Usagi Hole

How could a performing art, let alone one so beautiful, be dangerous? If you have never researched an element of Japanese culture you might ask yourself that question. But it seems that no art in Japan is isolated from other arts. This makes the study of any Japanese art form a huge “Usagi” hole. That being said dangerous!

In learning Chanoyu you must begin to understand the culture. There is etiquette for the guest based upon the role they are performing at tea; i.e. number one guest, etc. There is etiquette for the host which varies depending on gender. Please note that while the movements of the host vary by gender, sources indicate that women were not allowed to host tea until the mid-1800s. Remember, tea was a samurai art with political connotations.

Prior to sending out the invitation a determination of the occasion and time must be made. Along with this the formality of the tea and whether a full meal will be served as well as tea, or, are you simply serving tea. A full meal can take up to four hours to serve, while a tea will only take approximately an hour. All these decision affect everything moving forward.

The danger and complexity grow with the art display that is setup in the art display in the tokonoma. The host establishes the mood of the tea with this display. It can be either traditional flower arrangement, suiseki, or bonsai. Each is its own individual artform with specialized terminology and specifics on the proper way to display. Each of the aforementioned artforms will have a “kakemono” (scroll) accompanying it in the tokonoma. It would be remiss at this point not to mention that each artform has its own school that changes everything you thought you knew. It should also be pointed out that each element should correspond in style, taste, formality, etc. with the other items on display. Remember that the first thing each guest will do once in the tearoom is to access this display and ponder its significance to the occasion.

Then there is the etiquette for the host before the ceremony even begins. Are the invitations sent out? Was it done in a timely manner according to etiquette? Are the paths in your garden cleaned? Was water dripped over the stepping stones to alert your guests that they are cleaned and you have prepared properly. Is the gate to the garden left ajar to announce to the arriving guests that you are ready to serve them?

There is also the preparatory work going on in the tea house. Is everything laid out in the “mizuya” (water room)? Has the matcha tea been sifted and transferred to the natsume? Every implement from the chawan (tea bowl) to the kensui (waste water container) changes with formality and season. It should be noted that there are three (3) schools of tea that come to us from pre-1600 each claiming to be accurate and each only slightly different from the next.

As host have you performed the sumitamae, the laying of coals and lighting them, including the addition of incense? While reading, if you moved too quickly, you may have missed that there are certain coal shapes that are laid in a particular order on a bed of white ash. Your guests have arrived in are touring your garden. When your guests enter the tearoom, they will sit in seiza for either service. And as the host you will be in and out of seiza several times, often switching the leg you rise on in order to “upstage” the item you are carrying at any given point. In preparing for tea I usually will dry run the service to get the pattern of steps back into my front memory and to build the necessary muscle to serve. Are you ready?

Chado - The Way of Tea

The “Way of Tea,” or Chanoyu (the ceremonial preparation of matcha) or Chado in Japanese is about the ritual of making and serving tea. Camellia sinensis, from which tea is derived is not native to Japan but was introduced from China during the early Heian period (794 – 1185). During the Nara Period (710 – 784), tea began to be cultivated around temples in Japan. Seeds of camellia sinensis were most likely brought to Japan by scholar-priests such as Saicho (767-822) or Kukai (774 – 835) who were dispatched as envoys to the T’ang dynasty. At this time tea was considered as a medicinal. The serving of tea began in the 9^th century when Eichu served Sencha to Emperor Sage in Karasaki in 815. Ruijyu Kokushi compiled by Sugawara Michizane (845 – 903) and Nihon Koki, a segment of Rikkokushi (Six National Histories), record the first account of tea drinking in the sixth year of Konin (815). Prepared in the same manner as dancha, the T’ang tradition, tea was first beaten then formed into firm balls, which were then shaved into powder and infused in water. This form was most likely restricted to the nobility and the priesthood.

