Part 3 (1/2)
The artists of the Tosa school used a paper various kinds called _tori no ko,_ into the composition of which egg-sh.e.l.ls entered. This paper was a special product of Ichi Zen.
The Kano artists used both _tori no ko_ and a paper made from the mulberry plant, also a product of Ichi Zen, and known as _hosho._ For ordinary tracing a paper called TENGU JO is used. In Okyo's time, Chinese paper made from rice-plant leaves came into vogue. It is manufactured in large sheets and is called TOs.h.i.+. It is a light straw color, and is very responsive to the brush stroke, except when it ”catches cold,” as the j.a.panese say. It should be kept in a dry place.
The Tosa artists used paper almost to the exclusion of silk. The Kano school largely employed silk for their paintings. Okyo also usually painted on silk.
j.a.panese artists seldom outline their work. In painting on silk, a rough sketch in _sumi_ is sometimes placed under the silk for guidance.
Outlining on paper is done with straight willow twigs of charcoal, called _yaki sumi,_ easily erased by brus.h.i.+ng with a feather.
There are strict, and when once understood, reasonable and helpful laws for the use of the brush (YOHITSU), the use of _sumi_ (YOBOKU) and the use of water-colors (SESSHOKU). These laws reach from what seems merely the mechanics of painting into the highest ethics of j.a.panese art.
The law of YO HITSU requires a free and skilful handling of the brush, always with strict attention to the stroke, whether dot, line or ma.s.s is to be made; the brush must not touch the silk or paper before reflection has determined what the stroke or dot is to express. Neither negligence nor indifference is tolerated.
An artist, be he ever so skilful, is cautioned not to feel entirely satisfied with his use of the brush, as it is never perfect and is always susceptible of improvement. The brush is the handmaid of the artist's soul and must be responsive to his inspiration. The student is warned to be as much on his guard against carelessness when handling the brush as if he were a swordsman standing ready to attack his enemy or to defend his own life; and this is the reason: Everything in art conspires to prevent success. The softness of the brush requires the stroke to be light and rapid and the touch delicate. The brush, when dipped first into the water, may absorb too much or not enough, and the _sumi_ or ink taken on the brush may blot or refuse to spread or flow upon the material, or it may spread in the wrong direction. The Chinese paper (TOs.h.i.+) which is employed in ordinary art work may be so affected by the atmosphere as to refuse to respond, and the brush stroke must be regulated accordingly.
All such matters have to be considered when the brush is being used, and if the spirit of the artist be not alert, the result is failure. (IT TEN ICHI BOKU _ni_ CHIU _o su beki.)_
Vehicle of the subtle sentiment to be expressed in form, the brush must be so fas.h.i.+oned as to receive and transmit the vibrations of the artist's inner self. Much care, much thought and skill have been expended in the manufacture of the brush.
In China, the art of writing preceded painting, and the first brushes made were writing brushes, and the more writing developed into a wonderful art, the more attention was bestowed upon the materials composing the writing brush. Such brushes were originally made with rabbit hair, round which was wrapped the hair of deer and sheep, and the handles were mulberry stems. Later on, as Chinese characters became more complex and writing more scientific, the brushes were most carefully made of fox and rabbit hair, with handles of ivory, and they were kept in gold and jeweled boxes.
Officials were enjoined to write all public doc.u.ments with brushes having red lacquer handles, red being a positive or male (YO) color. Ogis.h.i.+, the greatest of the Chinese writers, used for his brushes the feelers from around the rat's nose and hairs taken from the beak of the kingfisher.
In j.a.pan, hair of the deer, badger, rabbit, sheep, squirrel, and wild horse all enter into the manufacture of the artist's brush, which is made to order, long or short, soft or strong, stiff or pliable. For laying on color, the hair of the badger is preferred. The sizes and shapes of brushes used differ according to the subject to be painted. There are brushes for flowers and birds, human beings, landscapes, lines of the garments, lines of the face, for laying on color, for shading, et cetera.
A distinguis.h.i.+ng feature in j.a.panese painting is the strength of the brush stroke, technically called _fude no chikara_ or _fude no ikioi._ When representing an object suggesting strength, such, for instance, as a rocky cliff, the beak or talons of a bird, the tiger's claws, or the limbs and branches of a tree, the moment the brush is applied the sentiment of strength must be invoked and felt throughout the artist's system and imparted through his arm and hand to the brush, and so transmitted into the object painted; and this nervous current must be continuous and of equal intensity while the work proceeds. If the tree's limbs or branches in a painting by a Kano artist be examined, it will astonish any one to perceive the vital force that has been infused into them. Even the smallest twigs appear filled with the power of growth-all the result of _fude no chikara._ Indeed, when this principle is understood, and in the light of it the trees of many of the Italian and French artists are critically viewed, they appear flabby, lifeless, and as though they had been done with a feather. They lack that vigor which is attained only by _fude no chikara,_ or brush strength.
