Sumi-e camellias

What a delight to sit down and enjoy some Sumi-e after so long. Being back in Tokyo one of the first things I had to do besides visit the Sogetsu school to organise some lesson was to contact my Sumi-e Sensei, Ilan Yanizky for some lessons.

After a non-stop research tour for my pending February 2020 Winter Wonder Tour, I found myself almost but not quite burnt out. I always have the energy to enjoy my artwork and attending Ilan’s class was like taking a wonder drug. All of a sudden things took a calming approach maybe because of the quiet surrounds, maybe because of the hypnotic action of making sumi-e or just being in a relaxing space.

Rather ‘rusty’ with the brush – holding it far too firmly, shoulders tense but few deep breaths shoulders relaxed and the brush ‘hovering’ in my finger tips I soon started to feel the flow of the strokes. I do have an additional challenge being left handed so to follow the sequence of strokes I need to do it reversed – much to the amusement of the other students who can not believe I paint ‘backwards’

I look forward to my next lesson in a week or so when I will share my next project with you