Kamakura Period (1185 – 1392) the priest Eisai (1141 – 1215) reintroduced the seed into Japan along with the teachings of Rinzai Zen Buddhism to Japan. In 1191 upon returning from China, Eisai introduced the style of tea preparation called "tencha" (点茶^?), in which powdered matcha was placed into a bowl, hot water added, and the tea and hot water whipped together. It was during this period that Kissa yojoki (A Record of Tea Drinking and the Maintenance of Health) was written and promoted by Sanetomo. The drinking of tea with fine implements had long been adopted in China, Eisai introduced this Sung method of preparation where plucked leaves were made into a powder which was whisked with hot water in a bowl. This form of powdered green tea was first used in religious rituals in Buddhist monasteries.

By the 13th century, when the Kamakura Shogunate ruled the nation and tea and the luxuries associated with it became a kind of status symbol among the warrior class, there arose tea-tasting (ja:闘茶, tōcha^?) parties wherein contestants could win extravagant prizes for guessing the best quality tea—that grown in Kyoto, deriving from the seeds that Eisai brought from China. Tocha consisted of classifying varieties of tea by region. These changes to tea saw it become an amusement for the moneyed classes. Nambokucho (1336 – 1392) and Muromachi (1336 to 1573) periods the nature of tea drinking changed radically in the hands of the privileged classes. 1336 tea gatherings were forbidden by the Ashikaga shogunate. In 1343 Tocha regained popularity.  During the early Muromachi period tea drinking spread to the warrior society then to the general population. Warrior dressed in fine brocades and diverted themselves with tea contests. These tea tournaments were added to gatherings, becoming a form of polite accomplishment in the Nambokucho period, known as tocha.

During the mid-Muromachi period, Shuko saw tea gatherings decline until the reign of the eighth showgun, Ashikaga Yoshimasa (1436 – 1490) who saw the shaping of the Higashiyama culture and the building of the Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion). Yoshimasa constructed the Dojinsai, perhaps the original model for the four-and-a-half mat tearoom, this dimension and form of tearoom remains till today. Tea became so popular that street merchants were selling it, but, their manner of making tea was simpler than Yoshimasa. Yoshimasa’s dobashu, men of art and culture were Noami (1397 – 1471), his son Geiami (1431 – 1485), and grandson Soami (d. 1525) who were consider the most cultured men of their times. Within the dojinsai, Yoshimasa studied a form of tea under the guidance of Noami, and later through Noami introduced Murata Shuko to tea. Shuko is credited with developing the style of tea similar to the one known today, including the placing of the tea in an ideological setting.

At the close of the Onin War, during the Sengoku jidai, Shuko’s soan cha was still practiced in the Osaka prefecture. Under the wealthy tanning merchant, Takeno Jo-o (1502 – 1555) the elements of wabi cha were refined and distilled. Wabi is a reference to honesty, prudence, and self-restraint, both emotional and material. His tea room, Daikokuan, was constructed in the same manner as Ashikaga Yoshimasa’s Dojinsai, but, had the simple, austere atmosphere of a farmer’s dwelling.

Chanoyu was studied avidly by merchants of Sakai, among them was Sen no Rikyu (1521 – 1591). Born Tanaka Yoshiro in Daiei in the Imaichi district, Rikyu was first taught the Noami’s style of tea by Kitamuki Dochin (1504 – 1562). At the age of nineteen, he became the student of Jo-o. As a result he united the Noami and wabi-soan style of Shuko and Jo-o, bringing to completion of the foundation of the way of tea. Rikyū had a preference for simple, rustic items made in Japan, rather than the expensive Chinese-made items that were fashionable at the time. Though not the inventor of the philosophy of wabi-sabi, Wabi refers to the spiritual/inner experience of human life (quiet or sober refinement), and asymmetry. Sabi represents the material world (worn, weathered, and decayed) for the nobles this emptiness was most effective route to spiritual awakening, embracing imperfection and a healthy reminder to embrace our unpolished selves. Rikyū is among those most responsible for popularizing it, developing it, and incorporating it into tea ceremony. He created a new form of tea ceremony using very simple instruments and surroundings. This and his other beliefs and teachings came to be known as sōan-cha (the grass-thatched hermitage style of chanoyu), or more generally, wabi-cha. Rikyu entered into the service of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536 – 1598), who valued his skill that none other could bring a request to Hideyoshi’s ear. Rikyu introduced the concept of ichi-go-ichi-e each meeting should be treasured; for it can never be reproduced. Other principles introduced by Rikyu are harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility. Due to Rikyu and other Sakai tea masters, any member of the warrior elite not versed in chanoyu was considered to lack the badge of a man.

