Languages News 

Japanese Ink Painting Workshop

Junko sensei, a Japanese Sumi-e (black ink painting) artist and calligrapher hosted workshops for the Japanese students this week. In last year’s calligraphy workshop, we were concerned about line precision. This term’s Sumi-e workshop taught us to pay attention to the brush, rather than the paper. We worked with premade sumi-ink (black ink), horse and weasel hair brushes and mulberry paper.

Mulberry paper is thin but strong due to its long fibres, used for screen doors and lanterns. We were surprised to see how much water the brush could hold- no matter how we dried it, the ink kept bleeding out. Junko sensei also taught us how to create gradations within the brush, giving form and shadow to our bamboo stems. It was interesting to see how different tones could be made on the brush, before applying them to paper.

Junko sensei showed us some of her art, which had both Japanese and Australian elements. In particular, she had painted branches of eucalyptus and pine trees. Seeing a uniquely Australian symbol in Sumi-e was interesting, and Junko sensei’s art clearly reflected her. There was also a painting of Melbourne City, which we recognised as being painted on the side of the Yarra River. We learnt a lot, and we’re excited for Junko sensei’s calligraphy workshop in Term 3! 潤子先生、ありがとうございました。

Carmen Ng - Year 11

Unit 1 Japanese Student