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ArtBrush comprehensive Sets - curated by Talia - Made in Japan Traveller Set Celedon Set Blue & White Set U.K. Sources - Recommended for beginners - Affiliate with Jackson’s Art Supply PAPER Papaer Pads 30x40cm 20 sheets Paper Pads 24x32cm 20 sheets INK Liquid Bottled Ink 180 ml Liquid Bottled Ink 60ml If you want to grind your own ink - Ink Stone Ink Stick BRUSHES Medium Size Brush Medium Size Brush BOX SET - Made in Japan. Ink stick, ink stone, single fine brush, water dropper in a beautiful box. You will still need another large or medium brush to add to your painting set. OTHER TOOLS FOR YOUR SET Ceramic Flower - For mixing colours Brush Rest Brush Mat - fudemaki - to keep safe and well your brushes WATAERCOLOUR Watercolour Set of 12 Colours Watercolour Set of 18 Colours Watercolour Set of 24 Colours Other U.K. Suppliers Cornelissen & Son 105 Great Russell St., London WC1B 3RY Chinese and Japanese ink, paper, watercolour, and brushes. One of the oldest artist supplier tools and materials in London. It is an experience to walk into it, but bear in mind the Japanese tool set has been imported from Japan and will be expensive. John Purcell Paper - 15 Rumsey Rd., London SW9 0TR You can request free catalogue samples Guangwa - 112 Shaftesbury Ave., London W1D 5EJ Mainly Chinese but some Japanese supply of paper, brushes, colours and books. U.S. Sources - Recommended for beginners - Affiliate with BLICK PAPER Newsprint for Practice Japanese Practice Paper - Sketch pad 48 sheets Hanshi paper - Loose sheets 24 x 33 cm Pads - 24 x 32 cm 20 sheets Pads - 30.5 x 40.5 cm 20 sheets Paper Roll - 20 x 50cm length Individual sheets Okawara - Sized paper 30.5 x 40 cm Awagami Mingeishi - 63.5 x 94 cm Mulberry - 63.5 x 85 cm INK Liquid Bottled Ink If you want to grind your own ink - Ink Stone Ink Stick BEGINNERS BRUSHES Large and Medium sizes Yasutomo Bamboo Brush - Size 6 Yasutomo Bamboo Brush - Size 6 Yasutomo Bamboo Brush - Size 5 Yasutomo Bamboo Brush - Size 4 Yasutomo Bamboo Brush - Size 3 Detail Fine Brushes Yasutomo Bamboo Sumi Brush - Size 2 Yasutomo Bamboo Sumi Brush - Size 1 Yasutomo Bamboo Sumi Brush - Size 0 OTHER TOOLS FOR YOUR SET Ceramic Flower For mixing colours Brush Mat - fudemaki - Keep brushes safe and dry Brush Mat - With sleeves Brush Rest - White brush rest for six brushes Watercolour - Set of 12 Watercolour -Set of 18 Watercolour - Set of 24 Metallic Shades - Set of 6 Japan sources Awagami factory - Japanese paper of vast choice (free sampled catalogue) Pigment Tokyo- Selection of inks, pigments and brushes with English support Hanashiya - Online via Rakuten platform BRUSHES Large Brush Large Brush Medium Brush Fine Brush Kaiseidou - Online via Rakuten platform Ink Stone Ink Stick Liquid ink Weight Paper Economy Set of large and medium brushes Water Dropper Water Dropper Water Dropper Brush Rests Brush Rests

How to Look at Japanese Art Series A Crab Woodblock Print How to better appreciate Japanese art? In particular, lets explore the meaning of the crab in this 18th C. Japanese print. These kind of fine quality Japanese prints, known as surimono, were often made for festive occasions such as the New Year. They were usually commissioned by a poet or a poetry group and privately published. Although their subject matter may seem common, these prints are full of hidden meaning and subtle imaginative ideas, woven between the poem and image. Nature and its patterns When looking at the arts of Japan, flora and fauna were always integrated as part of its visual world. Their very essence quality iconography was used in conjunction with giving expression to notions, thoughts, and beliefs of a culture dependant on its visual language as communication connecting network. The composition representation of Japanese painted art, like in its poetry, seems to always