Encaustics the Processes

Creating with encaustic paints in the winter months is a joy, after all beeswax is being heated on a hot plate/palette and speed in performance is dictated by the medium. During warm months this is not the case. Whether creating in a cool environment or a warm environment be alert to ventilation and keeping family and pets safe from fumes and heated surfaces. Encaustic paints become fluid between 250˚ and 270˚.

Special temperature controlled encaustic palettes are needed to control the temperature of the wax. While it is a good general practice to have medium dedicated brushes, it is required in the case of encaustics as the brushes remain coated in wax. Otherwise, the brushes are simply course bristled paint brushes. Special encaustic mediums are available as is a soy-based brush and palette cleaner.

Encaustics work best on a rigid panel due to the lack of flexibility of the medium. Preparing the panel is as with other artforms. However, the gesso is specific to the medium, so, make sure that you have the correct gesso for the medium you are working with. Apply gesso evenly across the panel and let it dry. NOTE: you can buy panels that are already prepped for encaustics.

Once the panel is prepared, an cartoon is either transferred or drawn onto the panel. I prefer doing a study on paper first as corrections on the gesso panel are messy at best. I usually recreate the cartoon/study onto the gesso panel with silver point. This keeps a clean surface and precise starting point.

Using purchased pigment blocks I melt a spot of pigment onto the heated palette. A course bristled brush is used to transfer the now molten wax from the palette to the panel. Painting proceeds as with other medium outside the required speed. Paints may be diluted with an appropriate encaustic medium to build a glaze like transition between areas of light and dark.

If unconcerned with traditional methods used by the creators of the Fayum portraits modern tools are available. A tool resembling a wood burning tool is available for encaustics that has a thermostat connected with a variety of special tips that can be interchanged (be sure they are cooled first). For fine detail there are small calligraphy tips that will fit heated handle. If you purchase such a tool make sure to use a thermostat to control the temperature or the medium will burn.

Fusing layers with encaustics will prevent upper layers from breaking away and altering the finished product. Experts believe that the ancients fused the layers by placing the painted panel itself on to a hot metal plate until the layers of painting melted together. Having tried this, I was not pleased with the runny mess that followed. I have an encaustic air gun that blows hot air onto the surface melting small sections of the work and fusing them together allowing me the control that is typical of the style I create in.

When working in non-period styles paper can be coated with beeswax medium and then fused onto the surface as can fragments of fabrics. The surface can be carved to contribute to the three-dimensional effects. Warm wax can be shaped and formed then applied to the surface. Oil painting can be performed on the surface as the damar varnish added to the beeswax allows the layers to bond, however, make sure that your layers are fused prior to using this oil painting combination. The addition of a carbon-based image, such as a charcoal drawing, can also be added by placing the drawing facedown on the surface and rubbing the back of it to transfer the image onto the wax. Keep in mind it has to be a carbon-based product to perform this technique. And while it is recommended that the layers be fused prior to creating these effects, the surface can be heated again and cause the charcoal image to break apart and run for an interesting effect. Sculpture can be done using encaustics as in a previous post, by sewing rice paper (mulberry) with a sewing machine into the desired form, then painting the final product with encaustic materials.


In Service to the Dream
Addison

Encaustics - A Cautionary Tale

A couple of years ago I was giving a public lecture on encaustics. I began my presentation by stating that several encaustic artists in the early 1960s had suffered with lung cancer. One participant at the lecture raised their hand and stated that they had beeswax to make their own product. As gently as I could, I reminded them of the risks. Four more times during that lecture the participant enthusiastically made the same statements on making their own products. Feeling as if my words of warning were falling on deaf ears, finally, I stated that I would rather spend my time creating with the product than making the product and that if they wished to continue down the road of making their products I hoped that they would take the appropriate precautions.


