The Japanese technique, by which I understand the established manner in which their effects in painting are produced, differs widely from that of European art. The Japanese brushes (Jude and hake), colors and materials influence largely the method of painting. The canons or standards by which Japanese art is to be judged are quite special to Japan and are scarcely understood outside of it. Since the subject is technical, to treat it in a popular way is to risk the omission of much that is essential. I will endeavor, at any rate, to give an outline of its fundamental principles, first saying a word or two about the tools and materials.
In Japanese painting no oils are used. Sumi (a black color in cake form) and water-colors only are employed, while Chinese and Japanese paper and specially prepared silk take the place of canvas or other material.
Japanese artists do not paint on easels; while at work they sit on their heels and knees, with the paper or silk spread before them on a soft material, called mosen, which lies upon the matting or floor covering. After one becomes accustomed to this position, he finds it gives, among other things, a very free use of the right arm and wrist.
Silk (e ginu) is prepared for painting by first attaching it with boiled rice mucilage to a stretching frame. A sizing of alum and light glue (called [pg 32] dosa) is next applied, care being taken not to wet the edges of the silk attached to the frame, which would loosen the silk.
It has been found that paper lasts much longer than silk, and also can be more easily restored when cracked with age.
The artists of the Tosa school used a paper various kinds called tori no ko, into the composition of which egg-shells entered. This paper was a special product of Ichi Zen.
The Kano artists used both tori no ko and a paper made from the mulberry plant, also a product of Ichi Zen, and known as hosho. For ordinary tracing a paper called tengu jo is used. In Okyo's time, Chinese paper made from rice-plant leaves came into vogue. It is manufactured in large sheets and is called toshi. It is a light straw color, and is very responsive to the brush stroke, except when it “catches cold,” as the Japanese say. It should be kept in a dry place.
The Tosa artists used paper almost to the exclusion of silk. The Kano school largely employed silk for their paintings. Okyo also usually painted on silk.
Japanese artists seldom outline their work. In painting on silk, a rough sketch in sumi is sometimes placed under the silk for guidance. Outlining on paper is done with straight willow twigs of charcoal, called yaki sumi, easily erased by brushing with a feather.
There are strict, and when once understood, reasonable and helpful laws for the use of the [pg 33] brush (yohitsu), the use of sumi (yoboku) and the use of water-colors (sesshoku). These laws reach from what seems merely the mechanics of painting into the highest ethics of Japanese art.