Sumi-e

These are some paintings I did in Sumi-e, or Japanese Ink Brush Painting. I never got real far with it, but I enjoyed doing it. I found grinding with water to be very relaxing and put me in a good state of mind to let myself paint without worrying about how it would turn out. The ink comes in rectangular blocks, and it releases a sandalwood scent when you grind it on the ink stone and mix with water. I stopped doing sumi-e only because I ran out of the rice paper that I was doing it on. I was in the South Side and ran into an art store recently and bought a whole roll. Do you think I should take it back up?

Willow Tree

Plum (apricot) tree

Shitake Mushroom

Dandelion

Bamboo