At the core of all these posts is artist safety. As artists we often pick-up a new artform out of excitement and practice without any thought to dangers inherent in that art form. Due to the heating of chemicals during the arts of encaustics an understanding of how to protect yourself from wax vapors and decomposition fumes is vital. So, with this post I am hearkening back to my “raison d’etre” for writing these articles, artist safety.



Natalie Shifrin Whitson states in “The Specter of the Golem: The Quest for Safer Encaustical Painting in the Age of OSHA” published in Leondardo, Vol 33, No. 4, 2000, pp 299 - 304 that encaustic artists have reduced the dangers associated by exposure to solvents required in oil painting. She continues that heating pigments creates airborne substances that can cause longer term health effects to the artists who do not take precautions. Dry pigment particles can be smaller than 0.3 micron, making a specific respirator and good ventilation a must when working with encaustic products. And to my fellow artists who insist on making their own products, Lissa Rankin in her book “Encaustic Art: The Complete Guide to Creating Fine Art with Wax” clearly states the artist should “use commercially prepared products.”  

Encaustic is a very flexible artform. As a practitioner I create everything from traditional portraiture with the medium, sculpture, and mono-prints using a hot plate and encaustic waxes. Encaustic is about the only material that I use in mixed media pieces. The structure of the beeswax allows the product to absorb any carbon based products, such as a charcoal drawing, which can be transferred into the cool wax. The damar varnish within the material also allows for the inclusion of oil paints into the finished product. Many artists of the renaissance would incorporate beeswax with their oil paints. 


Years ago I made my own beeswax based medium to mix with powdered pigments for all my oil paintings, a medium that created a product with the quality of butter. Encaustic products can be used to create relief areas on an other wise smooth painting.

 Yours in Service to the Dream
Addison

Encaustic - Preserved in Wax

Derived from the Greek word "enkaustikos" the term means to burn or fuse. Encaustic paints are nothing more than pigment suspended in beeswax and a little damar varnish. Historians believe that the paint was first used by the Greeks in the 5th century BC, making beeswax one of the oldest known pigment binders. It is the properties of beeswax, especially it being impervious to moisture, that spurred on the use of encaustics. It is believed that the Greeks applied the wax to the hulls of ships to aid in waterproofing. Homer tells us that pigments were added allowing for decoration with icons in a single stroke. (You caught what I did there, right?).


Greeks eventually settled in Egypt practicing the same art form, but, due to the moisture resistant properties of beeswax began using the medium to honor the dead with funerial portraits, known to us as the Fayum portraits. Fayum portraits were created between the 1st and 3rd centuries CE, some 3,500 years ago. Pliny wrote of the art form and the slow difficult process of encaustic painting. Pliny also spoke of Roman aristocrats having in their possession ancient works of art created in encaustics. Encaustic led to terra cotta work in Roman interiors painted with encaustics. These eventually led to mosaic borders in the Roman interiors.

After Rome fell, like many arts, encaustic processes fell into obscurity. Egg tempera became heir in the art community. Knowledge of encaustic portraits remained with Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo reportedly dabbled with encaustics, but the medium never caught hold. The art form languished until the 20th century.

Oil Painting - It's Complicated

 Glazing is no longer a common process, what happened? In "Glazing" by Michael Wilcox he states that Impressionism, prevelent in the late 1800s, and the desire to capture "fleeting eccentricities of light" brought about the change.

How does glazing differ? Thin layers of transparent colors are applied to the surface that allow the color beneath to show through, this creates the mix of colors. Instead of actually mixing the colors on a palette and applying them to the panel as would be done post impressionist.

"Alla Prima" roughly translated as "all at once" refers to applying paint wet-into-wet is also a period technique.  Alla prima is the standard application of oil paint taught today.


During period glazing was often used for principal figures in the painting, usually rendered by the master, while alla prima was used for unimportant beground images that were often rendered by apprentices.

Benefits of Glazing:

1. Glazing allowed artists to create colors when a pigment was not available.
2. Glazing provides a depth and intensity not found in other methods.

