Illustration credit: Sumi-e brushstroke samples by artist Yuming Zhu 鱼鸣（朱瑜明).

One of my treasured books is “Jewels of Light from the Jung-Pao-Tsai Workshop” (“Prints With Poems from the Peking Workshop of Jewels of Light”). The text was prepared by German Children’s author Grete Weiskopf (pseud. Alex Wedding). The book contains reproductions of simple delicate traditional Chinese original ink drawings and woodcuts of birds, fish, insects, flowers, grasses, and delicate bamboo stalks painted by brush on rice paper or silk, accompanied by one line poetry, words that extend the poetry of the colorful illustrations.

Since childhood I have used drawing ink and steel pen nib for calligraphy and illustration, but I have never tried sumi-e (墨絵風) brush painting, and recently I had the wonderful opportunity to explore this ancient technique in a mini workshop “Year of the Rabbit” held by professional artist Yuming Zhu 鱼鸣（朱瑜明). With these beautiful sample brush strokes above, he demonstrated for the class the sumi-e style. The origin of sumi-e paintings have roots in Chinese calligraphy, and in their early use, the paintings themselves were viewed as tangible poetry.

You can learn more about Yuming Zhu, his art and where to attend his upcoming workshops here: https://www.yumingfineart.com/

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