Drawing With The Brush E-Book

Christine Forbes

• Herausgeber: The Crowood Press
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Serie: Small Crafts
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 158

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Draw nature your own, unique way inspired by East Asian artistic traditions. This practical book introduces the art of brush drawing to complete beginners. It explains how to recreate the serene beauty of the natural world, including the Four Noble Plants, with minimal marks. All you need is a brush, ink and paper. Learn about brush drawing through the simple exercises that this book demonstrates and discover a place to 'be' that arises through doing rather than thinking. The brush – explore mark, line and textures Inspiration from nature – draw leaves and flowers, as well as trees and landscapes Practical exercises – be guided through step-by-step instructions Contemplation – find peacefulness through the brush and the process.

Leseprobe

First published in 2023 by The Crowood Press Ltd Ramsbury, Marlborough Wiltshire SN8 2HR

[email protected]

This e-book first published in 2023

© Christine Forbes 2023

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 0 7198 4162 0

Cover design by Sergey Tsvetkov

Note from the author

This book is written from the standpoint of the artist who lives in the UK. Any descriptions or references are the author’s personal overview, drawn from East Asian art and philosophy and from her own experiences of learning and teaching. They are not intended as a comprehensive standpoint on calligraphy or painting.

Acknowledgements

Huge thanks to Robert Stephens; Fleurie Forbes-Martin; Corinne Moore; Clive Hallett; Ian Llewellyn; Natasha Spice. Thanks too to all at Crowood for their advice and guidance in shaping this book.

All the materials in this book were supplied by Seawhite of Brighton.

Contents

PREFACE

1 INTRODUCTION – A NEW APPROACH TO DRAWING

2 MATERIALS

3 AESTHETICS OF SPACE, LINE AND FORM – LOOKING EAST

4 BRUSH HOLDS AND PRACTISING BASIC MARKS

5 SIMPLE PLANTS

6 SKILL BUILDING

7 BOLD LANDSCAPES

8 INTUITIVE WORKING

9 FINISHED STUDIES

CONCLUSION

RESOURCES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

SUPPLIERS

INDEX

Preface

This book is dedicated to Rob and Fleurie.

The inspiration for this book emerged slowly out of a sense of loss of self and from a need to find a balance between something purely visual and a more profound place, an inner voice. I started a journey that was initially a battle of two worlds: the one I grew up with and the one that I have adopted, in my mind and in my life.

It became clear that how a craft could be mastered was going to be a more important creative tool than the viscosity and materiality of paint. Perhaps there were parallels between the sticky paint and my sticky mind! My first language is visual, not linear, so images have more meaning for me than the written word. Chinese and Japanese calligraphy were the catalyst and inspiration that shone a bright light on my drawing experience. Focusing on brush-drawn calligraphy and mark making has allowed me to be ‘in the moment’, allow time to pass as it will and explore new and exciting worlds.

The artist at work.

Brush drawing can help to shape a fluid realm of consciousness that disperses stressful mental states. It is a rare haven left to us in this complex digital age. East Asian philosophies too are profoundly part of this terrain.

Observing the countryside around me and absorbing nature’s ever-changing scenery of sounds and smells creates a rich tapestry for the senses. I’ve tried over the years to immerse myself in this wonderful natural environment and to remind myself that I am part of nature and can express this through drawing.

As a teacher, my students have hugely enabled my learning. They encouraged me to get writing and the result is this book – ten years in the making. Helping others to find their ‘art voice’ has been both challenging and rewarding.

I have not included ‘wash techniques’ that are part of a painter’s vocabulary. Marks, lines and the textures that a brush makes are the language of this book. It is a melting pot of curiosity, persistence, creative thinking and skill building. The drawing exercises on the following pages have been filtered by my students and myself, an ongoing enquiry on ‘how to draw’. We have learnt and laughed together.

Some amazing tutors and artists have helped to install in me both discipline and patience (quite a lot to start with!), but immense freedom has arisen from this.

On the wall in my workroom is a watercolour sketch of a tree that I painted some years ago. It was done in less than five minutes: too quickly to consider exactly how I made it. Do you think I can reproduce the immediacy of this little study? Of course not!

1 - Introduction - A New Approach to Drawing

Drawing with the brush is simple. Anyone can do it, not just artists. It will enable you to tune in to yourself. It has led me away from ‘me’ to a tranquil, fluid place of pure craft. The starting point is easy mark making that leads to brush practice and on to a world of pure intuition and spontaneity, a place where you can just ‘be’. Nature is the perfect subject as it will always offer a sanctuary, because it is real.

Drawing with the brush is about the activity itself rather than ‘what’ you draw. It involves stepping off an assured path into unknown terrain. I call it ‘brush drawing’ because it is both ‘unfinished’ and yet something complete. It is understated yet it requires discipline too. If you can shake off any doubts, it is the most wonderfully fluid place in the world to be.

Doodles and stones. Practice exercises have their own visual rhythm.