Benefits of Alla prima:

1. Alla prima allows for speed.
2. Alla prima is often opaque.

The cold weather in Northern Europe benefited oil painters as glazing layers dried more efficiently. Violets and bright orange pigments were absent in the palette and could be created through glazing; i.e. red thinly layered over blue would create a violet creating colors otherwise not available.

Panel Preparation

Preparation of the panel and the general approach to initiating the painting altered little from those for egg tempera, especially in the early years of oil painting. 

Underpainting

Underpainting allows for the establishment of the composition, solidification of perspective and the value range of the painting. The cartoon, or study, is refined further by the underpainting, particularly value. Jan van Eyck used egg tempera for the underpainting working on wooden panels. This process was later adopted by Venetian painters.

Underpainting varied by school and artist.

Priming of the panel by washing a base color on the surface and wiping it off evenly is called imprimatura. Imprimatura is done for effect by different artists or schools.

Grisaille is also known as "dead color" is the term derived from the French word "gris" meaning grey. Greys are mixed with black and white to draw in the subject, forming the value range for each element. Greys could be created by combining blue with burnt umber with white (usually lead white). Remember when working with pigments, mixed or powdered to take appropriate precautions. Lead white is toxic and carcinogenic that is absorbed through the skin.

Verdaille uses opague greys or green greys for the understudy, and was used by Titian.

If a brown is used to create the understudy it is referred to as brunaille.

Terra verte, a grey green earth pigment, can be used for the underpainting and is referred to as verdaccio. Verdaccio was used beneath areas of flesh to aid in creating flesh tones even beneath egg tempera. Difficult to replicate today as the best deposits of terra verte have long since been exhausted. It can be replicated by mixing cerulean blue, hansa yellow then dulling the color with cadmium red light. This process was updated by 1500s. This color and technique can be seen in the "Manchester Madonna" by Michaelangelo.

Application of Color

Glazing consists of layers of transparent paint, often of different colors. A strong understanding of color and the color wheel is very beneficial when using this technique. The light penetrates each layer as if it were created in glass reflecting each layer back to the eye. The effect is a deeper and richer painting that cannot be replicated by other techniques.

In his book, Wilcox also suggests that brocades were rendered by applying the painting layer then removing the pattern of the fabric brocade with a wooden or ivory tool. This technique would not perform well using other painting techniques.

Renaissance for the Not Faint of Heart

Renaissance is a term brandished as a sharpened sword by a samurai. But, what was the renaissance? In Old French it means "rebirth" and traditionally Giorgio Vasari, the 16th century artist and historian, is credited with first applying the term to the period in Western Europe from the 14th to 17th centuries. Some experts credit Florence as the seat of the renaissance. What is certain is that each culture moved into the renaissance in its own time and contributed its own elements. Catalysts for the renaissance was the discovery of classical models, the unearthing of Greek and Roman statue from the Classical Period and a rich economy. Humanism and naturalism contributed to the renaissance as well, But, was everything that occurred in the period a "rebirth"?

Speaking in broad strokes, the renaissance restored the human nude to art after the Classical Period. Sculpturally, "Fortitude" on the pulpit in the Baptistery at the Cathedral of Pisa (1302 - 1310) by Nicola Pisano is considered by may experts to be the earliest of human nudes in the renaissance. Early paintings of import to be considered is the monumental female nude, Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli painted around 1486. The commission of the Sistine Chapel ceiling on May 10, 1508 brought nudity into the religious context with well known controversy. Previously, the innovation of oil paints into Western Europe were noted. As the origin of these posts is with artist safety, remember the inherent dangers of powdered pigment usage when blending paints. Improvements in oil paints may have spread from Northern Europe into Italy altering painting. Antonello da Messina, Naples, used oil paints for portraits and religious paintings possibly as early as 1450. Some credit Messina with taking oil paints into Venice. Without oil paint being introduced to Venice, Tiziano Vecelli, known as Titian, would not have become known as "the Sun Amidst Small Stars". Along with Giorgione, Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco (1477 - 1510), Titian is considered the founder of the Venetian School of painting. Giorgione's "Dresden Venus" or "Sleeping Venus" c. 1510 set a trend for female nudes that stood for centuries. Gorigione's use of landscape in the Sleeping Venus to frame the central figure is considered innovative by many experts. Giorgione and Titian were contemporaries and Titian is believed to have assisted Giorgione on some of his later works. Titian applied gossamer thin layers of oil paint in a process referred to as "glazing", sometimes as many as sixteen (16), to obtain the proper skin tones. Tempera allowed for thin layers of color, but is now being applied to the new oil medium.

