About this item
Mindful Artist: Sumi-e Painting teaches you to create your own beautiful, Japanese-inspired ink wash paintings while cultivating a mindful approach to making art. Centuries ago, Buddhist monks used black ink and brushes to practice mindfulness and create gorgeously harmonious works of art called "sumi-e paintings." The popularity of sumi-e, or ink wash painting, continues to this day. Mindfulness remains an essential element of sumi-e painting, allowing artists to focus on their surroundings, live in the moment, and feel present - thereby reducing their stress. Walter Foster's new Mindful Artist series encourages you to enjoy working in your favorite media to create art from a reflective point of view - an inspiring, relaxing experience that emphasizes the creative process, rather than the end result. These books are designed to help you move past creative obstacles, like a perfectionist attitude toward making art or self-defeating concerns about your personal talent and abilities. These guides will not only help you stay mindful throughout the process, but also to find personal meaning in the artwork you create.Mindful Artist: Sumi-e Painting opens with an introduction explaining the links between mindfulness and sumi-e and how they enhance one another. Sections on "The Four Treasures," as the tools needed for sumi-e painting are called; brushstrokes and painting techniques; and "The Four Gentlemen," or the most common subjects in sumi-e painting, ensure that you have a solid background before getting started on the simple, approachable step-by-step painting projects. Throughout the book you can find stunning full-page artwork, tips for remaining mindful while you work, creative prompts and exercises, inspirational ideas, and suggestions on how to add color to black ink pieces. Learn to practice mindfulness while you master the popular art of ink wash painting with this inspiring and supportive guide.
About the Author
Born in Washington, DC of British parents, Virginia Lloyd-Davies grew up in Britain and France. In the seventies, she moved to New York City where she studied sumi-e and mindfulness and first learned the connection between gesture, energy and meditation. She painted in black ink for ten years until she became apprenticed to I-Hsiung Ju, master Chinese brush painter. She accompanied Professor Ju on many trips to China and Taiwan, where she studied with master painters and demonstrated and exhibited her paintings. For six years she was on the staff at the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland as the community's publicity director, where she also taught workshops in sumi-e, frequently pairing it with sessions in Sacred Dance and Zen meditation. Her YouTube channel of Asian painting demonstrations (www.YouTube.com/virginiald) has topped four million views. Her website www.joyfulbrush.com features her flower, bird and landscape paintings and many mini-tutorials on her blog. She welcomes questions and suggestions for new blog posts. Her trademark is Joyful Brush®. Because she has studied both sumi-e and Chinese brush art and travelled extensively in Europe and Asia, her personal style is an amalgam of those experiences. Asian painting is all about painting the energy of the moment, and that includes the artist's life and emotions. As a dancer and singer, the artist is frequently struck by the relationship of rhythm and melody in the execution of the brush stroke.The artist lives in the USA, in the State of Virginia with her husband Dennis DiVito.