be located in a particular span of time. Artists use of coded imagery as a specific set of vocabulary facilitated the expression of the transitory state of time. Observation of natural rhythms and planetary patterns is a key feature in the Japanese relation to the natural world and its phenomena and how it evolved in the painted art. In particular, the way animal behaviour reacts in specific time and responding to the changing nature of time. Be it ebb and flow, change of temperature and humidity, light and dark, as well as the magnitude of the changing seasons. This aspect of time flow, reveals to us the very essence character of the art work. The crab A particular interesting aspect of behaviour in the natural world is that of heralding time of phenomena not yet occurred. The crab (kani 蟹) comes out at the ebb of the tide, especially when the morning sun rise or the evening sun set. It waits on the water edge to feed, enjoying the early or late soft rays of light. The etymology of its name kan-i means both ‘court rank’ as well as ’bravery’, which indeed he is, in heralding dawn and dusk and in reacting with the water cycle and the ebb of tide. The crab knows to follow the ocean’s rhythm and the day and night cycle. The art of surimono This woodblock print, known as surimono - to mean ‘printed things’, is a limited edition and privately commissioned print, made for special occasions and times of the year. In particular surimono were designed as original gift cards for the New Year. The art of surimono was developed during the 18th century by top artists, usually commissioned by a poet or a poetry group. It was designed with subtle details, high quality paper and pigments, and refined technique of printing. Artist Utagawa Kunisada (1786 – 1865) was one of the most prolific woodblock print artist of the 19th C., with over 20,000 designs he has created during his lifetime. In this fine print by him, a giant crab is depicted from above, crossing the soft sand unto the water. Two poems are placed at the top part, with Kunisada beautiful designed round, red seal on the bottom right. Calligraphic poetry The two poems are placed carefully above the crab, as if coming out of the blue water. They are so well engraved that one may confuse them with calligraphy brush strokes. The first poem by Bunsō Takemasa on the right reads: 'The warbler sings to the moon and stars at Susaki Bay as the sun rises auspiciously at the dawn of spring.' The second poem is by Kubo Yasujūrō (1780-1837) , one of the many poets who came from samurai family and of the first to make a living out of the kyōka poetry, by holding competition and compiling anthologies of amateur kyōka poetry: 'Morning arrives in a sea of mist the giant crab crawls ever more slowly as the day goes by.' Both poems indicate the season and hour, describing Susaki Bay on the outskirts of Edo, which was a traditional place for gathering shells and seeing the first sunrise of the year over the sea. Time in poetry and painting was represented often with relation to a specific place, in defining not only the moment but also the emotional mood caused by that place and hour. In conclusion And so, a crab is not just a crab, it is part of the great clock of the natural world and was carefully chosen to be depicted here in this print. Although only one single crab is painted, its image alongside the calligraphic poetry, reveal to us, if only in our imagination, a whole landscape of the disappearing night time with its moon and stars, and the coming of the first New Year sunrise by the silver blue seashore. More on painting crabs - Learn how to paint crabs (and shrimps) with Japanese ink and brush in this easy step-by-step tutorial - HERE Sign up now for a one-time payment of £65 > You are welcome to download and/or print this article. Here is a pdf. copy for you. Enjoy the read.

