Sumi-e is the classic painting style of Japan. This text demonstrates how to take tile classic brushstrokes of sumi-e to a new level of painting, where creativity is inspired by deeply felt memories and spiritual expression. It firstly provides a brief history and explains the philosophy behind this painting style, then highlights its many masters. Next it reviews the classic materials and the basic brushstrokes of sumi-e known as tile four gentlemen, bamboo, wild orchid, chrysannthemum and plum branch, along with their variations. Finally it puts it all together to demonstrate the sumi-e art of dream journey paintings. It explains the variety of creative and exciting techniques for using colour to add a dimension to the image, as well as techniques for visually capturing important life memories and spiritual reflections in a painting.

About the Author

Yolanda Mayhall spent years in Japanl studying with renowned sumi-e masters Takeuchi and Saito. She lives in Dunnellon, Florida,