The Sumi-E Book
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The Sumi-E Book

The Sumi-E Book
(Larger Image)

The Sumi-E Book

by Yolanda Mayhall
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Watson-Guptill (1989-08-01)
ISBN: 082305022X
EAN: 9780823050222
Dewy Decimal #: 751.4252
Paperback: 128 pages
SKU: 080608007
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: This copy is in excellent condition. No visible markings, highlights, underlining, tears to text. Tight spine. No Dust Jacket. Clean Soft Cover with light/minimum, shelf/edge wear. Great copy in mastering the art of Japanese ink painting, worth having at an affordable price. (K3-106)


Editorial Reviews


Product Description
Sumi-e, translated from Japanese as "ink picture," is an ideal vehicle for teaching art to any beginner. This introduction to Sumi-e is organized simply and clearly around its four basic brush strokes. 120 illustrations.


Customer Reviews


The next best thing to a brush painting instructor!
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-08-17

2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful


Calligraphy and brush painting are not easy to learn WITH an instructor; learning from a book is daunting at best. Yolanda Mayhall's book is as close to having an instructor as any I have found - and I have tried many books. Her style is informative without being pedantic, guiding gently without drifting into boredom.

If you take nothing else away from reading her book, you will realize that art is not "taught", it must be appreciated, understood, to be learned. Like a foreign language, sumi-e demands inspection and appreciation before you can begin to replicate it! Even those who can read printed Japanese will have difficulty understanding how the strokes are created. Those impoverished by a lifetime of penmanship will find the basics of "brushmanship" as foreign as Japanese language!

Never fear! This book will lead you gently through the process. From preparing ink to holding the brush to creating those first tentative strokes, this teacher is at your side. She will guide you through the strokes of the "four gentlemen" at the core of brush art. Bamboo leaves will give way to the orchids, birds, mountains and waterfalls all illustrated s0 beautifully in her book.

Remember that brushwork requires practice. I have used many a fat Sunday newspaper as an inexpensive substitute for rice paper (a point worth remembering to all the "grasshoppers" out there). Practice makes perfect. Yolanda will inspire you to practice and lead you through the levels until you could paint bamboo in your sleep! I have yet to find a live teacher who can inspire me to improve my brushstrokes like Yolanda can in her book.


Sumi-E Book
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-01-15

1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful


If you are new to Japanese brush art work and want to learn the technique, this is the book to start with!


Not a beginners book
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-01-05

4 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful


If you're a beginning Sumi-e painter you might want to wait on purchasing this book until you're more comfortable with the basics of brush loading and color gradiation.

This book tends to avoid going into detail about the intricacies of brush loading and the importance of your paper quality and it's absorbency.

If you are a beginner looking for a solid book that explains in alot more detail the four gentlemen and the importance of your brushes quality and methods for loading the brush, buy "Japanese Ink Painting: Beginner's Guide to Sumi-E" (Paperback) by Susan Frame. It's a marvelous book with alot of great examples and step by step instruction as well as some history and excercises you can do to become more comfortable with your brushes.


Easy-to-read beginners guide with lots of examples
Rating (5)
Date: 2006-07-02

2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful


Personally I am also interested in using colour in my sumi-e works, this guide only has black and white. But the images are just beautiful. Hope I reach that level soon!


Sumi-E--A good place to start
Rating (5)
Date: 2006-06-28

5 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful


After exactly two lessons in watercolor and an appetite to learn more precise brush strokes I purchased Sumi-E. I immediately was able to make headway using the carefully written examples shown in this lovely book even without purchasing the precise Japanese brushes. I highly recommend it.

Retail Price: $19.95
Our Price:$10.00
That's 50% Off!