Materials List
Sumi-e with Roslyn Levin
Recommended: “The Brush Dances” by Roslyn Levin, SCA.
A small jar for water (about 1⁄2 cup)
A white saucer or flat plate such as that used with a tea cup
2 small paperweights -small rocks or chopstick stands are appropriate
A washcloth to be used to remove excess ink – it will not be useful for anything else afterwards
A second small jar if you wish to incorporate colour
Watercolours, if you wish to use them
White Felt approximately 18”x18” or 20”x20”
From the art supply stores or Fabricland
1 sumi-e brush with hair about 1.25” long and a base about 1/4” wide
Goat hair, horse hair or wolf are appropriate
Washi or rice paper
It is best to get either the package of 40 sheets, or the roll in the cardboard tube
Both available at Maggiolly Art
1 inkstone
1 inkstick – note that the liquid ink is not appropriate
Roslyn Levin shares her than 40 years experience painting and teaching in sumi-e with easily followed detailed descriptions.
In this art form one moves with grace, strength, flexibility and balance.
The artist is challenged to create paintings of simplicity and eloquence.
Learn more brush control and sensitivity, to gain a strength in your brushwork.
Learning the importance of white space and understanding the value of simplifying subjects will influence students' approach to all art forms.
Beginners first learn basic brushstrokes, then embark on a journey of exploration.
Using one's own energy/chi/ki/qi and the simple tools of brush, rice paper, inkstick, and inkstone, learn to control your brush with strength and sensitivity.
This new way to handle a brush is applicable to any other medium you might choose.
Practice the Body, Breath and Brush method of painting to depict the essence of what you are trying to portray with as few brushstrokes as possible, simply and elegantly, but with strength in each line or shade.
Sumi-e is a mindfulness meditation.
It is a metaphor for our journey through life, a way to grow spiritually, one brushstroke at a time.