Inspiration Warbler
Tomorrow is my grandson’s birthday. He just spent a year in Japan at an immersion language school, graduating with honors. So I decided to illustrate in a Japanese style for his birthday. I know he does love birds, so this is a yellow-throated warbler. They have been spotted twice in Washington, but they are really birds of the southeastern United States and further south. That surprised me because we do have similar birds here. I should have checked that first.
I chose this bird from Alan Schmierer’s Flickr albums because the reference photo — from Texas — included the white aspects in a simple background, which I needed for this style. And most of Alan’s lovely collection are public domain.
Wabi-Sabi
Wabi-Sabi is a Japanese concept based on the transient and imperfect nature of our world. As such, the focus is on simplicity, imperfection, and an acknowledgment of such in artful representations. A limited color palette on a simple element of nature is a natural extension of this concept, as Calvin expresses in his painting and videos of the technique.
You see that transient quality with the white spaces, including that the white part of the bird is not painted, but left as the paper in an asymmetrical illustration of this simple scene. The color palette is simple– only two to three main colors. The choice of watercolor brushes with simple strokes also lead us to the feelings of acceptance of our place, though short, in the natural world. Imperfect, impermanent, and minimalist is its essence.
The inspiration for this is the semi-e artwork from Japan — simple black ink brushed nature illustrations.
Previous Post
I wrote about this and the previous paintings in the style in a WrapUp Wabi Sabi post, which includes a gallery of my wabi-wabi paintings. Calvin does a fantastic job in his videos of guiding you through the brush strokes, the style, and the palette. I use his watercolor paper, and Aquareal Watercolor brushes. I followed the tutorial with my own choice of bird and palette based on his explanations and demonstration.
He also created an iPad Art MockUp package with a tutorial on how it works. Look at this:
Take a look at Calvin’s YouTube Channel for many watercolor tutorials that will get you illustrating in Procreate on your iPad.
I added a birthday greeting to the artwork, and it’s ready to share with Ben tomorrow. I think he’ll love it. Of course, he’s been celebrating today because in Japan, it’s already tomorrow!
I wonder, if I draw a line... 