Over the last few weeks, I've been enjoying a Japanese calligraphy (shodo) course taught by Ms. Denri Takai. The course covers the materials and methods to write with a brush and ink. Readers of my blog know that I've had a long fascination with Japan so this is something that I'm very interested in from both a cultural and aesthetic point of view.
Like many things, it looks so simple on the outside. And my teacher makes it look effortless (she has been doing it since childhood and is the descendant of Dengo Takai who is a calligrapher from the 1860s). Trying it myself, I can say the challenges seem endless. The movement and shape of the brush, the consistency of the ink, the spacing of the strokes and characters are all separate challenges. Other factors come into place also such as posture and my mental state. There's no going back once the brush touches the paper so it can be intimidating. I'm still a total novice at this, but I've already realized the depth of these challenges. After class, I feel pretty tired because of the concentration required. But it's still a lot of fun and the course integrates other aspects of Japanese culture and language. Many of these principles also apply to watercolor painting so I've been thinking about how watercolor and shodo correlate. Brush control is really the ultimate goal for any form of painting, but the only way to achieve that is with lots of practice. The confidence that my teacher has is a result of training and practice, practice, practice. I feel like students sometimes try to bypass this fact by asking, "what is the secret?" I'm learning a lot with this course and I'll keep studying it on my own after the course. It's really a never-ending journey and the spiritual and artistic crossover is fascinating to me.
0 Comments
Today, I was able to get a final painting session with my self portrait. I like it because it represents a memory of this special time here in Florence. This evening was also our thesis exhibition so we got to see everyone's hard work up in the gallery. I'm moving quickly with this self portrait because time is running short here; in fact, tomorrow will be my final painting session because I need to return the mirror. But it's coming along! I also wanted to share a photo of still life, which is now framed and ready to hang. Our thesis exhibition is tomorrow and I'm excited to see everyone's work hung up in the gallery at FAA!
Today at FAA, I had my thesis defense, which was essentially a final critique of my work from this semester. I received excellent feedback from the teachers and it was a nice experience to hear them respond to my work. I learned a lot over this last semester and feel a stronger sense of my own abilities.
I've also started a self portrait as a final project. I'm sharing two photos here that show the early grisaille and a first stage of paint application. I think that I've got a good likeness and it has an Italian Baroque quality to it (maybe it's the mustache haha). For anyone interested in more process/technique: my approach with this self portrait is heavily based one values and using a limited palette. The FAA approach is a value-based system, which I also emphasize with my own students. I'd say my personal working and teaching philosophy incorporates more of a prismatic palette which is from my early training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA). I'm still essentially using the palette that we used back at PAFA which incorporated chromatic colors and earth colors. Each school has different processes, but the principles are all the same. One of the key lessons at FAA is also to view the work as a whole image. This is practiced through the use of working sight-size. My self portrait is being painted in sight-size which required me to bring the mirror closer and push my easel back a bit. I'd say sight-size is also a good way of getting the initial proportions, which can sometimes be tricky to place on the canvas. As I approach graduation, I feel very grateful that I could spend time in this beautiful city with a great group of people. |
Archives
October 2024
Categories
All
|