Drawing of East Asia

We might refer to drawing of East Asia as ‘calligraphy’ but it is in reality a more mystical exploration of brush usage. The brush has been used for centuries in the East for all forms of communication. The fine marks of calligraphy emerged out of early pictograms and developed into both functional format; the ‘characters’ of language, and something more beautiful – an art form laid down through the artist’s skilled hand. Nature as subject and man’s interaction with it was common ground.

Although this book looks to elements of both calligraphy and painting to capture the essence of brush skill, it is calligraphy that leads the way into the realm of fine art through the exacting use of the brush-drawn line. This traditionally had to be done in the ‘correct’ way. This inheritance from the ancient masters along with their related philosophies included both disciplined and spontaneous brush craft from the earliest dynasties. Paintings and calligraphy from these early times continue to influence artists from all over the world to this day. It is a vast subject that you may wish to explore for yourself.

When I first discovered brush-drawn calligraphy, it was the brushwork skills of the classical Chinese artist that fascinated me. The natural world depicted through the visual aesthetics of line, form and space are held in perfect balance. More recently, it has been contemporary Japanese sumi-e (the art of Japanese brush painting in black ink) that has been my most inspiring guide. It is intuitive and dynamic.

There are two main differences between drawing as most of us understand it in the West, and drawing of the East. The first is different tools: pencil and brush. The second is: drawing in the West has historically been a practical exercise, whereas drawing/calligraphy of the East can be a transformational experience. Drawing universally, though, holds one vital principle: it disregards completion and is always open-ended.

A pencil is held firmly in the hand. The connection of the hand, pencil and paper is easily felt. A ‘pen hold’ of approximately 40 degrees is the norm. A brush sits gently in the hand, the connection to the paper can hardly be felt at all, yet it can be used in many different ways to orchestrate a visual language of fine lines and marks.

This delicate connection between the artist’s brush and the paper allows drawing to become something profound, a realm of personal expression that is available to anyone, at any time. Over the years, my brush has become part of me, not just a tool of art but part of my very existence. This has led me to an open-ended take on life, more in keeping with Buddhist philosophies as I have worked and tried to wring the living out of life through my brushstrokes. Every day is an opportunity to be brave, or as I said to one of my students who wanted to be bolder: find the edge and live on it!

Contemplation

Western culture has strong associations with emotional living and modern life encourages this. This can sometimes lead to negative mental states. The Japanese emphasize the need to be ‘solitary’ sometimes. This is not an emotional place but a self-affirming one. It can be anywhere that has peace and quiet, where we can just ‘be’ and allow gentle reflection.

Brush drawing can become such a place. It will allow you to unveil a pure space to work that is free from desire; a space where you can discover slowly developing skills through regular drawing routines that reward you with delightful studies that will often ‘make themselves’. This is because over time you will be less concerned with ‘making pictures’ as we have been taught to do in the West and move to more contemplative ways of working without worrying about what something looks like. Brush drawing will always speak back to you because just one brush can be turned and swept over the paper in so many different ways. It is a highly visual language that will become entirely unique and intuitive to you alone as you make it.

It is possible to come to a realization that you are someone beyond mere thoughts and emotions; that you are someone of skill who is experiencing through working. Though thoughts may bubble up, they will pass. This is an integral part of East Asian philosophy and of Buddhism. The focus is that of process and brush usage and is just one strand of a very practical learning pathway.

Drawing is always about a beginning, an emergence. It is an active way to stay in the present through ‘doing’ rather than ‘thinking’. This is a very Zen concept, which always holds with the premise of ‘this moment’. This idea, if adopted, can be incredibly freeing.

Starting Out

Brush drawing is a craft that anyone can learn. Patience and practice are all that is required. Ink is permanent so it encourages us to be bold.

So, how can you start? Perhaps you are keen to learn but have little knowledge and are not sure where to begin. I remember, with pencil firmly in hand, drawing the large curls and short, straight lines of the alphabet when I was five. This little memory is still my inspiration. Only now I have a brush in my hand, instead of a pencil.

The brush is the most subtle drawing tool. It aspires in the simplest way to say something. It will teach you how to focus only on what you are doing while building practical skills. Brush drawing has a visual appeal but, far more importantly, it unfolds a profound connection to the artist as they are working.

Start by following these easy, practical exercises that progress through the book. Initially, you will need only one brush, some ink and a pile of paper. Preliminary exercises build confidence through simple lines and shapes. These shapes are then used to create leaves and flowers. Later, these are more fully explored to develop a whole range of plant forms, tree shapes and finally landscapes.

Some exercises are loosely based on traditional East Asian methodologies but many of them are new ideas, honed over time. The following studies assume that the artist is right-handed, so if you are left-handed, please reverse the exercises where necessary.

Only three brushes are used for all the exercises in this book.

European influences such as observational pencil drawing and perspective have always been relevant to the Western artist. On the subject of perspective – a European painting will display a sense of depth, something scenic through the usage of colour and detail. A Chinese painting will have a degree of ‘flatness’, exhibiting more metaphorical interpretations of a scene through textured brushwork and a manipulation of space as a vital aesthetic.

