Week 4

Demonstration Art

From a fusuma painted by Kanō Sansetsu (1589–1651). See discussion.

Calligraphy, Sketches and Demonstration Painting

Calligraphy

There are four writing examples this week for those who want to practice their calligraphy. All are related to this week's painting demonstration, plum and nightingale. The first, uguisu (nightingale), is written in hiragana.

The next calligraphy example has three words; ume to uguisu (plum and nightingale). The first word, ume (plum), is in kanji, and the third word is the kanji version of uguisu (nightingale). The middle word, to (and), is in hiragana.

The next two words are for different kinds of ume. The first is hakubai (white plum).

The final word is kōbai (red plum).

Sketches

Here are some relatively simple sketches for practice. The first shows detailed views of portions of plum trees. The blossoms are done in senbyō-hō (lined) style. Note how they appear from different angles.

Here are plum blossoms painted using the mokkotsu-hō (unlined) style.

Here are uguisu (nightingale) sketches.

Demonstration Painting

Basic ume (Japanese plum) blossoms have five petals, but there are varieties that have many more. These types are sometimes referred to as doubled blossoms.