In writing Chinese characters in the REI SHO manner this same principle is carefully inculcated. The characters must be executed with the feeling of their being carved on stone or engraved on steel-such must be the force transmitted through the arm and hand to the brush. Thus executed the writings seem imbued with living strength.
It is related of Chinanpin, the great Chinese painter, that an art student having applied to him for instruction, he painted an orchid plant and told the student to copy it. The student did so to his own satisfaction, but the master told him he was far away from what was most essential. Again and again, during several months, the orchid was reproduced, each time an improvement on the previous effort, but never meeting with the master's approval. Finally Chinanpin explained as follows: The long, blade-like leaves of the orchid may droop toward the earth but they all long to point to the sky, and this tendency is called cloud-longing (BO UN) in art.
When, therefore, the tip of the long slender leaf is reached by the brush the artist must feel that the same is longing to point to the clouds.
Thus painted, the true spirit and living force _(kokoromochi)_ of the plant are preserved.
Kubota recommended to art students and artists to a practice with lines which is excellent for acquiring and retaining firmness and freedom of the arm, with steady and continuous strength in the stroke. With a brush held strictly perpendicular to the paper horizontal lines are painted, first from right to left, the entire width of the TOs.h.i.+ or other paper, each line with equal thickness and unwavering intensity of power throughout its entire length. The thickness of the line will depend upon the amount of hair in the brush that is allowed to touch the paper; if only the tip of the brush be used, the line will be slender or thin; but, whether a broad band or a delicate tracing, it must be uniform throughout and filled with living force. Next, the lines are painted from left to right in the same way and with the same close attention to uniform thickness and continuous flow of nervous strength from start to finish. Then, the increasingly difficult task is to paint them from top to bottom of the TOs.h.i.+, and finally, most difficult and most important of all these exercises, the parallel lines are traced from bottom to top of the paper. The thinner the line the more difficult it is to execute, because of the tendency of the hand to tremble. Indeed, the difficulty is supreme. Let any one who is interested try this; it is an exercise for the most expert. Such lines resemble the _sons files_ on the violin, where a continuous sustained tone of equal intensity is produced by drawing the bow from heel to tip so slowly over the strings that it hardly moves. Practicing lines in the way indicated gives steadiness and strength, qualities in demand at every instant in j.a.panese art. Observe a j.a.panese artist paint the young branch of a plum tree shooting from the trunk. The new year's growth starting, it may be, from the bottom of the TOs.h.i.+ will be projected to the top.
Examine it carefully and it will be found to conform to that principle of _jude no chikara_ which transfers a living force into the branch. I have seen European artists in j.a.pan vainly try offhand to produce such effects; but these depend on long and patient practice.
A j.a.panese artist will frequently ignore the boundaries of the paper upon which he paints by beginning his stroke upon the MOSEN and continuing it upon the paper-or beginning it upon the paper and projecting it upon the MOSEN. This produces the sentiment or impression of great strength of stroke. It animates the work. And in this energetic kind of painting, if drops of _sumi_ accidentally fall from the brush upon the painting they are regarded as giving additional energy to it. Similarly, if the stroke on the trunk or branch of a tree shows many thin hair lines where the intention was that the line should be solid, this also is regarded as an additional evidence of stroke energy and is always highly prized.
The same principle applies in the art of Chinese writing; but this effect must not be the result of calculation-it must be what in art is called s.h.i.+ ZEN, meaning spontaneous.
In painting the hair of monkeys, bears and the like, the pointed brush is flattened and spread out _(wari fude)_ so that each stroke of the same will reproduce numberless thin lines, corresponding to the hairs of the animal. Sosen thus painted. In modern times Kimpo _(Plate V)_ is justly renowned for such work.
Many artists become wonderfully expert in the use of the flat brush, from one to four inches wide, called _hake,_ by means of which instantaneous effects such as rain, rocks, mountain chains and snow scenes are secured.
Some artists acquire a special reputation for skill in the use of the _hake._
The brush should be often and thoroughly rinsed during the time that it is used and washed and dried when not employed. In Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo there are famous manufacturers of artists' brushes, and names of makers such as Nis.h.i.+mura, Sugiyama, Hakkado, Onkyodo and Kiukyodo are familiar to all the artists of the country.
The use of _sumi_ (YOBOKU) is the really distinguis.h.i.+ng feature of j.a.panese painting. Not only is this black color _(sumi)_ used in all water color work, but it is frequently the only color employed; and a painting thus executed, according to the laws of j.a.panese art, is called _sumi e_ and is regarded as the highest test of the artist's skill.