Customer Reviews

Japanese Ink Painting: The Art of Sumi-e

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Very beautiful "state-of-mind-arts" view and used it on eggshells I made. Real excellent explains from this book.

A good introduction for a beginner, including but not limited to the 4 traditional subjects( orchids/bamboo/plum blossoms/chrysanthemum) . The subjects chosen are simple: a tulip, crocuses, pears, simple landscape of a lake with a boat... and correspond to western taste and interest. I only question the fish as first subject. Good luck for a beginner to draw that fish! The fins/head/eye are not easy at all unless you have a very good mastery of the brush.

But overall I think that this book is excellent to introduce Sumi-e to westerners. Naomi's book is like the Sumi-e she presents, simple, concise,unpretentious, friendly, only few words to express the essential. I recommend this book to a Sumi-e beginner.

Okamoto covers the most essential areas of the art of sumi-e in a balanced and objective approach. I learned a lot while reading her book and it moved me to learn more things about sumi-e. The pictures, paper, and book itself are of high quality, and is interesting to look through even if you do not paint with inks. A wonderful book, I reccomend it to anyone interested in Asian art. Also makes a great gift.

This book is great for a beginner. It explains the materials you need to start painting and gives you step by step instructions on the techniques needed to paint bamboo, orchids, chrysanthemums, etc. My only criticism is that it's week on how to paint pine trees which I find difficult. But, overall a book worthwile to own and work with.

The title should be something like "A First Course of Chinese Painting brought to you by a Japanese painter." The methods, material, and paper making are all Chinese. Just like the game of Go, Japanese pretend that they invented all those methods and have outstripped Chinese. Not at all. They rank artists, and that's why you might think that Japanese are better. If you want to learn Chinese Painting, look for a book written by a Chinese, so that you not only learn the basics of putting brush on the paper, but also you learn the beauty and spirit of the art of Chinese Painting.

After the surrender in the WWII, Japanese have being working hard to introduce Chinese arts and inventions to the West under Japanese names. For example, Futon, Makura, Kimono, Ochya, Sumie, Suiboku, board game of Go, Tofu, Ramen, just to name a few. This book is no exception.

General McArthur once said that Japan's mind is a vacuum. This is very true. Japanese seem to have lost their self-confidence in terms of humanity, and they have to cheat on the art. Changing the name "Chinese" into "Japanese" only seems to work well for such a purpose of confidence build-up.

Anyway, I still recommend this book to people in the US, as Chinese painting is actually beautiful and eye-candy, unlike the ice-cold Japanese Nihonga. And also they have more chances to understand the most superficial part of the mind of China from Japanese. Japanese culture to Chinese culture is just like cup-noodle to Chinese meal.