Japanese Suiboku Ink Painting: Creation History and Basic Principles

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Japan is an amazing country, its culture is mysterious and beautiful. For most people, the concept of "Japanese culture" is associated with haiku and sophisticated ink paintings. Mountains, the peaks of which are covered with snow and fog, spring valleys, philosophical subjects - when looking at such pictures, we experience peace and inner harmony. The most popular Japanese ink painting style is Suiboku, or Suibokuga.

History of Creation

Images similar to this technique appeared in ancient China. The word "suibokuga" is translated as "painting with water and ink". Only these components are used to create paintings. In that era, paintings were painted with the usual strokes of ink, then the artists began to improve the technique, trying to add volume and expressiveness to the lines.

In the first half of the 8th century, during the reign of the Tang Dynasty, the drawing style was formedink paintings, which was called suibokuga. The word is of Japanese origin, but this style of drawing became popular in Japan only in the 14th century. Its adherents included Zen monks, representatives of the aristocracy and even members of the royal dynasty.

Fine arts and the art of swordsmanship are one

Japanese ink painting in the style of suiboku, or suibokuga, was especially popular with swordsmen. Miyamoto Musashi is especially famous, who is considered the most skilled warrior and painter. In his book, he wrote that the Way of the Warrior is the unity of the brush and the sword, and to become a great warrior you need to master both arts to perfection.

And since then, Japanese ink painting in the suibok style has been compared to the art of swordsmanship. After all, the technique is based on a neat, correct brush stroke, which can be done while observing a certain body position. The artist must have an even straight posture, the arm is bent at the elbow perpendicular to the canvas, movements are made not with fingers, but with a brush. It is thanks to this that the paintings are refined, and the lines are expressive.

Principles of fine arts

Representatives of Japanese ink painting in the Suiboku style followed all the principles of this direction in painting. This style of drawing was the only alternative to European fine art. But in China, European and Asian cultures merged, so you could see the influence of Western artists in the paintings.

Painters of the Countryrising sun continued to follow the main principles of Japanese suiboku painting:

• understatement;
• emptiness.

If translated into understandable artistic language, it means freedom of space. In Japanese ink painting in the Suiboku style, masters made sure to leave part of the canvas intact. This was done so that the viewer, looking at the canvas, could dream up and complement the composition with their own artistic images.

Also, pictures of Japanese ink painting in the Suiboku style are distinguished by external simplicity. The drawing technique itself is uncomplicated, but at the same time, the masters manage to add dynamism and brightness to the picture. Artists experiment with the play of light and shadow, which allows them to create expressive paintings. Some use colored ink in their work. Especially if you draw flowers - this way they seem even more beautiful and lively.

Plots for drawings

The style of Japanese ink painting suibokuga differs from the rest in that all plots seem simple, but at the same time set a person in a philosophical mood. The main object of the artists was the landscape. In the earliest drawings, you can see mountains, gorges shrouded in mist, the translucent landscape was more like a Chinese painting. Which is not surprising, because the Japanese masters adopted this technique from Chinese artists.

With the development of this direction, the landscape looked more and more like the Japanese countryside. Then they began to paint portraits of famous personalities. Initially for drawing artistsused a monochrome technique, but with the development of this style, it became acceptable to add bright colors that looked like translucent strokes, thin lines that made the drawing even more voluminous and expressive.

In Japan, ink painting is not just a direction in painting, but a real philosophy. To make neat lines, a person must have not only the correct position of the body and hands, but also internal balance.