Sumi ink

So, in preparation for next week's Art group I have been looking at Sumi ink. It's black, very black ! Gently looking at the work of....
kitty Sabatier
Ruth Schleeh
Helen Terry
Yuko Wada

I prepared the ground with gesso and tissue laid on . These were the first three. Maybe I need to do 10 before I critique them in any serious way, but for now, I liked.....
The format
The way the ink ran when I tipped it
 the way I could get very fine , scratchy lines using a dip pen The splashes
I didn't like.....
The contrast of the black with the white....way too harsh
I wanted to....
Put in another colour...warm it up a bit....make myself do at least 10 before I do that....

 I also odd a series of 12 cm square inks . I couldn't resist adding in burnt umber acrylic...love that combination.....

Below was the photo I used for today's, ' daily walk, ' I wanted to move slightly away from the greys 

of the previous works.....warm it up a bit ...but still relate it to the the previous ones....

Saturday paint day...

This was the painting....33 inch square...acrylic on board....nothing like the inks that had been my small pieces this week...that's ok....

These were the words that came to mind as I painted...

Want warmth,grey but warmth,pinks are too ice cream, ugh, sunny day picture ( mmm it was hailing as I took the picture outside to photograph it ! ) love it,try a notan, I have an aversion to diagonals, I didn't mind that the trees ran into the canal, where is it going, palette weird.. He ho, put the photo 

away, painting too much in my head...do it intuitively, it goes it's own way....

I like...

The palette

The pink

The sketchiness of it

The abstracted areas

That you can't tell where the hills end and the canal begins

The dark purple

The greens.....it doesn't feel as heavy or as serious as some of the others.. Different mood....

Title..., ' I didn't mind that the trees ran into the canal. ' We will see if I like it tomorrow !

So, today I looked at the sumi ink again.....small pieces....14 cm sq. 

Techniques....

Wetting both sides of the paper so it doesn't cockle

Putting the ink down wet in wet and wet on dry

Wiping the washes off with tissue

Scratching with a dip pen

Loved it...

Above was a 12 inch square I tried...I added burnt umber to it.it was a textured ground.

Below were two of the ink pieces 14 cm squared.

So, I painted the backs of some Dailies white and painted a black, ' pretend frame, ' around the edge of the board. The drawings are just blue tacked on the boards so I can see what they would look like mounted....I like a wide mount.... I like to control the space around the drawing.....to give it space to breath and to detach it from a wall that might have the wrong colour ( for me ) I usually like a white mount......

The dog got into the paper bin and ate the tissue with the sumi ink on ! .....it does smell though.....