think the samuari is my favorite......you achieved a good balance and maintained the sense of movement & proportion. It has great potential for quite a tumble- jumble . Sounds you have a busy thread, more like a rope bridge!!!

I'm still cutting the sumo ring.......I'll post it here when I get it done....

[azulparsnip]

cuttin sumo sumo's :D .... this is a little messy - got this work done today

[trafford]

Azul, love your Sumo guys. Here's a dumb question: When you print, it will be reversed correct? I love that name oops, I'll have to get some :heart:

[gakinme]

Robin, very interesting piece. They almost look like they are dancing now! Amazing that you even gave them muscle shading which was not in the original painting of yours. Very nice. You did it by making it slightly shallower than the white portioned muscles, correct? Wow, to think backwards, that's quite something.



These two arebased on the images from the book Masterful Illusions and these two are depicting the story called THE TALES OF ISLES. A woman's husband left to work for an aristocrat and after 3 years, she agreed to marry another man who had courted her for 3 years. On the night where she would consume the nuptials, her first husband appeared and knowing that was the case, wished her well and left. She had a change of heart and ran after him. She collapsed and the husband carried her. By the stream, she reclined near the rock and use blood from her little finger to write a love poem for the first husband and then expired.

In ancient times, women cut off the tip of their little finger to show their devotion to the loved ones. (Yakuzas still do that.)

The first one is based on Katsukawa Shunsho's work and I have simplified the stream, the water and rocks and put more focus on the tree. My smallest Chinese brush was getting frayed and I had to use my 2/0 watercolor brush to redo all the details in darker tones.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/23-Apr-2009/86669-brush_japcarry2.JPG


The second one is based on Toyii Kinoyaga's work and it didn't have have the full garment of the lady. I added bits to it. One leg is too small but I can't change it now. I drew all these without draft and improvised along the way.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/23-Apr-2009/86669-brush_japcarry.JPG

June, I got the book, Drawings of the Masters: Japanese Drawings From the 17th through the 19th Century. Indeed it is very good. I also bought it online just now too.

In fact at ebay, they have the entire series of 12 books of other countries and I was tempted but the libraries carry those too and I want to save money so I could buy some good watercolor and more cartridges for my Pentel Pocket Calligraphy brushpen and accessories for Radiograph pens. I decided I'll just borrow those and invest in this one only. Thanks for the title.

I'll be drawing some of those too. It has such general subjects that I want to draw everyone of them, unlike the books my husband has on Japanese art at home. They are all geishas and erotic art. LOL.

Ah yes, someone asked about the goldfish. In Japan, they have a lot of street fairs and kids and women usually like to look at the gold fish displayed and buy a few for fun. She probably just bought one and admiring it. I'm sure she was not thinking of deep fried fish.:lol:

[trafford]

Good drawings, Sandra. You have a nice flow, which I have to work at.

Glad you like the Japanese drawing book. When I get a few more projects done here, I'm going back and try a few more drawings. Did look up more of the series on E-bay and it certainly is a good deal, but I have other books on the same subjects, so I'm all set.

Happy drawing.......Janet :heart:

[azulparsnip]

Traffy - thanks & yes, the image will be reversed when printed

Sandra - thanks however the "muscle" shading is just the crayon rubbing on the empty lino area........I'm not that good (yet ;) ) Looking again at your guy riding the wave in the basket - loooove it.... The last two are good - straight -outta-the gate stuff!!!! especially the second.....good spacing and form.

YES,, I too (sight unseen) bought that book on line - $3.00 plus $3.99 shipping!!!!! Am looking forward to seeing and USING it!!!

Hope to get some more done on the lino today.

[gakinme]

Thank you for your comment, Robin.

You know, after sleeping over it for a night, I broke down and went ahead and bought all 12 of the Drawings of the Masters series and today it was discounted 25% to $93 for all 12 and free shipping. So now I have 2 Japanese one and 2 Persian ones since my husband had the Persian one from before. It came already along with the slip case.

Wow, Robin, you got it cheap. I paid $6.95 for it plus $5 for shipping. But it's in very good shape.

This one is the cover of The Dawn of The Floating World but I changed the lettering, the pattern of the kimono and gave her an updated Patrick Nagel styled nose to make her younger.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/24-Apr-2009/86669-brush_japanesegirl3.JPG

[artbyjune]

Beautiful drawing, Sandra.

[gakinme]

Thank you, June, for your comment.

[azulparsnip]

Sandra - you have a good command of the brush & form there. I am sure those books will give you good direction and hours of study.

[artbyjune]

The Japanese art has been fascinating as a project. Again, wish I had more time for it!!:clap:

[azulparsnip]

here it is. Printed it on friday with oil printing ink.

comments and critique welcome.....I am wondering if I should make the background white? or more of the middle ground (just below the arms) white???? How does it "read" to you. I've been looking at it too long a time.

[trafford]

Azul, I like it the way it is, the black background makes the guys stand out more. It looks like it was a lot of work though, but it came out looking good. :clap:

[gakinme]

Wow, this is really good. I like it black too otherwise it would just look like your initial line piece which we know what it looks like already. Very beautiful, Robin! It even has more character than the original piece!! Bravo!

[artbyjune]

:clap: I love it. Very effective.:thumbsup:

[azulparsnip]

thank you Trafford, Sandra and June.

[gakinme]

I am going to do the 100 day Summer challenge at the watermedia section (http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=563211) with anything that could be painted with water.

Please come visit my thread (http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=563482). I plan to stack 10 in one thread and some are not Japanese so I might not post it here but I think you would enjoy my variety of work.

Along with my first two attempts at figure work, this would be the third one.

Elmer's Paintastics Changeable brushpens, radiograph 0.25 mm pen, Col-erase color pencils, Yasumoto iridisescent paint, Koi waterbrush, Japanese black, gray, red brushpen with felt tip on Canson 70lbs sketch paper. Good paper for all that liquid!

This is my original. The original has shiny paint all over the dress but it doesn't show on the scan. You'll have to imagine it.

This is based on the work of Toyohara Kunichika of the Meiji Era 1876 titled Thirty-Six Beauties, Good and Evil: Tamamo no Mae.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/15-May-2009/86669-paintastics_japgirl1.JPG

I went into Photoshop to give it a black background.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/15-May-2009/86669-paintastics_japgirl1_black.JPG