Not everything was a rebirth during the renaissance. The Byzantine School maintained a formal, anti-naturalistic character which was counter to the renaissance ideal. Artists in the Western World had not painted night time scenes, sociologically, night was a time when nothing good could happen and was therefore avoided, especially in Christian art. Giotto di Bondone painted the crucifixion in the Arena Chapel in 1304 with a darkened blue sky that is interpreted to be a night sky. Giotto also used forced perspective in a manner not seen before the renaissance. Giotto's apprentice, Taddeo Gaddi, painted "The Angelic Announcement" c. 1332 - 1338 taking knowledge of the night time impact from his master to the next level.

The Byzantine School dictated that if a person was not looking at you then the person was malevolent. Observation of any number of last supper paintings, the one apostle with his back turned to the viewer is Judas. With the renaissance focus on naturalism things changed. Giotto, mentioned above, developed a manner of figurative painting that was unprecedentedly naturalistic, three-dimensional, life-life and classist unknown at the time. Consider "The Meeting at the Golden Gate" c. 1306 in the Scrovegni Chapel (Arena Chapel) in Padua. Notice how rounded the figures are as they meet at the gate, how Joachim and Anne kiss in greeting and how their halos intertwine. But, look at the black cloaked figure in the background, see how the face is concealed. The meaning of this draped figure remains contentious. Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, call Masaccio, 12/21/1402 - 1428, is considered to be the first great painter of the Quattrocento. Masaccio is credited with making the human form more solid than his predecessor and used linear perspective in his paintings by using the concept of a vanishing point in art for the first time and used chiaroscuro, a strong contrast between light and dark, for a more naturalistic effect and the illusion of three-dimensional form. Leonardo da Vinci used chiaroscuro in the few surviving panels, consider the "Virgin of the Rocks" (1482 - 1485). Leonardo da Vinci was also a prominent user of the technique for softening the transition between colors referred to as sfumato, meaning "smoke". Purportedly, da Vinci used his study of optics as an explanation for his use of sfumato, the technique is a fine shading meant to produce a soft transition without lines or edges between colors and tones.

The architect and artist, Filippo Brunelleschi between 1415 and 1420 drew buildings in Florence in order to refine and correct perspective and creating the catalyst for other Florentine artist to use geometrical perspective in art. Sometime later Leon Battista Alberti wrote a treatise, "Da picture" (1435/1436), on perspective using Brunelleschi's studies and techniques.

Color theory was also expounded upon during the renaissance. Marcia B. Hall, art historian, suggests four modes of painting color in Italian High Renaissance; sfumato, chiaroscuro, cangiante, and unione. Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael, is credited with inventing unione. Similar to sfumato, unione is used on the transitional edges between colors and strives for harmony and unity between colors. Searching for the correct "tonal key" unione is softer than chiaroscuro creating harmony between the light and dark without excess.

Cangiante transitions color from light to darkness based upon the original color. Highlights are no longer created b y adding white to lighten the tone, nor are shadows created by adding black, cangiante utilizes the base tone at full strength for the highlight and adjacent colors to transition to shadow. Giotto was an early practitioner of cangiante, but Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, known as Michelangelo, is considered to be the master of the technique. Look at the transition of light into shadow on the robes in Michelangelo's "Doni Tondo" where the yellow is applied at full strength transitioning to orange, then burnt sienna, then umber to create shadow, hence depth and roundness.

In retrospect, the Renaissance, was it rebirth, or innovation?

In Service to the Dream
Addison