DRAGONS and Cliches

 

WHAT ? I put the word cliche in the same sentence as dragon?

There are certain layouts and rendering styles that appear over and over again in East Asian painting when dragons are depicted. 

This example is an 18th century Japanese painting and when an excellent skilled work there are certain aspects only obvious if you have seen a lot of Japanese art especially art of the KANO school.

First of all there's the use of just one tint in the background with Mt Fuji being depicted as just an outline against a gray sky. This motif is used in dozens of other paintings and prints.

Then there's the dark clouds. The painter has perhaps tried a bit too hard to show his control over the flow of ink by using the clouds to emphasize the dragon and of course the beloved S curve composition though to be fair its beautiful skilled rendering and suggests the dragon is creating rain clouds so it moves across the sky. 

The dragon however is one that could have appeared in dozens of other works, Chinese or Japanese, and possibly also has a message that the artist had the opportunity and privilege and connections to travel around the country studying various private collections artists not of the Kano or affiliated schools would have had access to. 

Its a good painting but its very much the equivalent of say 19th Academy art in Europe. 

The artist has obviously studied the approved models for dragons. 

Now to test you. 

What do you think is the signifiance of the dragon only having THREE toes ?

 . 

STUDY HOW JAKUCHU DEPICTS BIRDS

 #Itojakuchu #birds #rooster #painting 

I have posted this one before and I'm reposting it as an example of bird painting for the benefit if they will pay attention of the sort of anime / manga artist who apparently thinks wings and feathers are made of cardboard and anime means they don't have to study anatomy or other artists.

Also it is nearly Spring and there are flowers in this painting!

I certainly don't want to you all to be as fascinated or possibly obsessed with birds as Jakuchu was but whatever your art style he is a master you should study whether you are doing anime/ manga or  scientific illustration or whatever. Linework color layout composition this is a masterpiece. Study it! 

HYDRANGEAS PAINTING

HYDRANGEAS 

are a beloved summer flower in Japan 

#hydrangeas #summer #rimpa #painting 

This is probably a student of Korin? 

 

ITO JAKUCHU - PLUMS AND CRANES

 ITO JAKUCHU PLUMS AND CRANES

Plums are a traditional symbol of winter 

Perhaps someone was feeding cranes as pets in a garden ? 

Giving Ito the idea for this work?

Ito Jakuchu - White Phoenix

 #Ito #jakuchu #white #phoenix 

While Ito usually avoided painting dragons or phoenixes preferring birds he also created this masterwork

INk Masters Hasegawa - Pine and Bamboo

 #ink #inktober #japanesepainting #pines #hasegawa 

This time we're looking at a Japanese painting - Pine and Bamboo by Hasegawa Tohaku.

The image belwo is 2 sections of a larger work 

This is a very "formal" work featuring Pine and Bamboo.

Bamboo is particularly difficult to paint as it requires advanced brush skills whether you are using an outline or "boneless" technique or combining both. Hasegawa could have used color and there are some beautiful paintings using color by later Rimpa and Nihonga painters but has stayed with a monochrome "palette" of black creating depth without perspective by using tones and space with a composition seeming random but well proportioned use of the spaces between bamboo trunks contrasting with low curves suggesting the ground and hinting at slopes. 

Finally the contrasting but closely adjacent pine and bamboo branches above draw our eye right to left from light grays to deeper darker tones. 

What can we learn from this about tones and layout ?

Or just enjoy the ink ! 

Follow me for more in my INktober Ink Masters series

Jakuchu - Plum Blossoms and the Moon

#jakuchu #plumblossoms #moon #scroll #painting

Jakuchu a 18th century Japanese painter was known for colorful works but in this painting his approach is both minimalist and maximalist. The tones are simple mostly gray with a hint of brown on the trunk and branches and the moon is a flat circle. Yet behold the glorious complexity of the crossing branches thick and thin like the brush strokes used to render them and the mass of white plum blossom is almost Rimpa style!

Toyohiro Summer Painting

#toyohiro #japanesepainting #summer 

For those of you enduring the northern hemisphere summer this is the right season to share Toyohiro's famous work:
Enjoying the Evening Cool Under a Trellis

The bottle is probably earthenware clay and perhaps full of sake?

Both of them seem to be glancing up at the sky maybe not admiring the white flowers but hoping to see signs of evening rain? 

Momiji again and Hoitsu

#hoitsu #japanesepainting #momiji

You might want to check my Kiitsu post and compare it to this one.

This is a painting in the pillar format

Note how Hoitsu balances the tones and colors and guides our sight through the painting using tonal and color variation. Darker tones at the bottom of the wash that forms the tree trunk then a lower branch that's orange and red paralleled above by a thicker darker branch and red leaves and more orange at the top.

No wonder the Ukiyo-e artists so quickly adapted to color printing with splendid examples of good color layout like this !

Hoitsu was not a Ukiyo-e artist and while this is a painting not a print painters from other schools could inspect and study works like this  at tea ceremonies or if they were displayed at temples or poetry parties.

Two Eagles

#asianart #chinesepainting #japanesepainting #eagles

I though these two images might show how Chinese and Japanese painting can differ?

Chinese Painting Zheng Jie 

Ito Jakuchu Japanese

The same medium  brush and ink on a scroll but note the differences !