Chrysanthemum by the Stream From Jackuchū to Murakami This hanging scroll of chrysanthemums by the stream was painted by Itō Jackuchū (1716 – 1800), one of Japan's most ingenious artists of the 18th Century. He is presenting an ethereal range of chrysanthemums flowers by a stream that seem to grow out of an old ragged trunk covered with moss. Four little song birds can be discovered as one observes the painting, adding sound to the flowers fragrance and the movement of the water. And suddenly, our senses are fully engaged within this scene. It is part of a series of thirty scrolls painted by Jackuchū over a decade, known as 'The colourful realm of living beings' (dōshoku sai-e) , created around 1765 when the artist was in his fifties. This painting, on silk, is a wonderful demonstration of the artist versatility in mastership the way of ink . On the whole, it may seems like a traditional theme, but on a deeper observation, you may begin to find the work reveals itself as almost abstract, and does not really make 'sense', in the logical way. For example, the white flowers at the top could not really, physically, be held by its fine dark branch. And the background river, itself designed as three shades of decorative patterned ink, is really only reminiscence notes on the flow of water. This abstract format and the realistic images somehow come together to make sense in our imagination. Itō jackucho (1716-1800) Jackuchū is one of the most prolific artists of Japan. He is loved and revered by the Japanese, and his unique style does not fall really into any school of practice. That is why he is often relates to as one of the 'eccentric' artists of the 18th Century. And yet, one can challenge the notion of eccentricity. As it can only be related to, if there is a 'norm' to be eccentric in contrast to. His extraordinary mastership of the brush demonstrate both strength and finesse. Manipulating the brush and ink in creating beautiful original compositions. A true pathfinder of the art of ink painting. Born to a wealthy family of fruits and vegetables merchants in Kyoto, Jackuchū, as the eldest son had to handle the business for the first part of his life. Although he painted throughout that time and was already well known, he has began his first most ambitious work when he was forty two and well into his fifties, creating the series of thirty large hanging scrolls of which this painting of chrysanthemum is part of. Jackuchū was a devoted buddhist, follower of Zen. His work range from the most wild abstract like images, such as, his well known cranes and roosters, to the refined detailed of buddhas images and the natural world around us. From seashells to landscape, from flora to fauna, his work essentially carry a deep sense of the buddhist belief in the universal unity of all things. The chrysanthemum The chrysanthemum is one of the four main subject to be mastered by the ink practitioner, known as the 'four noble ones'. It has a history within ink painting tradition which originated in ancient China. It is said that when an artist can master painting the leaves of the chrysanthemum, they can paint anything at all. In the two chrysanthemum painting here, we can see Jackuchū mastership of the two main schools of ink practice. Both line strokes of the flowers, on the left scroll, as well as the free brush stroke as seen on the flower on the right. Playful, detailed and ingenious, shifting our perception from the known to the imaginary (no flower grows in this fashion really), he is working the narrow space of the scroll format to its uttermost. The flower represent the season of autumn, the air is getting colder, time to prepare for the harsh season ahead. Chrysanthemum painted by the stream, carry a reference to deep healing, strength and longevity. It was told of a hidden water stream, in a small village in Japan, which had chrysanthemum flowers growing alongside it. The petals would fall into the water, and it was believed that they transformed the quality of the water so that those who drank it lived well for many, many, long years. We can find three styles of Jackuchū chrysanthemum painted here. Using white for the largest flowers, with a hint of green in the centre. Jackuchū only paint the edge of the white petals, creating an illusion of a whole flower. He then uses the same white with a hint of green to creates a smaller flower, adding orange red to define its contour edges. And in the third design, he picks the orange-red to create yet another type of chrysanthemum using the two painting styles of lines and washes together. Dream world Jackucū's creates a unique dream world and invites us to dwell in it. If you look carefully you begin to unravel the way he does it. We actually view the painting from multiple view points. To begin with, we view the stream from a bird's view, and the flowers from a side view. Oh, but then, some flowers are seen from above, as well as below, and from the front flower as well as the back, revealing all sides of the flowers as well as the sculpted trunk. We are not outside this dream world, we are inside it. The stream runs in a beautiful silhouette of a wave. It goes from the top of the paintings down the bottom of it. The stem of the chrysanthemum does the same movement, but mirror the stream. Together they make an eternity like sign. The dark trunk with its radiating malachite green, repeats yet again the wave shape, bringing it to a pause at the bottom centre, where we find a little bird. The artist invites us to look more carefully and find the song bird, and then another and another, like the very hidden soul of the pain