Really looking at a subject and drawing it in pencil will give you more freedom to work with the brush later. This drawing of a rose stem explores leaf shapes, their light and dark tones.

There are many sub-categories and terminologies that are used in Chinese and Japanese painting and calligraphy. It is a vast subject area. I have only touched on those influences that have been relevant to myself and my teaching. The overall approach in this book then is a crossing of cultural boundaries, a fusion of ideas and skills from both East and West.

Regardless of which methodologies first inspired them, the exercises focus on the way brush and ink are used to depict a tree or a flower. Each exercise is best followed as it is laid out in the book, from the start. It may not suit the ‘fast track’ artist. The discipline on which these exercises are based cannot be hurried. Discover instead how to draw directly and simply with lean marks that are not encumbered by the usual elaborations of painting. We look instead to calligraphy’s ‘art of lines’ and how these are put together rather than on colour or something ‘to hang on the wall’. For the artist who is looking for something more decorative, I recommend drawing on watercolour paper.

Complete the exercises in this book as often as you can. This will build your confidence and skill at an even pace, regardless of whether you are new to art, or not. This mix of brush exercises and learning strategies encourages you to discover for yourself how the brush can be employed to render fine lines and freestyle mark making. Over time, you will draw nature’s subjects in your own unique way, with personality and expression.

As your work progresses, you will realize that the repetition of these exercises will find their own rhythm – the arm moving across the paper surface can become a contemplative experience.

Focus only on the task in hand (quite literally!). Enjoy the moment and build your own visual language.

Drawing bamboo leaves at various angles is a great way to explore subtly different hand holds and is excellent for developing your brush skill. Only a little concentration is needed. This subject is covered more fully in Chapter 5.

Nature

When we step away from our busy lives and into the countryside, we can appreciate better the wonder of nature. There is a perpetual rhythm to it, its constant cycles, ever-changing through the seasons. The countryside is a gently reflecting mirror when life is good. It is a place of quiet calm when the rest of our world seems chaotic. Each one of us can become closer to nature by engaging with it and pressing the pause button on our lives for a while. Like life, nature is always untidy! Artwork that emerges from the end of my brush is an attempt to capture this world and honestly reflect my own mental habitat at any point in time.

Perhaps classical East Asian artworks have found inspiration from nature because of its purity. Early Chinese philosophy states that humans should aspire to live well within nature and contribute to its wellbeing. The somewhat elusive philosophy of Taoism is one of the most important. It talks poetically about ‘the natural order of things’ and comments that it is the responsibility of every individual to conduct themselves in accordance with the forces of nature and of the cosmos. Buddhist-based philosophies followed on from these earlier edicts and continue today to be a practical, usable guide to living and being at one within the natural world, of which we are part. It reminds us to be respectful of all living things.

This photograph of a solitary oak shows off its soft autumn canopy, filled with interesting shapes and spaces.

This pencil sketch accents the leaf canopy shapes and the branches growing through the spaces in between.

Nature has many guises. Water is as strong as rock if it freezes. Fire can destroy but its ash nurtures new growth when the fire has passed. Nature’s every essence can be captured by the artist through the purity of brush drawing with dramatic effect. But the brush can also connect gently to the paper, as nature does to the eye.

Drawing all that grows and dies back is an ongoing acceptance of the world as it is at any given moment. Trees and plants are always inspirational as they transform through the seasons. If it is cold or wet, I can draw all year round in my workroom, looking out onto the garden or working from an archive of photos and sketches.

Try and get out in the countryside as often as you can. Really enjoy the fresh air and breathe deeply as you set out. What is the season and (very British) what is the weather? Feel the breeze and the sun on your skin. If you are full of angst at the start of a walk, by the time you have returned you will have a clearer view of things. Walk to the top of a hill or through woodland. Listen to the birds. Pick up some fallen bracken or some interesting leaves. Allow your stress to slip into the wind.

Drawing simple plants will help you step into a natural domain that is pro-active and self-affirming through ‘doing’ instead of thinking. Eventually, through experiencing the countryside directly, you will begin to see an alleviation from any emotional turmoil and start to gain a sense of equilibrium.

Colour

Colour is of primary importance in Western art, so my early perception of East Asian art was of a ‘lack of colour’. In the West, we might call artwork in black ink ‘monochrome’. But in the East black ink on white paper is considered to be something powerful, even spiritual. My earlier opinions were soon replaced with an emerging understanding of the commanding presence of black ink.

For the artist, colour is a powerful visual device for portraying complex subjects that have strong emotional associations, but black ink can connect us to an inner self, beyond emotion. The artist rendering his place in the universe through the purity of black ink on paper is a profound notion.

Initially, work only with black ink and explore all its tones from pale grey to undiluted.

Apart from the use of black ink, there are six colours referred to in this book – brown, blue, green, yellow, pink and red. (The red in a six-pack colour set is often a pinkish tint.) All other tints are premixed from these. These basic colours are readily available from all good art suppliers.

Any colour used by the artist is a secondary consideration to brushwork. Even with two strong colours, the overall aesthetic of these two apples is that of lines and marks and it is these that should hold the eye.