Sumi-e: The Art of Japanese Ink Painting

by Shozo Sato

In this Japanese ink painting book renowned Japanese master Shozo Sato offers his own personal teaching on the beautiful art of sumi-e painting.

Sumi-e: The Art of Japanese Ink Painting provides step-by-step, photo-by-photo instructions to guide learners in the correct form, motions and techniques of Japanese sumi-e painting.

Featuring gorgeous images and practical advice, it includes guided instructions for 35 different paintings. From waterfalls to bamboo, learners paint their way to understanding sumi-e—a style of painting that is characteristically Asian and has been practiced for well over 1,000 years. Although it's sometimes confused with calligraphy, as the tools used are the same, sumi-e instead tries to capture the essence of an object or scene in the fewest possible strokes.

This all-in-one resource also provides a timeline of brush painting history, a glossary of terms, a guide to sources and an index—making it a tool to use and treasure, for amateurs and professionals alike. This sumi-e introduction is ideal for anyone with a love of Japanese art or the desire to learn to paint in a classic Asian style.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Japan, Teaching, How To

501 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 10, 2010

About the author

Shōzō Satō was an artist, author, calligrapher, playwright, and a professor emeritus of the College of Art and Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He was the founder and former director of Japan House, and a former artist-in-residence at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.
He was an internationally renowned master of Japanese traditional arts, such as Ikebana, Japanese Calligraphy, Sumi-e, Japanese Aesthetics, Japanese Traditional Dance, and Japanese Tea Ceremony. He was also a visionary theater director, most known for adapting Western classics into a traditional Japanese Kabuki style.

Reviews

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 4 out of 5]

198 - 2020

[Christina Karvounis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent for the beginner.

[R.C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good primer on this style of painting, with many examples and beautiful illustrations. Probably better as a full-sized physical book than as an ebook, as the pictures are a little small on a device, but it's still perfectly readable and has a lot of useful information. I'm an extreme novice at painting, so the step by step examples of how to plan and paint particular pieces were very helpful in getting me to think about composition and how I'd go about getting certain effects. It was also very practical in that it takes you through everything from the different brush and paper types (and where to get them and how to tell if they're good quality) to how to mount and display paintings.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seriously an amazing and helpful book--even in Kindle format! For kindle, the PC version is much easier to read and follow. Honestly, this is just the book I have been looking for! Beautiful images, concise explanations of how to hold and move the brush, and even a little history. The videos were extremely helpful as well.

[Fadilah · Rating 4 out of 5]

clear explanation about sumi-e, japanese ink painting. There are also the instructions about how to create some simple sumi-e, and of course the basic technique.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the few books in English that covers splash painting.