ting. Each bird, glance to a different directions as if to make sure it covers the whole universe of the artwork. With this unique style of his, using no western vanishing point or shadows of any kind, Jackuchū creates depth and layers to the work as a whole. His dream world is alive and vibrant. Takashi Murakami chrysanthemum by the stream This circular print 'jumped' at me when visiting by chance an auction house in London many years ago. It was hang amongst a mix of contemporary western prints, and was clearly very different. At the time, I did not know the artist, however, I did recognised the theme of chrysanthemum by the stream. As the only bidder, on a rainy London day, I was delighted to walk home with it and hang it on the wall amongst my own artwork collection, only to discover later on it was actually the work of contemporary Japanese artist, Takashi Murakami. Born in 1962, Takashi Murakami is one of the most well known contemporary Japanese artist of today. In keeping with the Japanese ink painting tradition of following the footprints of masters of the past, Murakami has taken up Jackuchū theme of chrysanthemum by the stream, giving it his own unique signature interpretation. Using the latest print technology of colour and gold, and a good amount of humour with his flower faces, His skilful executed print echo the theme of Jackuchū's, exploring it afresh some two hundred years later. In a way, like the longevity essence nature of the chrysanthemum, both artworks are timeless. Perhaps their reflected atmospheric feeling rises from the same timeless source. Learn More > For an in-depth tutorial on how to paint chrysanthemum, using Japanese ink and water colours painting join ArtBrush online lesson. Sign up for a one-time payment of £65 > > and for the complete foundation course tutorial 'The Four Noble Ones' , which includes the chrysanthemum lesson, you are invited to join ArtBrush Foundation course Sign up for a one-time payment of £220 > > For other individual painting tutorials check ArtBrush Online HERE > For other essays and writing by Talia check out ArtBrush Library Sign up for a one-time payment of £55 > Images details * Chrysanthemum by the stream - hanging scroll / ink and colour on silk / 142.8 x 79.1 cm / ca.1766 age 51 / Sannomaru Shōzō-kan Museum, Imperial Household Agency, Japan * Portrait of Ito Jackuchū - by Kubota Beisen (1852-1906) / colour on silk / 55 x 35 cm/ Shōkokuji, Kyoto * Two chrysanthemum (from a set of three) - hanging scroll / ink on silk / 94.3 x 32.3 each / Kyoto national museum

A secret about being an artist Notes to self on the artistic journey Being an artist is not about some kind of a chaotic state, it is about an internal order that makes very clear sense. It is creating light from within by understanding the greatness that is possible. Being a student of the arts, means that we are interested in beauty, aesthetic, shades of light, proportion and glorious images that enhance and graces our being. And whilst practicing our skills, the big secret is, that we are learning this about the way WE are. About what moves and makes us who we are. By practicing art, we are exercising these very spaces in our being. Allowing our lives to glow a little more, with the feeling of beauty, finesse and powerful serenity. And so, even if for a short while, WE become part of it. And so it is not the art that is the journey, it is our own life that is the journey. When asked once, what is the difference between being a professional artist and an amateur one... well, I could say, it is to do with making a living out of ones art, or if you exhibit or show your art, or if it is a full time occupation. As much as all this is true, within the persona of what being an artist is, on a deeper level, any one who is touched by the creative mode, is an artist for that time. It can be in the way that we articulate and put our words together, which is the same way as blending ink on the palette. Or it can be in the way we look at another person and make it count, or not. The way we make a single brush stroke on paper count, or not. So really, when you are practicing art, you are the artist of your life, no less. It really is so, whatever shape and form you choose to do it with. The secret is, that it is within this glory of the moment that we are the power of what can happen, we harness our lives to make sense of it. To make it beautiful, to make it a useful struggle. To make it poetic, and romantic, and fantastic. To overcome the fear of non relevant, non important, or not good enough, or impressive enough. Once this bridge is crossed, over and over again, it is the art of living well that is celebrated in many moments of crossing, and finding new aesthetics to dwell in, to enjoy, to celebrate and to be part of. Once this bridge is crossed, over and over again, it is the art of living well that is celebrated in many moments of crossing, and finding new aesthetics to dwell in, to enjoy, to celebrate and to be part of. Find out More > You can find out more about Talia's art in the GALLERY or connect direct for interior design projects and commissions HERE. > The journey with ink paintings have allowed me the discipline and practice to journey the path of art. You are welcomed to explore highlights of this journey with ArtBrush Online tutorials and ArtBrush Library > For Japanese ink painting foundation course 'The Four Noble Ones' Sign up for a one-time payment of £220 > > For other individual painting tutorials check ArtBrush Online HERE > For further read on Japanese ink and the artistic way you are welcome to check out Talia's NOTEBOOK