A Jakuchu Eagle

I've shown you eagles and other birds painted or printed in a variety of styles, chinese, japanese, ukiyo-e, ming, kano, rimpa, shinhanga, bunjinga and more.

Now here's one by Ito #Jakuchu.

Its very ... well the only word I can use in English is POINTY ... angular doesnt seem strong enough!

There's a basic s-curve composition and the tonal gradients of the brush strokes are arranged in a strong striking pattern of grays and blacks contrasting to white areas and Jakuchos distinctive use of white outlines. The contrast should look awkward  and jagged rather than expressive but such is Jakuchu's design skills and genius that it all works together!

Quail in the Grasses

Quail in the Grasses is a popular theme in Japanese probably due to the poem I'm going to post below.

#quail #japaneseart #shunzei #waka

18th - 19th painting by unknown artist from Japan 

This and other images of quail and grass may have been illustrated this famous poem by Shunzei also known as Fujiwara Toshinari  SZSIV259 or SKKS 4.291 also Waka.net and Miner

YUU SAREBA

NOBE NO AKIKAZE

MI NI SHIMITE

UZURA NAKU NARI

FUKAKUSA SATO

Its one of those elegant Heian waka that are both simple yet complex

Evening is passing over
fields vicinity of autumn wind  note fields NOT Moors see my note on Fukasato
nobe is written as no+be with kanji in the text i saw but spoken it could mean stretching
shimite could be shimeru pierced by cold wind feel pain or frozen and chilled
uzura are quail they could be wild or domestic
village of dense deep grass
this is an actual location now a suburb between Kyoto and Fushimi

Its evening a cold wind is moving and the quail are crying perhaps just their roosting call but perhaps some predator is stalking them?

Perhaps this was one of those rare areas where the soil wasnt right for rice paddies but the grasses had been left to grow for cattle and horses ?

The poet isnt in the city or the deep mountains but a semi rural area
Nowhere exotic but he makes the moment special and memorable!

More Jakuchu

#itojakuchu #rooster #yearoftherooster

Ito Jakuchu really was quite extraordinary. These roosters are almost 3d!

I suspect his influences include not just painting but also wood carving japanese prints and lacquer.

Note his mastery of technique. 

The traditional S curve layout often used for landscapes is applied to birds .

The coloring is mainly monochrome but the detail is both strong yet delicate in its complexity.

The posture and contrast create tonal range and depth.

And each fowl is clearly a character with personality!

Jakuchu

The #yearofthefirerooster has just begun

So #itojakuchu art !

Ito Jakuchu an 18th century Japanese painter and sometimes printmaker had an extraordinary style that combined elements of Rimpa and Bunjinga. His technique deepens the reds white and blacks so they stand out as if carved rather than painted and one wonders if he also studied or watched wood carvers and lacquer workers as well as clearly studying imported Chinese scrolls.

I've tried to find some works by him that are less frequently cited copied and downloaded.

Monkey ART Four Mori Sosen

Two  #MoriSosen paintings.
#japanesepaintings #yearofthemonkey #monkey

Mori Sosen is regarded as the grand master of the monkey as a theme in Japanese painting.

My first choice is an image of two monkeys watching a tiny crab and by way of contrast for my second choice a monkey trained to perform a shinto dance which supposedly expelled demons and bad luck.

Both of these images show how carefully Sosen observed wild and tame monkeys and his mastery of detail and brushwork contrasting line work with areas of fine detail.

We are now into the third month of the year of the Monkey.

I hope it continues to be a fortunate one for you.

Year of the Monkey- Monkey Art TWO

#yearofthemonkey #shibata zeshin #monkey #japanese painting

MONKEY ART TWO

I've posted several times about #ShibataZeshin an 19th century Japanese artist designer who worked in multiple media, lacquer, painting, and print design.

He was trained as a lacquer worker but his teachers noticed his brush skills and encouraged him to study calligraphy and painting.

This is an example of his work on a silk scroll

Note how he creates depth and tone in black and white using quite traditional methods and motifs yet combining techniques and methods from not just the Kano school that dominated art education at the time but other schools too! 

All on a foundation of solid yet subtle brush work with wash and line !

East or West Drawing and Observation is Important! 

A HOKUSAI MEDLEY

#Hokusai is well known for his landscape prints and his famous #Manga sketchbooks but he was also a painter and designer of surimono prints. 

#surimono #japaneseprints #ukiyo-e #phoenix

I've shared 2 of his lesser known surimono prints and in the middle is part of a screen painting of a phoenix for contrast.

I have used this one a few times before as as well as being a well designed print it shows traditional asian brushes,an inkstone, and a block of ink. 

This is a detail of a 8 fold screen set of paintings probably used in a bedroom.

Japaneses prints had a variety of formats.

Surimono often feature long horizontal formats as they were frequently folded into pamphlets and given as newyear gifts.

More Hokusai soon! 

I'll try to find some unusual images that illustrate all aspects of his work.

Nihonga Sansui Style

Here's how a 20th century #Japanese painter trained in the #nihonga style sees and depicts a "dry garden" with ink.

Please note I have reduced the size of the image for better web sharing.

The original painting is much much larger than this !

ENJOY!