Momiji - More autumn leaves

#japaneseart #kiitsu
#japanesepainting #momiji #autumn #silkscroll

More more autumn leaves
This one is a scroll by the artist #Kiitsu
Its almost #nanga or #kano in style

Note the very Japanese use of blank space and counterbalanced
colors and the careful way the ink wash is stronger at the edge
of the flowers and this is on sized silk NOT paper.

Looks simple but requires great skill with the brush

Ask any watercolorist who uses wet into wet washes

The japanese puddling technique is very similar !

Momiji

#Momiji #kanji #kokuji

The word MOMIJI meaning Autumn Foliage can be written with several combinations of Kanji and Kana in Japanese.

Most commonly it is written as a combination of 2 kanji meaning "red leaves" but also as a "kokuji NOT found in all dictionaries. I'm surprised Nelson does not include it when it does include other kokuji!

Kokuji are characters created n Japan and not used in China with a couple of exceptions that actually got borrowed back into Chinese.

Momiji sometimes gets translated as "maple" but can be used to describe autumn foliage and colros in general. Part of the reason for this seems to be the popularity of the Japanese "maple" Acer palmatum also known as KAEDE  in art and probably some idiot who was not a botanist thinking oh maple tree!

Another example of this is the character FENG or FU  Kaede used by both the Chinese and Japanese being translated as "maple"  however the Chinese maple is what we call Liquidambar a tree with leaves and autumn coloring very similar to a maple!

Send me feedback folks if you would rather download this in its full original size from DeviantArt or Patreon ?  I'm happy to share it as a freebie if you're using it for educational purposes!

FOUR PURPLE HANZI and KANJI

Its Jacaranda time in Sydney but Jacaranda is not an Asian Plant.

Its actually an import from South America and yes it is very gorgeously purple an intense hue either dark or light and yes it looks like purple clouds when the trees are blossoming!

So I'm thinking about PURPLE when I look out my window as there are some magnificent trees nearby.

Also I'm thinking about #hanzi and #kanji

The primary word and character for the color purple in East Asian languages that use Sinitic characters or have loan words is surely

however there are a copy of other words 

and also 

finally Japanese poetry often mentions this plant with purple blossoms 

If you k ow of other words for purple please contribute via the comments box.

Lady Purple

#purple #murasaki #hanzi #kanji
Jacarandas are in full bloom in Sydney which makes me think of the color purple and hence of a certain Japanese poetess MURASAKI

The Print Making Shop

18th century EDO townsfolk were proud of their thoroughly modern printmakers and prints.

Here we see customers arriving to inspect the latest prints on offer and watch them being made.

Note the color layout with its superb balance using a limited palate.

These are townsfolk not samurai or geisha or courtesans or actors just fans of prints shopping!

Surimono in Production

#surimono #printing #japaneseprints

A Surimono print showing the process of carving and printing

The man is carving a page of text.

The woman is rubbing the color onto the paper 

Note how it is applied to the block first and then the paper is pressed and rubbed to absorb the colors.

Surimono were "limited editions" with extra care taken with the production!