It is a cool winter’s day in Pullman Washington. A breeze rushes through the open windows and tickles my neck, causing goose bumps to rise on my skin. I pull out a piece of thin white paper from my desk, and prepare myself for the task at hand. My mind empties and I can feel myself relaxing deeper and deeper as I enter what seems to be a meditative state. I pour some water into the ink stone and begin to grind an ink stick into the still liquid. The sea of the stone quickly turns a dark carbon black, as I begin to collect my thoughts. Inspiration strikes, and images of a beautiful cherry tree suddenly appear in my mind. Time stands still in this moment of peace and tranquility, the ink and my muscles are warm and ready from the grinding of the stone.
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The soft and pliable brush quickly consumes the ink within its fibers, and I begin my personal journey with the meditation of Sumi-e painting. Sumi-e is a form of traditional Eastern Asian painting. Originating in China. The goal of this form of painting is not capturing photographic likeness of an object, but rather its spirit. A successful Sumi-e painter combines simplicity with deep meaning. Paintings are often judged upon their use of simple brush strokes, unity within the art form, and the poem that it is often accompanied with. Japanese, Korean, and Malaysian people learned this beautiful art from the Chinese and created their own unique versions of it. For this paper I will be focusing on the Japanese from of Sumi-e painting, specifically the history and culture behind it. Although modern day sumi-e paintings can include colors, the traditional art of sumi-e paintings involves only the color black. In oriental paintings black is considered the simplest of all colors.
The soft and pliable brush quickly consumes the ink within its fibers, and I begin my personal journey with the meditation of Sumi-e painting. Sumi-e is a form of traditional Eastern Asian painting. Originating in China. The goal of this form of painting is not capturing photographic likeness of an object, but rather its spirit. A successful Sumi-e painter combines simplicity with deep meaning. Paintings are often judged upon their use of simple brush strokes, unity within the art form, and the poem that it is often accompanied with. Japanese, Korean, and Malaysian people learned this beautiful art from the Chinese and created their own unique versions of it. For this paper I will be focusing on the Japanese from of Sumi-e painting, specifically the history and culture behind it. Although modern day sumi-e paintings can include colors, the traditional art of sumi-e paintings involves only the color black. In oriental paintings black is considered the simplest of all colors.