Tree Studies

A series of tree studies done on newsprint from Sadami Yamada.

New York

Another painting practice from Sadami Yamada .

Stream

This painting was a practice landscape from Sadami Yamada's Complete Sumi-e Techniques.

Goldfish

I did the line work on the fish and the Hydrilla weed first. After the line work dried, I colored the fish.

Goldfish

I did this painting as a warm-up for painting goldfish.

Mountain

The massive mountain is contrasted with the man and his dog in the foreground.

Puppy

I tried to give the puppy the fuzzy look of puppy fur.

Goldfish

The background effect of the bubbles was created by applying table salt to the rice paper while the paper was still wet and then adding drops of water to the salt crystals on the paper.

Rose

I painted this rose about a year ago. I also stretched the painting. The stretching flattens and smooths out the painting; but caused the flash from my camera to reflect off of the painting.

Apricot

Our apricot tree usually blooms in early February. I tried to catch the feel of popcorn like blossoms on a wintry day.

Clouds

This cloud study was painted on a rainy day. The large cumulus clouds sailed across the sky like large galleons.

Morning Glories

This painting was not a sumi-e, but a watercolor I did about a year ago from a photgraph.

Morning Glories

My Japanese brush teacher thought this was the best of the several morning glory painting I did.

Morning Glories

Another morning glory study in just black sumi-e ink. I got disoriented and stamped the chop at an angle.

Morning Glories

My Japanese brush instructor was concerned about the composition of this painting. He felt that the crossing of the bamboo sticks in the middle of the painting did not create enough asymmetry.

Morning Glories

Morning glories are perennial plants in frost-free areas and in colder climates are annual plants.

Tortoise

A Tortoise is a land-dwelling reptile. Generally, a turtle lives a good part of its life in the water and a tortoise lives on land.

Glen Aulin Falls

Adjacent to the Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp is one of the many waterfalls on the Tuolumne River. The water drops over fifty feet into a large pool.

Bok Choy

Bok choy is also known as Chinese cabbage. The white stalks are like celery without the stringiness and the green leaves are similar to Romaine lettuce.

Thistle

This second thistle was painted with just sumi-e ink. The Japanese sumi-e painters believe that black is the king of all colors and if properly applied will allow the viewer to see colors where none exist.

Thistle

The thistle is the national flower of Scotland and is found in many Scottish symbols.

Iris

A flower bed in our backyard produces marvelous irises each spring. This flower bed also produces narcissuses and freesias as well.

Yellow Bougainvillea

The Bougainvillea was originally discovered in Brazil by a French Botanist, Philibert Commercon; but the plant was named after the French admiral that led the expedition, Louis Antoine de Bougainville.

Big Carp

Fish are one of those items of everyday life, that when you you look at them more closely you realize that they have many strange and wonderful details.

Carp

Fish are a wonderful subject for sumi-e painting. The fluid motions of fish adapt well with the fluid nature of sumi-e.